More stories

  • in

    New Zealanders Are Crazy for This Fruit. It’s Not the Kiwi.

    Autumn in New Zealand heralds the arrival of a green, egg-size fruit that falls off trees in such abundance that it is often given to neighbors and colleagues by the bucket or even the wheelbarrow load. Only in cases of extreme desperation do people buy any.The fresh fruit, whose flesh is gritty, jellylike and cream-colored, is used in muffins, cakes, jams and smoothies, and it begins appearing on high-end menus each March — the start of fall in the Southern Hemisphere. Off-season, it is found in food and drink as varied as juices and wine, yogurt and kombucha, and chocolate and popcorn.This ubiquitous fruit is the feijoa (pronounced fee-jo-ah). Known in the United States as the pineapple guava, it was first brought to New Zealand from South America via France and California in the early 1900s.Its tangy taste is hard to describe, even for die-hard fans. But what is easy to pinpoint is that like the kiwi fruit, which originated in China, and the kiwi, a native bird, the feijoa has become for many here a quintessential symbol of New Zealand, or Aotearoa, as the country is known in the Indigenous Maori language.The feijoa is a quintessential symbol of New Zealand.The flesh is gritty, jellylike and cream-colored.Fresh feijoa is used in muffins, cakes, jams, smoothies and cocktails.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    Rut-Busting Recipes for Freezer Staples

    Spicy ground turkey with snap peas, broccoli-walnut pesto pasta and sazón chicken breasts make frozen standbys sing.Hi, all! This is Krysten, filling in for Emily, who’s back next week after a glorious spring break.I love the freezer, a totally unsexy but incredibly useful appliance. Mine is full of all kinds of treasures and foundations for so many meals: shrimp (preferably wild!); ground turkey; boneless, skinless chicken breasts; ice cream. The freezer is a blessing (there are always dinner ingredients on hand) and a curse (the cooking ruts come fast and furious). And while I love a creative challenge, I sometimes find myself staring at bags of frozen broccoli at a total loss. If you, like me, are living this freezer-focused life — or if you’re just a hungry person looking for easy, affordable dishes — these five recipes are a great place to start. And if you’re looking for even more brilliance, Sohla El-Waylly teaches you how to make the most out of frozen fish (without defrosting!) in her latest “Cooking 101” video. (See: Millie Peartree’s coconut curry fish.)Let me know how it goes. Find me on Instagram, where I’m cooking, sewing and hugging my dog.Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.1. Spicy Skillet Ground Turkey and Snap Peas Ground turkey — and any ground meat, really — freezes and defrosts excellently. Melissa Clark puts it to smart use in this larb-inspired recipe. Snap peas and herbs add freshness to this richly flavored dish, which sings over rice.View this recipe.Genevieve Ko’s broccoli-walnut pesto pasta.Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Vivian Lui.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

  • in

    How Tricia Shimamura, a Political Insider, Spends Her Sundays

    Tricia Shimamura keeps busy by welcoming immigrants, helping women get into politics and chasing around her two young children on the Upper East Side.Tricia Shimamura spends her days crisscrossing the city as the director of community affairs for Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president. She helps with everything from street fairs to welcoming new immigrants.It’s a mission that resonates deeply with Ms. Shimamura, 34, who ran for City Council on the Upper East Side in 2021. She is of Japanese and Puerto Rican heritage and would have been the first person of color to represent her district.A licensed social worker, Ms. Shimamura, has served as the deputy chief of staff for Carolyn Maloney — a former Democratic congresswoman from New York — and as Columbia University’s director of government affairs. She sits on the boards of several organizations that work with women to develop leadership skills and run for political office.On Sundays, Ms. Shimamura combines family time with community work, an exhausting and edifying balance. She lives with her husband, Dov Gibor, 44, who is a lawyer, and their two sons, Teddy, 4, and Oliver, 1.“Teddy recently pointed to a picture of the 2017 Women’s March and said, ‘That’s where my mom works,’” Ms. Shimamura said. She added, “It’s very important to me for my kids to see me work.”RISE, SHINE, PLAY My boys are my alarm clock on Sundays. They wake me up around 6:30 a.m. I do a quick check of my email. If I know there’s no work emergency that needs my attention, I’m able to focus more on things at home.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.We are confirming your access to this article, this will take just a moment. However, if you are using Reader mode please log in, subscribe, or exit Reader mode since we are unable to verify access in that state.Confirming article access.If you are a subscriber, please  More