A new Zombies mode is headed to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. A new cinematic trailer released on Friday shows that the DLC will take players to a small town called Liberty Falls infested with the running dead.
The trailer starts in a picturesque piece of America with an old-timey song setting the tone. Then everything goes to hell and our unnamed hero wakes up in a post-apocalyptic world from what was just a nightmare all along. He receives a bulletin that the running dead are on their way so he picks up a shock rifle to start popping off some zombies’ tops. The big reveal at the end features some kind of menacing villain that feels like a cross between ZAX from Fallout 76 and GLaDOS from the Portal games.
This is just a premature judgment based on the trailer but it looks and sounds a lot like Fallout, another game that takes place in a world where humanity ends and mutant humans roam the landscape.
There’s no official wide release date for Zombies DLC or any indication that it will or won’t be available when the game launches on October 25. The first gameplay footage of the Liberty Falls maps and story mode will premiere on August 28 at Call of Duty NEXT in Washington DC. Open beta access will start on August 30. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will also be available on on launch day.
The summer is winding down, the days are starting to grow shorter, and there’s a new chill in the air at night. It’s the perfect time to catch up on some older games ahead of the September onslaught that kicks off with Star Wars Outlaws’ launch next week.
It’s also a good time to make room for lesser-known releases that deserve more looks but aren’t always getting them in the glut of high-quality releases that are the monthly norm now. One of those is Dustborn, a gorgeous road-trip game about bandmates. Another is Arco, a pixel-art tactics RPG that’s easy to overlook but unlike anything else out there.
“This game is a masterpiece,” wrote Reddit user QubitsAndCheezits. “More important and impressive is that I’ve never played anything like it in ~40 years of gaming.” But even as a bunch of indie devs hit on the importance of venturing outside the same three genres that hit big on Steam, Arco co-creator Franek shared a brutal discovery.
“‘Make. New. Stuff.’ is fun advice until you have to sell your game without a target audience and you got rent to pay,” the developer tweeted. “We made something new. Our game has been well rated by critics and players but it sold badly.” There’s no magic formula for making a god game sell anymore, if ever there was, outside of maybe calling it Pokémon.
Day of the Devs lead curator Greg Rice made this point recently during July’s Brighton Develop keynote address. “Back in the day…If you had a really good art style, or maybe a really good game mechanic, maybe that was enough,” he said. “Now there are so many games out there, you have to excel across the board in most cases. [You need to have] a really beautiful art style that stands out from the crowd and is instantly recognizable, try to have mechanical gameplay hooks that are unique and different, and have a personality behind it that feels like it’s something coming from a place of creativity and passion.”
Surviving the modern gauntlet of Metacritic scores, Steam visibility, and ignorant online mobs also takes a lot of luck. So maybe take some time this weekend and play something that’s fun, fresh, and different. Here are six games we’re excited to play this weekend that chart a different path.
Team-building activities are great–especially for the first day of school or early in the school year,
Not only can they help establish routines, tone, and expectations, they’re also fun, and can help learners feel comfortable. Though many older students in high school and college may groan at their thought, they’re usually fun, and great ways to help students feel at ease. Before you dismiss them as too juvenile, try one. You might be surprised.
Note that which game you choose, your rules for the game, and any revisions to the rules depend on the nature of the class you’re using them with. Certain students may feel overly liberated—especially in middle school—with the idea of a ‘game,’ and so expectations must be carefully given to younger K-8 learners—and even 9-12—to ensure that every student is set up for success.
10 Team-Building Games For The First Day Of School
1. Me Too!
Ideal Grade Levels: K-20
The first student gives a fact about themselves—I love basketball, I have two sisters, etc. If that statement or fact is true about another student, they say “Me too!” They can also stay seated, but simply raise their hand and say “Me too!”
2. Park Bench
Ideal Grade Levels: 6-20
Two chairs are placed together to resemble a park bench. Two students volunteer—or are selected—to act out ‘what happened’ in a fictional news story. They are given one minute to prepare a scene where they discuss the ‘event’ without ever actually saying what happened. After given time period (1-5 minutes), peers guess ‘what happened,’ but they must give up all four important details: Who, What, Where, and When, e.g.:
What: College Basketball game
Who: Any two college or professional sports teams
When: Early April
Where: New Orleans
3. Fact or Fiction
Ideal Grade Levels: 3-12
In a circle, the first student offers two facts and one piece of fiction about themselves. Others raise their hand or are called on to identify which were facts, and which were fiction. The correct guesser goes next. Play is completed when all students have gone.
4. Green Door
Ideal Grade Levels: 5-20
A leader chooses a topic, but keeps it quiet, only saying that “You can bring a ____ through the green door.” Students are then forced to deduce the topic by asking if other things can be brought through the green door as well, e.g., “Can I bring a _____ through the green door?”
The leader can only reply yes or no. When a topic is identified, topic resets. Topics can be content-related, such as parts of speech, colors, geometric figures, historical figures, etc.
5. One Minute Talk
Ideal Grade Levels: 5-20
Students are chosen to give 60-second talks on anything, from self-selected topics they are passionate about, have specific expertise in, etc., to topics given from teacher. Classmates can then follow-up with one thing–no matter how innocuous–that they can ‘connect’ to or somehow relate to their life.
6. Count to Ten
Ideal Grade Levels: 3-20
All students stand in a circle. The first student says ‘1,’ or ‘1, 2.’ The next student picks up where that student left off and can say a maximum number of 2 numbers. The movement continues clockwise until it gets to 10, where that student has to sit, and the game starts back over at 1 at the next student.
Note that there can be no pausing or silent counting—any pauses or indications the student is counting/calculating forces them to sit. Also, pouting or talking during counting results in elimination from future rounds. The big idea is to count strategically to keep from saying ’10.’
Students form a circle. The first student says something they’ve never done. Each student that has done the thing the other student has not steps briefly into the center. The game continues until every person has stated something they’ve done.
8. Magic Ball
Ideal Grade Levels: K-20
Students form a circle. The first student is ‘given’ an imaginary magic ball. The student sculpts an imaginary ball into a new shape, handing it to the person to their right. The activity is silent. Any talking/noise results in student sitting. After the game, guessing may be done to predict what ‘sculpture’ was.
9. Silent Line
Ideal Grade Levels: K-8
Students are given criteria, and must silently put themselves in a line as quickly as possible, to meet a goal, compete against other classes, or receive some reward (free reading time, no homework, etc.) The criteria can simple (birthdays), or slightly more complicated (alphabetical order of college or career ambition).
10. Inside-Outside Circle
Ideal Grade Levels: 3-20
Students form a circle within a circle with (ideally) an equal number of students in both circles. Inside circle members pair with outside circle members. Activity leader (usually teacher, but can be a student) presents a topic, prompt, or question.
Partners share for 10 seconds (or less), the leader asks inside the circle to move clockwise a certain number of spaces to collaborate with new partners directly across from them. This is usually content focuses and helps spur quick discussion on content-related topics, or even current events.
10 Team-Building Games For The First Day Of School; Source ‘The Advisory Book’ by Linda Crawford
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Smothered chicken is a flavorful comfort food full of rich, creamy gravy, tender chicken cutlets, and savory mushrooms. Perfect on its own or paired with mashed potatoes, rice or pasta, you’re family will definitely want this on the weekly meal plan.
Flavor: This meal is full of warm comforting flavor that your family will want to come home to.
Budget-friendly: The ingredients needed will not break the bank, which is very helpful in today’s world.
Simple: The ingredient list might seem long, but this dish comes together quickly and easily, making it perfect for busy weeknights.
Smothered Chicken and Gravy
If you are looking for the taste of home, this meal will definitely give you that. With its roots planted in Southern cooking, this smothered chicken is not only flavorful but also rich in history. Traditionally, people serve this dish over rice. However, over time, cooks have adapted it to incorporate other traditions, such as serving it over mashed potatoes or pasta. Personally, I’ve enjoyed it with all three options and loved each one of them! In fact, it’s even delicious just on its own!
By cooking the chicken before smothering it in gravy, we get all the rich flavors that meld together from the browning process. You’ll be amazed at how simple this dish is, and it will quickly become a family favorite!
What Ingredients Do You Need to Make Smothered Chicken?
This list might seem long, but it mostly includes the herbs and spices needed to create that delicious flavor. For exact measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Chicken Breast: The perfect protein to absorb and complement all of the flavors going on in the dish.
Egg: Acts as a binding agent to help the breading stick to the chicken cutlets.
Heavy Whipping Cream: Gives the dish a creaminess and depth of flavor and helps thicken the gravy.
All-Purpose Flour: Helps the breading stick to the chicken and contributes to the thickening of the gravy.
Breadcrumbs: Provide a crunch to the breading of the chicken and a warm flavor.
Garlic Powder: Gives the dish a wonderful savory flavor that balances the creaminess of the sauce.
Oregano: A vibrant herb that adds a bright flavor.
Onion Powder: Enhances the depth of flavor and provides a consistent taste in each bite.
Salt: Complements each flavor in the dish, enhancing the overall taste and comfort appeal.
Pepper: Adds a note of spice and enhances the other flavors.
Olive Oil: Keeps the chicken moist and tender during the cooking process.
Yellow Onion: Provides a sweet and savory flavor with a soft and tender texture.
Mushrooms: These perfectly absorb all of the flavors in the dish and add a wonderful texture that complements the chicken.
Gravy
Butter: Helps thicken the gravy and adds a depth of flavor to the sauce.
All-Purpose Flour: This flour is used to create a roux, which combines the flavor of the browned onions and will make the sauce thick.
Beef Broth: The base of the gravy adds a rich, savory flavor.
Heavy Whipping Cream: Gives the gravy its creamy texture and flavor.
Worcestershire Sauce: This is the secret ingredient that will make this dish delicious, and no one will understand how!
Mustard Powder: Adds a gentle heat and warmth to the gravy.
Salt and Pepper: To taste!
Smothered Chicken Recipe
Follow the simple steps below to enjoy this mouth-watering meal in less than an hour. This recipe will guide you through each step of the process to make sure you get the same results every time.
Chicken
Prepare Chicken: First, slice the chicken breasts in half to create four thinner cuts of chicken.
Egg Mixture: First, whisk together the egg and heavy whipping cream in a bowl until well combined.
Breadcrumb Mixture: Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, bread crumbs, garlic powder, oregano, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl.
Coat the Chicken in the Egg Mixture: Next, working with one cutlet at a time, coat the chicken in the egg mixture and allow any excess liquid to drip off before moving to the next step.
Bread Chicken: Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, coating it thoroughly on all sides.
Cook Chicken: Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side. Cook until golden brown and no longer pink. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan and set it aside.
Gravy
Saute Mushrooms: Remove any burnt bits from the bottom of the pan, then add the onion and mushrooms to the pan. Saute until the onions are translucent and tender. Remove the mushrooms and onions from the pan.
Create a Roux: Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter to the pan. Once the butter is melted, gradually whisk in the flour to create a thick paste. Slowly add the beef broth and heavy cream to the roux, continually whisking as you add.
Make the Gravy: Once the gravy is smooth and combined, whisk in the Worcestershire sauce and ground mustard. Then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the Mushrooms, Onions, and Chicken: Stir in the onions and mushrooms, then add the chicken back to the pan. Coat the chicken in the sauce and serve over mashed potatoes, pasta, or rice.
Tips and Pairing Ideas
This smothered chicken recipe is hard to get wrong. However, I do have a couple of suggestions to make the process even easier for you.
Chicken cutlets: You can buy chicken cutlets at the store and use a meat tenderizer to pound them thinner before breading them. The cutlets should be just about ½ – ¾ inches thick, which will help the breading stay on.
Broth options: I love using beef broth for this recipe, it adds a bit more punch of flavor and depth. However, you can substitute chicken broth. Both options work well, so choose the one that best suits your taste.
Refrigerate: Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Enjoy same day: The breading will become soggy after storage, so I suggest enjoying this dish on the same day.
More Simple and Delicious Chicken Meal Ideas
If you are looking for more flavorful chicken dinner ideas I’ve got you covered. These meals are packed with flavor and come together quickly and easily!
Prepare the chicken by slicing the breasts in half horizontally to create four thinner cuts of chicken.
Whisk together the egg and heavy whipping cream in a bowl until well combined.
Combine the flour, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, oregano, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl.
Next, working with one cutlet at a time, coat the chicken in the egg mixture, and then allow any excess liquid to drip off before moving on to the next step.
Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, coating it thoroughly on all sides.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side. Cook until golden brown and no longer pink. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan and set it aside.
Gravy
Remove any burnt bits from the bottom of the pan, then add the onion and mushrooms to the pan. Saute until the onions are translucent and tender. Remove the mushrooms and onions from the pan and set aside.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter to the pan. Once the butter is melted, gradually whisk in the flour to create a thick paste. Slowly add the beef broth and heavy cream to the roux, continually whisking as you add.
Once the gravy is smooth and combined, whisk in the Worcestershire sauce and ground mustard then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in the onions and mushrooms then add the chicken back to the pan. Coat the chicken in the sauce and serve over mashed potatoes, pasta, or rice.
This summer marks the sixtieth anniversary of a watershed season of civil rights organizing across the state of Mississippi. Referenced internally as the 1964Mississippi Summer Project and advertised as the Mississippi Freedom Project, this period has since been memorialized as Freedom Summer. The effort sought to democratize the state that Roy Wilkins, executive director of the NAACP, called“the most savage uncivilized state in the entire fifty states.” A turning point in civil rights strategy, Freedom Summer operated at a greater scale of magnitude and complexity than previous efforts. In a summer of activism bookended by tragedy at its beginning and a political showdown 1000 miles away from Mississippi at its close, Freedom Summer cemented the fight for civil rights and the power of student movements in stoking institutional change.
While the work of civil rights activism was urgent throughout the Jim Crow South, Freedom Summer organizers recognized the Mississippi of 1964 as a distinctlyheatedplace and time. Mississippi was the site of the most notorious lynching in the early civil rights movement, the killing of Emmett Till in 1955, and had the highest rates of lynching in the country — violence meant to impose social, economic, and political intimidation. Add to this violence the pervasive harassment of black residents, along with numerous formal acts of repression, and it is clear why activists deemed Mississippi a crucial, yet perilous, site for resistance. As organizer Curtis Hayes put it, “If we were going to fight for freedom, Mississippi was the test. You had to break Mississippi.”
The potential and peril of activism in Mississippi had been evident in the years leading up to 1964. Young Mississippians, organized and recruited by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), participated in the Sit-in Movement. Concurrently, civil rights activists in Mississippi participated in a series of “Wade-Ins” to integrate public beaches, “Read-Ins” to desegregate public libraries, and “Pray-Ins” at all-white churches. This ascendant energy, largely driven by students at historically black colleges like Tougaloo in Jackson, increased regional coverage of the movement and boosted momentum. And yet for many activists, the attention and momentum had not yet built to a level they felt suited the scale and urgency of the Mississippi challenge.
Then came the assassination of Medgar Evers, Field Secretary of the Mississippi NAACP, in June 1963 — the most high-profile murder of a civil rights activist to that date. This act, combined with murders of organizers who sought to register black Mississipians to vote, fortified activists’ resolve to democratize the state during the following summer.
Teachers at the Freedom Schools Convention in Meridian, Mississippi during Freedom Summer, 1964. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical society.
Mississippi organizers knew that a project worthy of their ambitions would require a novel approach and greater scale of organizing than they had yet employed. In 1961, the Mississippi chapters of the NAACP, SNCC, and CORE (in conjunction with other local groups) had begun coordinating voter outreach and registration efforts through an umbrella coalition, the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). This alliance would be crucial to coordinating the 1964 Summer Project, resourcinginstitutional memory and best practices while also tapping into an established and committed grassroots network that operated out of churches, storefronts, community centers, and private homes throughout Mississippi’s black communities.
COFO organized intricate transportation and communication networks and recruited dedicated activists. Organizations beyond Mississippi, such as the Northern Student Movement, responded, leading the national recruitment of college students for the Summer Project. They also collaborated with the National Council of Churches (NCC) to coordinate training for these volunteers. The young volunteers were joined in Mississippi by over 250 NCC-sponsored clergy, along with hundreds of legal and healthcare professionals. Myriad organizations were aligned, focused, and mobilized to support COFO’s goals.
The most controversial strategy of the Summer Project was COFO’s decision to invite white students to participate. Critics both worried about the blowback from endangering white students and feared the repercussions ofpotentially reckless and ignorant white volunteers visiting Mississippi on what might amount to a glorified “service project” for them. Ultimately, the perspective of Bob Moses — a Harvard-educated math teacher and organizer from Harlem (and the man most identified with Freedom Summer’s field operation) won out. As Moses maintained, “These students bring the rest of the country with them. They’re from good schools and their parents are influential. The interest of the country is awakened and … the government responds.” Moses knew that activist efforts and the subsequent assaults that followed often struggled for recognition beyond the black press, and would gain a greater spotlight through interracial allyship. However, both critics and supporters of the invitation insisted that the Summer Project weed out applicants with any hint of ulterior or cynical agendas, and that field secretaries communicate to white volunteers, in no uncertain terms, the stakes of the Summer Project’s work.
Close experience of Mississippi’s struggles made the stakes of the Summer Project tragically, vividly, and starkly clear.Just one day after the first wave of white volunteers arrived to assist in voter mobilization, three volunteers already working on the ground — black Mississippian James Chaney and white New Yorkers Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner — went missing. COFO immediately contacted federal law enforcement and the national media to demand and publicize a manhunt. Movement pressure forced the FBI to open an office in Jackson that summer, and compelled Mississippi governor Paul B. Johnson to cooperate in the search as well. In the course of the investigation, and before discovering the bodies of the three civil rights workers six weeks later, law enforcement discovered eight more murdered young black men, whose disappearances had not been investigated. (Many of these victims still have not been identified decades later.) Now no one could denythe peril of their summer mission. But the revelations strengthened the overwhelming majority of volunteers in their sense of purpose. Intentions matured into resolve.
While the Summer Project contained numerous facets, they were all united by the motif of freedom. In the Fall of 1963, black Mississippians had begun to refer to their political participation as “Freedom Votes” and by early 1964 were drawing local media attention to “Freedom Days” of voter registration. Summer Project workers lived and worked in rented or donated spaces that became known as “Freedom Houses.” Volunteers who came to Mississippi after the initial June wave often assisted the ongoing civic and practical education taking place in “Freedom Schools.” Permeating all of this work, in all of these spaces and beyond, were the “Freedom Songs” of joy, solidarity, and determination — expressions of collective purpose that acted as their own form of resistance.
Fannie Lou Hamer and Bob Moses on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in 1964. Courtesy of Civil Rights Movement Archive, https://www.crmvet.org/.
The best known of these “freedom facets” is also the most immediately politically consequential one: the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Just as other parts of the Summer Project fought to democratize the citizenry, the MFDP fought to democratize the state’s dominant political institutions. While black voters in Great Migration cities had gravitated toward the Democratic Party during the New Deal, in the South the party had long been a bastion of unreconstructed Southerners and Jim Crow enforcers, with no black representation whatsoever in Mississippi. The Freedom Democrats mirrored the procedures of the state’s official Democratic Party as closely as possible — from paperwork, to precinct meetings, to delegation selection — with the crucial modificationof making each of these processes open and inclusive, the goal being to seat a more representative delegation as the official Mississippi Democratic Party at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) that August.
Continuing to adhere scrupulously to party procedures, the MFDP arrived in Atlantic City intending to persuade the convention’s credentials committee that, as the only Mississippi delegates selected through an open and transparent process, they were the rightful representatives of the state’s best interests. They entered the convention with public sympathy on their side; the bodies of Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman (murdered at the beginning of the Summer Project) were discovered two days before the convention’s start, refocusing national attention on the cause. And with the MFDP’s chosen lead petitioner to the credentials committee, Fannie Lou Hamer, they found a forceful appeal to hearts and minds.The most famous figure to rise to national attention during Freedom Summer, Hamer had been repeatedly terrorized and arrested for her activity in voter mobilization efforts. In her speech at the DNC on August 22, she detailed abuses she and other activists had suffered before closing with a pointed challenge tothe committee:
… if the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated now, I question America. Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings, in America?
Hamer’s speech further swayed public sympathy for the MFDP. While President Lyndon Johnson had been making significant steps in recognizing civil rights, including signing the CIvil Rights Act earlier in the summer, he feared the electoral consequences of supporting the MFDP. At his insistence, the DNC delayed a recognition vote (to cool the emotions Hamer aroused), then offered a compromise: the DNC would recognize two MFDP delegates (one black member, one white member) in a ceremonial capacity and promise larger structural change and greater inclusion at future conventions. The compromise satisfied neither the MFDP (who rejected it and continued to protest) nor the all-white official state party (all but a handful leaving in outrage). Johnson’s political maneuvering on this front proved for naught: while he defeated Republican candidate Barry Goldwater in a landslide in the November general election, he ultimately lost Mississippi and four other Deep South states.
Many of the most impactful feats of activism demonstrate powerful combinations of protest and partnership, resistance and coordination. Freedom Summer shows how such cooperation bears fruit. The project drew on a vast network of interpersonal and organizational partnerships, involving a cast of thousands. The creativity, discipline, and courage of the participants galvanized future efforts in the civil rights and student movements. While Freedom Summer’s voter registration efforts ultimately fell short of organizational ambitions, it inspired future mobilization efforts in Mississippi and beyond. It fed the momentum for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Finally, its institutional challenge at the DNC precipitated changes in both the delegation practices and in the very composition of the Democratic Party.
ADDITIONAL WORKS CONSULTED
Biewen, John, host/producer. “Freedom Summer.” Scene On Radio. Season 4, Episode 7. Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University. April 2020. Podcast.
Dittmer, John. Local People: the Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi. University of Illinois Press, 1995
“Freedom Summer, 1964.” History this Week. The History Channel. June 2020. Podcast.
Malik Ali, a James Madison Fellow and 2017 graduate of the Master of Arts in American History and Government program, is Tukman Distinguished Teacher of History at the Branson School in Ross, California.
Perhaps you’ve noticed Nutella’s rapid rise in popularity in the last few years. Some variation of chocolate hazelnut spread has been popular in other parts of the world for hundreds of years. Thanks to increased marketing in the past decade, it’s gained popularity in the US too.
According to Mental Floss, someone buys a jar of Nutella every 2.5 seconds somewhere in the world! That’s a lot of chocolatey goodness. And what’s not to love, right?
A lot, actually! This delicious hazelnut spread contains a LOT of sugar and some of the ingredients are questionable at best. While store-bought Nutella is often thought of as a healthy snack, I’d lump it in with donuts and chocolate bars due to its high sugar content. And in 2012 Ferrero (who makes Nutella) settled a lawsuit for deceptively marketing it as a health food.
A Healthy, Homemade Nutella Recipe
When I introduced this nostalgic treat to my children several years ago (before researching the ingredients) they loved it. So I was sad it’s not a yummy treat they could enjoy often (six kids + that much sugar = not fun). Even though it has some beneficial ingredients (hazelnuts and dark chocolate) hidden under all that sugar!
So of course I set out to try and recreate a healthy, homemade version!
This homemade “no-tella” option is great if you’re really trying to limit carbs/sugar. Some recipes call for melted chocolate, granulated sugar, or coconut sugar to sweeten. This version uses maple syrup for a refined sugar free version. Honey will also work here. The liquid sweetener helps make it creamier.
Recipe Edits
The downside to this homemade version? It isn’t as creamy as the “real” thing from the grocery store and is more the consistency of almond butter or natural peanut butter. If you want a natural option that’s better than the original, I recommend this one. It’s nutty, spreadable, and skips the granulated sugar, palm oil, and other additives.
I originally used room temperature coconut oil in this recipe but water seems to work better. It does decrease the shelf life somewhat, but that’s not been a problem at our house. My kids eat it up fast enough I don’t have to worry!
Homemade “No-tella” Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
This is my take on Nutella. It’s homemade, is made with real food ingredients, and is dairy-free and vegan. I’ve used this spread to make brownies, buttercream for cupcakes, cake fillings, breads, cookies, and more. It’s as versatile as it is delicious.
How to Remove the Hazelnut Skins
Homemade Nutella tastes better when it’s made without the papery nut skins. You don’t have to meticulously sit there with a peeler though! There are a few different ways to remove them. I use the jar method and put freshly roasted hazelnuts in a jar, shake, and then pick out the nuts.
Another option is to use a kitchen towel. Simply place the roasted hazelnuts on a towel, fold it over, and rub them together.
Homemade Nutella Recipe
A delicious chocolate hazelnut spread recipe with simple ingredients, much less sugar, and higher in protein than the leading brand.
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spread the hazelnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 12 to 15 minutes, until fragrant.
Carefully put the roasted hazelnuts in a mason jar with the lid on and shake. The papery skins will fall right off. Remove the skinless nuts and put them in a food processor or a high-speed blender.
Grind the hazelnuts for about 5-8 minutes until they turn into a creamy hazelnut butter.
Mix the cocoa powder and warm water together until dissolved and smooth.
Add the maple syrup, cocoa powder mixture, vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Blend for another 2-3 minutes until all the ingredients are combined and smooth.
Transfer to a mason jar or other airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for several weeks.
Nutrition Facts
Homemade Nutella Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 TBSP)
Calories 117 Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Fat 9g14%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 7g
Sodium 37mg2%
Potassium 138mg4%
Carbohydrates 8g3%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 3IU0%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 26mg3%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Feel free to use any sweetener you’d like in this recipe, just sweeten to taste.
How to Use Hazelnut Chocolate Spread
This classic Italian spread is versatile and great for so many things. Here are a few ways
A Healthier Hazelnut Spread Option
Confession: I don’t make this recipe as much since discovering an even better pre-made version. You can get it here. I’m all for taking the DIY route whenever possible, but in this case, pre-made is a good choice in several ways:
Less sugar: It has 40% less sugar than other options. The name brand has 21 grams of sugar per 2 tablespoons, while Nutiva has only 12 grams.
Ethically sourced: Most hazelnut spreads use palm oil, which can be problematic if not ethically sourced. All of the ingredients in the Nutiva brand, including palm oil, are ethically sourced (rainforest and animal-friendly).
More nutritious: Unlike other brands, this one contains 450 milligrams of omega-3s per serving from chia and flax! (That’s more than sardines and tuna contain per serving. My kids certainly prefer the chocolate option!)
Organic, non-GMO verified, and certified gluten-free: Other brands aren’t organic or have GMO ingredients.
Are you a fan of chocolate hazelnut spread? Ever tried to make homemade Nutella? Share below!
Remember before the financial crash of 2008 when anyone with a pulse could get a loan—and some people without pulses got them, too, when appraisers were jacking up values and cash back at closings was commonplace? Three New York Tri-State area investors jumped into their DeLoreans and time-traveled back to 2007 because they’ve just pleaded guilty to a creative financing scheme on a Cincinnatimultifamily apartment complex that would have old-school fraudsters shocked by their audacity.
An Inflated Price and Fraudulent Documents
According to a recent article by CoStar, Department of Justice (DOJ) investigators uncovered a multiyear scheme that cost commercial brokerage JLL $18 million.
Investors Fredrick Schulman, 72, of New York; Chaim “Eli” Puretz, 29, of New Jersey; and Moshe “Mark” Silber, 34, of New York, pleaded guilty to wire fraud after obtaining a $74.25 million Fannie Mae loan on the 976-unit Williamsburg of Cincinnati Apartments & Townhomes, which they acquired for $70 million in March 2019. They attempted to do a double closing, jacking up the price of the apartment building to $95.85 million, which was the sale price presented to the lenders through fraudulent documents, according to the DOJ.
Specifically, Silber, Schulman, and other co-conspirators used stolen identities presented to JLL and Fannie Mae to represent the buyer of the larger purchase price. The double closing occurred on March 8, 2019.
JLL attributed the loan to an $18 million loss on their second-quarter earnings report. According to a recent article in theWall Street Journal, this kind of fraudulent activity has led to more stringent application processes, with lenders required to independently verify financial information from borrowers seeking loans for multifamily properties, according to estimates from their latest annual filings, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which the U.S. government backs, securitize 40% of the $2.2 trillion of multifamily mortgage debt as of September 2023.
The Assessed Value Crumbles
Interestingly, the Cincinnati property was appraised at $99 million when the loan was originated in 2019, allowing for the higher sales price. However, whether through mismanagement, an adjustable-interest rate mortgage, or tenant falloff, it was reappraised in March 2024 for $34 million and, according to CoStar data, was over 90 days delinquent.
“A receiver has been appointed, and we’re intending to stabilize the property, including some occupancy improvements, before the asset is sold,” Karen Brennan, JLL’s CFO, said on the company’s earnings conference call.
Not the Fraudsters’ Only Scam
The DOJ also disclosed that the three fraudsters also pleaded guilty to another scam, in which they defrauded lenders on another loan originated by JPMorgan Chase on a commercial property in Troy, Michigan. Silber, Schulman, and Puretz acquired Troy Technology Park in September 2020 for $42.7 million. To support an inflated purchase price of $70 million, the DOJ claims the accused submitted a fraudulent letter of intent to the lender and appraiser to purchase the property from another party for $68.8 million.
JPMorgan lent $45 million on the Troy Technology Park loan, which was transferred to special servicing in December “due to mortgage fraud and remains past due for the December 2023 payment,” according to the monthly July bondholder report for the bond deal. The property was foreclosed upon in May 2024.
According to the DOJ, Silber, Schulman, and Puretz are scheduled to be sentenced on December 3, 2024, and each will receive a maximum five-year sentence.
A Rise in Mortgage Fraud
The number of fraudulent mortgage schemes has risen since 2022, when higher interest rates led to declining commercial property values. The increasing DOJ crackdown has resulted in borrowers having to submit rent receipts and increased scrutiny of financial documents.
Fudged income statements and faked property sales at inflated prices are two of the most common fraudulent documents submitted for loans. Fannie Mae has methodically been blocking mortgage brokers such as Meridian Capital Group after allegations of impropriety by brokers to get larger loans.
Final Thoughts
The audacity of the schemes in Ohio and Michigan implies that they didn’t just come out of thin air. They infer that other “investors” had tried something similar, thus emboldening Silber, Schulman, and Puretz to commit their fraud.
Pre-2008, doctored financial documents were commonplace in real estate transactions, and many such deals only came to light when people involved—especially banks—began to lose money. But as long as everyone was making money, many fraudulent deals went undetected.
The lunacy behind the Ohio and Michigan deals was that JLL and JPMorgan Chase lost millions of dollars. How Silber, Schulman, and Puretz expected to get away with it is baffling—but presumably, they knew someone who had been successful doing something similar in the past.
Ultimately, becoming successful in real estate does not require the kind of technical and analytical mind needed for other high-earning industries such as tech. It’s a numbers game. There are enough legal avenues open to investors to make money without breaking the law, which is why, when cases such as these come to light, it’s hard not to be stunned by the fraudsters’ stupidity.
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(RNS) — This week I was one of dozens of prominent Christian leaders invited to speak at a virtual event called “Evangelicals for Harris.” I was also invited to speak at the protests outside the Democrat National Convention, where thousands of activists are asking the Democrats inside the party’s national convention to demand an arms embargo on Israel before they lend their support to the Harris-Walz ticket.
My two invitations show the conflict I find myself facing this election season. A committed follower of Jesus, I see no way to defend Donald Trump, who has made a vocation out of the seven deadly sins. In addition, Trump promises to raise the death toll in Gaza, further fan the flames of hatred through the annexation of the West Bank and help annihilate the Palestinian people.
The former president’s rhetoric and policies are not only un-Christlike, they are so devoid of love and compassion and decency that even my conservative friends don’t know what to do. One of my neighbors who has voted Republican all his life told me he will be joining the swelling number of “Republicans Against Trump.”
Yet my same commitment to Jesus, the Prince of Peace, puts me at odds with Vice President Kamala Harris in her decision to stand by the Biden administration’s unqualified support for Israel. Christians, whose history began under the occupation of empire, should lend an ear to Palestinian theologians who have so much wisdom to offer at such a time as this.
Like many people committed to peace, I have spoken out passionately against Hamas’ atrocious act of terror on Oct. 7. I continue to demand the release of hostages. I have demanded that humanitarian aid be let into Gaza. It’s not too much to expect my presidential candidate will similarly be committed to ending the funding and arming of Israel as that country mercilessly slaughters women and children.
When Jesus commanded me to love my enemies, I’m pretty sure he meant that we shouldn’t kill them. The New Testament teaches: “Do not repay evil for evil. … If your enemy is hungry, feed them. If your enemy is thirsty, give them something to drink.” That doesn’t leave much room for the forced starvation that’s happening in Gaza. No Christian can defend the evil being done by the state of Israel.
Protesters march to the Democratic National Convention after a rally at Union Park, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Even Augustine’s “Just War Theory” created limits for times of war, and one of those limits is proportionality. If Augustine were alive today, I’m confident that he would be appalled by how folks pretending to be Christian have distorted and betrayed his own ideas with willful ignorance. We are not going to bomb our way to a better world. Violence only begets more violence. As Jesus said, if you live by the sword, you die by the sword.
It was only a generation ago that thousands of protesters converged outside another Democratic convention held in Chicago, opposing another war. We know those who demanded we stop fighting in Vietnam were on the right side of history. It’s difficult to imagine the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who spoke out against that war, supporting this one.
But it’s difficult too not to support the first Black and South Asian and female president, who is likely the most effective way to stop another four years of President Trump.
Millions of Americans do not want our taxes and our government to support a genocide in Gaza. Not just in Chicago, but all over the country this week, thousands of people have marched in the streets with the message: “Not Another Bomb.” If Harris said that she won’t send another bomb to Israel, she might forfeit the $5.3 million she’s gotten from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, known as AIPAC, the most powerful pro-Israel lobby, but recent data shows she would not lose votes from millions of Americans who want an end to the violence in Gaza.
It all feels so calculated and choreographed, and gross. Robin Williams once said: “Politicians should wear sponsor jackets like NASCAR drivers. Then we know who owns them.” We want to believe a woman as strong as Harris would not sell out her moral conscience to lobbyists.
Even if the Democrats win this election, their policy in the Middle East may lose this generation. Young people have had enough of the excuses and accommodations and political calculations. They’ve had enough of empire and colonialism and corporate greed and capitalism. For many young people, the American experiment in democracy is broken. They question the Supreme Court, the Electoral College, the permanent two-party system, the war economy, campaign financing and the inability of Congress to do anything meaningful on guns or immigration — and now, stopping the genocide in Gaza.
My faith as a Christian has long been about subverting empires and standing with the vulnerable, the widows and orphans, and all those Christ called “the least of these.” Right now, that means standing against the genocide in Gaza. As my friend the Rev. Munther Isaac says, “Gaza is the moral compass of the world.”
When I vote, then, I am not looking for a Savior. My Savior is a brown-skinned, Palestinian, homeless Jewish refugee born in a genocide, who would get kicked out of most evangelical Christian churches if he stood up to preach. Because of Jesus, I’m sure not voting for Trump. But it would be a lot easier to feel excited about Harris if she would stop giving Israel weapons.
King once said, “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.”
Whoever we elect in November will certainly need us to be their moral conscience in January. We are not electing a Savior. We are electing a commander in chief of the largest military in the world, inside the world’s most powerful empire. We are electing the person we will need to protest for the next four years.
This 1847 painting, known as Galileo before the Holy Office, depicts Galileo during his trial for blasphemy by the Catholic Church. Although we normally equate relativity with Einstein, it was Galileo who first, and correctly, formulated a theory of relativity nearly 300 years earlier. (Credit: Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury/Wikimedia Commons)
The original principle of relativity, proposed by Galileo way back in the early 1600s, remains true in its unchanged form even today.
When most people think of the term relativity, the first person who comes to mind is Albert Einstein. Indeed, Einstein’s two theories of relativity — the special theory of relativity, put forth in 1905, and the general theory of relativity, put forth a decade later in 1915 — represent a revolutionary way of viewing our Universe. Prior to Einstein, it was thought that both space and time were absolute quantities: the same for all observers, regardless of their location or of their motion through the Universe. It was thought that the amount of time that passed for anyone, anywhere, would be universally agreed upon, as would the distance between any two points or the physical size of solid objects. Only with the arrival of Einstein was it recognized that even quantities such as space and time weren’t absolute at all, but were instead experienced relative to the observer’s point of view.
But Einstein didn’t originate the concept of relativity at all. In fact, relativity can trace its origins back to nearly 400 years ago: when it was put forth by a scientist who obsessively studied the behavior of…
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Get building with this LEGO animal gift pack deal at Walmart!
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With this one set, you can build and rebuild nine different animals! Kids can construct a T-Rex, Triceratops, Pterodactyl, shark, angler fish, squid, owl, deer, and squirrel and create different animal scenes. For ages 7 and up, this set makes a great gift and would be a nice addition to your LEGO collection!
Kelli is a content writer with a degree in English Education from Penn State University. As a mom and a former middle school English teacher, she has spent the last 25 years looking for good deals for her home and the classroom.
