As the war enters its 950th day, these are the main developments.
Here is the situation on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
Fighting
At least six people were killed and three injured in the southern city of Kherson, which lies on the western bank of the Dnipro river, after Russian artillery fire struck a market. Six more people were injured after they were hit by Russian fire while waiting at a city bus stop.
At least one person was killed and 32 injured in the southern Zaporizhia region after Russia hit residential buildings and infrastructure with aerial bombs, according to regional governor, Ivan Fedorov.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down 29 out of 32 Iranian-made drones launched in a Russian attack on central, southern and northeastern Ukraine.
Vadym Filashkin, the governor of the Donetsk region, said Russian troops had reached the centre of Vuhledar in eastern Ukraine’s industrial Donbas. It was not clear whether they had control of the entire town, which is in an elevated position and has been flattened by months of war. Filashkin said about 107 civilians remained in Vuhledar, About 14,000 people lived there before the war.
Russia said it had captured two more front-line villages – Krutyi Yar in the Donetsk region and Vyshneve in the northeastern Kharkiv region – the state-run RIA news agency reported.
Ukraine held a nationwide moment of silence remembering the country’s war dead on Defenders Day, the third since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukraine does not release official numbers on its war dead. Tens of thousands of soldiers are thought to have been killed.
Politics and diplomacy
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said that Russian torture and mistreatment against Ukrainian prisoners of war were “pervasive” in all stages of captivity. The mission also found some torture or ill-treatment of Russian POWs by Ukraine in the initial stages of captivity but that such actions stopped once prisoners arrived at official places of internment. The mistreatment of Russian and Ukrainian POWs “is different in scope and scale,” said Danielle Bell, the mission’s head.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said Kyiv was investigating the killing of 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war, who were taken captive by Russian forces on the eastern front line after surrendering. Kostin said the men appeared to have been shot dead in an incident that took place near Pokrovsk.
Russia said it had detained 39 people, including nine teenagers, in several Russian regions, accusing them of backing “Ukrainian terrorist” groups.
Russia released three journalists for independent news outlets it had detained as they interviewed people who attended a Red Square event to mark the annexation two years ago of four Ukrainian regions. The three were fined 500 roubles ($5) each for allegedly using “foul language” in a public space.
NATO’s new Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Ukraine was his “top priority”. Rutte, a former prime minister of the Netherlands, was formally installed in the role on Tuesday.
I grew up in a home where rice was on the table every single night, and I have been cooking rice my entire adult life, often multiple times a week. And each time, I make it the exact same way: I wash the grains in water until it runs clear, strain the rice, then place it in a pot. I touch the top of the rice using my pointer finger and add just enough water to reach my first knuckle. This technique is widely referred to as the “knuckle method,” which many home cooks—particularly those of Asian descent, including myself—swear will yield the perfect ratio of water to rice, regardless of batch size, owner of finger, or size of pot. Every time.
“The knuckle method has always been foolproof,” food writer Jess Eng tells me. “I picked it up from my mom who picked it up from her mom.” Eng grew up watching her parents make rice using the knuckle method, and today she prepares rice the exact same way, though she’s unable to offer an explanation of why she thinks it works. Meredith Wong, a Chicago-based home cook whom I connected with over social media after putting out a request seeking knuckle-rice enthusiasts, says her late grandfather taught her the technique. “I can’t remember when he showed me, but I’ve used it as a guide since,” she says.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Like Eng and Wong, I learned to make rice by watching my parents and grandparents. I don’t remember when, exactly, they taught me, nor do I remember a time in my life when I didn’t know how to make rice. I’ve been doing it for so long that it feels deeply intuitive. With the knuckle method, I can make fluffy, tender grains in any pot and in any kitchen. But how does the technique actually work? And also, more critically: Does it work?
These questions first popped into my head when I watched my husband, who grew up in a household where his Scottish and Ashkenazi Jewish parents did not regularly cook rice, attempt to follow my knuckle-rice instructions. I showed him the way my parents taught me, confident his rice would come out as perfect as mine. He followed my directions to a T, but his grains came out mushy and overcooked. What had gone wrong, I wondered, and was it possible that the knuckle method wasn’t as foolproof as I thought? I decided to find out.
What Happens When You Cook Rice?
In order to understand how the knuckle method works, we first need to understand a couple basic things about what happens when you cook rice. As the rice cooks, the grains absorb water and the starch inside swells and softens. But there’s only so much water rice can absorb before it reaches optimal gelatinization—any more and the rice blows out and turns to mush. “That ratio sits at around one part of water to one part of rice by volume,” writes Tim Chin in his basic white rice recipe.
This may strike readers who have cooked rice at least a few times in their lives as odd: Most recipes don’t call for equal volumes of rice and water, they call for slightly more water than rice. Ratios vary, but roughly one-and-a-quarter cups of water per one cup of dried rice is common. The reason for this is evaporation. A 1:1 ratio of rice to water by volume may be ideal, but that’s only true if none of the water escapes as steam. In the real world, since some amount of water boils off in a cloud of vapor, you have to add a little extra or you’ll end up with too little water and grains of crunchy rice.
Chicken Mains Hainanese Chicken Rice Set
cook time:
2 hrs 35 mins
serves:
4
And here we get to another tricky detail: This extra amount of water that’s needed when cooking rice—let’s call it the evaporation quotient—does not scale proportionally as the batch size goes up. Meaning, you may need one-and-a-quarter cups of water to cook one cup of rice, but you don’t need two-and-a-half cups of water to cook two cups of rice. That’s because, given roughly similar pot sizes, the amount of water that evaporates is more or less the same no matter if you’re cooking one, two, or three cups of rice; you’ll always lose about one-quarter cup of water as steam.
Understanding the logic behind the knuckle method requires first understanding these basic facts of absorption and evaporation during the cooking of rice.
How Does the Knuckle Method Work?
One of the main arguments for why the knuckle method works hinges on the idea that as the rice batch size goes up, the water scales up with it in a ratio of 1:1 by volume, but the evaporation quotient does not—it just gets added on top.
In a YouTube video, Julie Yu, a scientist at the San Francisco museum Exploratorium, tells viewers that when you put dry rice in a pot and add only enough water to just submerge the rice, you’ve more or less arrived at that basic, perfect 1:1 ratio of water to rice by volume. Meaning, the volume of all the space between the dry rice grains that is filled by the water is roughly equal to the volume of the dry rice itself. She then goes on to explain that by placing the tip of your index finger against the surface of the bed of rice and bringing the water up to that first knuckle, you are successfully measuring the evaporation quotient.
“Because the amount that you need for absorption scales [with] the amount of rice, but the amount that escapes by evaporation does not, a ratio method is going to cause you trouble when you get into larger and larger quantities of rice,” she says. And that, my friends, is why the knuckle method can work regardless of the batch size, whereas simply multiplying a base ratio does not.
According to Yu, the method is so dependable because the length of your index finger from tip to first knuckle just happens to be spot-on for measuring the evaporation quotient. But of course her point is not only that your finger is the perfect length for measuring the water to be evaporated, but that everyone’s finger is the correct length for this. She claims, quite confidently, that the “first segment of adult-sized fingers are remarkably similar,” adding that if viewers didn’t believe her, we could measure for ourselves—which is exactly what I did.
The Testing
The theory behind the knuckle method makes sense: Volumes of water and rice scale in a 1:1 ratio, but the extra water needed to account for steam does not. But after watching my husband, I had doubts about how “foolproof” the method really was in practice. Are our fingers really similar enough in length to guarantee such consistent results? The good news is that this is easily measured with a ruler and calculated using basic geometry.
I decided to run two tests, one based solely on finger measurements and volume calculations, the second a more real-world examination of the knuckle rice method put into practice.
Test 1: Counting on Fingers
With ruler in hand, I set off around the office, asking friends, colleagues, and strangers if I could measure their index fingers. (This elicited some strange looks—you’d be amazed how uncomfortable this can make some people.)
Soon, I had the measurements of the first phalanx (to use the anatomically correct term) of the index fingers of 19 people. Even in such a small sample size, I could see that not everyone’s finger was the same length. In my survey, I documented a six millimeter range between the smallest finger segment (2.3 centimeters) and the largest segment (2.9 centimeters, belonging to our very own editorial director Daniel Gritzer). Since this was a survey of only 19 index fingers, one can safely assume that a larger number of measurements would have uncovered an even bigger range. But let’s work with what we’ve got—let’s say six millimeters is how much human index fingers vary when measured from the tip to the top to the knuckle (which I defined as the most pronounced crease on the palm-side of the finger).
The next question is: How much of a difference in water volume can a six millimeter difference in phalanx length make? Well, that’s as simple as calculating the volume of a cylinder, because what is a pot if not a cylinder that’s closed on one end and open on the other? I figured the most common pot size for most at-home batches of rice would be about three quarts. After looking at lots of 3-quart pots online I settled on 8 1/2 inches as a good average diameter, which any sane person would immediately convert to metric (216mm) before doing any math.
The question then becomes: What’s the volume of a 216mm-wide pot for every one millimeter of height? Many readers may be struggling to remember their high school (middle school?) geometry formulas, so I’ll remind you: The volume of a cylinder is calculated by multiplying pi by the square of the radius, and then multiplying that result by the height.
This is the math:
Serious Eats
Let’s just walk through the above in case it’s causing the math-phobic among us mental paralysis.
First we calculate the radius: The radius is half the length of diameter. The pot’s diameter is 216mm, so the radius is half that at 108mm.
Then we multiply pi by the square of the radius: 108mm squared is 11,664 square millimeters, and we multiply that by 3.1416, getting 36,651.85 square millimeters.
We multiply this result by the height: Multiplying 36,651.85 square millimeters by 1mm gives us a volume of 36,651.85 cubed millimeters.
As a last step, let’s convert those cubed millimeters into milliliters: This gets us a final volume of 36.65mL for every 1mm of height in a typical 3-quart pot.
Translated to teaspoons—because, yes, after the undeniable mathematical beauty of the metric system, we’re gonna switch back to the inane (yet familiar!) chaos of US customary—that’s about 7 teaspoons for every 1mm of pot height.
Now let’s go back to the 6mm range I’d documented when measuring index finger segments: If every millimeter of water in a 3-quart pot holds about 7 teaspoons, then a 6mm range in finger segment length can alter the volume of water in a rice recipe by 42 teaspoons. That’s more than 3/4 cup!
Let me spell that out: The natural variation in a human finger can change the amount of water added to the rice by more than 3/4 cup, which is a significant amount considering we only want about 1/4 cup of extra “evaporation quotient” water when cooking rice.
This is not good news for the claim that knuckle rice is a foolproof method. But this is also just based on finger measurements and calculations on paper. What happens when you look at the messiness of the real-world scenario in which one has to stick their finger into a pot and add water?
I tested that too.
Test 2: You Can Lead a Knuckle to Water…But Can It Make Good Rice?
In this test, I asked a bunch of people to add water to one cup (200 grams) of dry jasmine rice in a 3-quart pot using the knuckle method, weighing how much water was added each time.
Water Amount (Grams)
Finger Length (CM)
689
2.4
639
2.5
534
2.4
518
2.3
448
2.7
425
2.5
421
2.3
405
2.4
348
2.7
295
2.4
259
2.5
236
2.6
As you can see above, the most water added was 689 grams (almost three cups), and the least amount of water was 236 grams (about one cup). For comparison’s sake, if we were working with a ratio of 1 1/4 cups water for 1 cup of rice, the goal would be 295g water here. While one person absolutely nailed it, a few came in under and many more added too much water—shockingly too much. But even if we remove the most extreme measurements from the top and bottom ends of the range, we’re still looking at 639g on the high end and 259g on the low end, which is a huge range.
Even weirder, the amounts of water added don’t seem to correlate with finger length in the ways we’d expect. Instead of the amount of water added going up as finger length increases, my data shows no clear correlation between finger length and water quantity.
What’s up with that? Well, for starters, my sample size is small. Perhaps my data would be better with a hundred data points instead of the 12 I have here. Another possibility is that we didn’t standardize the technique well enough across participants. I had told them to place their index finger against the bed of rice and pour water up to the first knuckle joint, but it’s possible not everyone interpreted these instructions the same way. Maybe some allowed their fingers to sink down into the bed of rice, held their finger at an angle, and/or judged the “first knuckle” inconsistently (there are, after all, a lot of creases on the skin of our knuckles—who’s to say where the line really is?).
Even if my data has a high degree of confounding factors, the test underscores a critical point: The knuckle rice method is meant to be foolproof, and yet it can easily be interpreted and applied differently with drastic consequences, and that’s not even factoring in the guaranteed variation in water volume we would expect to see just from the differences in finger length.
Is the Knuckle Method Garbage?
Though I’ve never been let down by the knuckle method, our test results show that, in reality, this method is not a consistent way to make rice. That’s not to say that the knuckle method doesn’t work; it likely works well for the people who are familiar with it, like those who grew up watching their family prepare rice this way or have done it so many times that they’ve developed an intuition for the right amount of water to use over time.
One of our contributors, Vy Tran, tells me that she uses the knuckle method (which she picked up from her mom) on a daily basis, but doesn’t think it’s consistent. “Once you figure out a certain water level and can eyeball it, it works well,” she says. “But usually different types of rice will need trial and error of how much water.”
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
It appears that the knuckle method works not because there’s something precise about it, but because the people who use it have developed a deep familiarity over time, becoming more and more attuned to the nuances of the method without realizing it’s not just the method, but their experience, that makes it work. And so it was for the people they learned from, and the people the learned from, going back generations.
Even though I’m a baker and pastry chef by training and swear by the scale, I am still deeply devoted to the knuckle method. The fact that this method works for so many people—despite the huge variation in knuckle lengths and the amount of water used—suggests that practice does, indeed, make perfect. But it’s more than practice: It’s the embodiment of knowledge and experience one gains over time in the kitchen. There is an art to making a great pot of rice, one that is built on an intuitive feel learned by our hands by doing something hundreds, if not thousands, of times, often in ways we’re not even conscious of. The knuckle method may not literally be the best way to cook rice, but it’s also undeniably the best way to cook rice.
So does the knuckle method work? It can—but not for the reasons everyone thinks.
A 57-year-old taxi driver was the first to submit his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for Cebu City Council on the opening day of filing of COCs on October 1.
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A 57-year-old taxi driver was the first to submit his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for Cebu City Council on the opening day of filing of COCs on October 1.
As the Commission on Elections (Comelec) officially opened the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the 2025 elections on October 1, Abraham Alcontin Verdida, a long-time taxi driver, was among the early filers, submitting his bid for a seat in Cebu City’s South District.
The filing period will run until October 8, with election day slated for May 12, 2025.
Verdida, a resident of Barangay Labangon, arrived at the Comelec office as early as 9 a.m. to ensure his paperwork was processed.
However, his initial attempt was delayed due to incomplete documents that required notarization. He was able to complete the filing process by 1 p.m.
READ MORE:
LIVE UPDATES: Filing of CoCs in Cebu
COMELEC releases schedule for 2025 elections, COC filing
Comelec: Bets have until Oct. 8 to file COCs for 2025 elections
Why taxi driver is running for councilor
In an interview with reporters, the 57-year-old driver shared that running for public office had been suggested to him, despite having no prior political experience.
Although some in his community were surprised by his decision to run, especially given his background, Verdida believes it is worth trying.
“Naa may nihunghong nako nga, ‘Suwayi lang og dagan (kay) dili bitaw ka maunsa og dili ka kadaog.’ Mao ni nga ako lang gisuwayan, basin diay,” he said.
(Somebody whispered to me to ‘Try to run (because) nothing will happen to me if I won’t win.’ That is why I am trying to run, who knows perhaps, [I’ll win].)
Verdida expressed a simple desire to contribute to his district as he aims to continue providing free rides to passengers on his birthday.
“Naa koy dugang ikatampo kay og kaloy-an ko, [diba] kada birthday nako magpalibreng sakay man ko no. Inig makadaog ko, naa koy ihatag nga tulo ka sako ipa-raffle nako,” he added.
(I have something to offer because God willing, every birthday that I celebrate I will give free rides. When I win, I will give three sacks of rice that I will give away through a raffle draw.)
With six years of experience behind the wheel, Verdida gained recognition in the city, particularly for his annual gesture of providing free rides on January 12, his birthday.
Now, he hopes to translate this spirit of service into his campaign for the South District Council seat.
Taxi driver’s platform, Mayor Mike’s assurance
Moreover, he admitted that his resources are limited, but Verdida remains hopeful that his platform of small but meaningful acts will appeal to the voters.
Supported by his family, including his wife and four children, Verdida said that his campaign would largely rely on the goodwill of his community, particularly his neighbors and fellow drivers.
He said that his candidacy lacks the financial backing of more prominent political figures, but he is determined to offer what he can.
“Naa may nipasalig nako…si Mayor Mike nipasalig siya. [Niingon] siya, ‘lakaw file didto, atong paningkamotan,” he shared.
(Somebody, assured me…Mayor Mike assured me. [He told me], Go file there, we will try our best [to win].)
Verdida also said that he spoke to Rama about joining the Partido Barug as part of Rama’s political slate for the 2025 midterm elections. However, he did not receive a definite response.
“Akong gisuwayan og first time hangyo [si Rama] but wala siya mutando,” he said.
(I tried to ask him [Rama], but he did not give a yes answer.)
Potential support from pols
Though he is currently running as an independent candidate, Verdida said he was open to potential support from local political figures, particularly those he had worked with.
He has served as a driver for several politicians, including Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama and Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia.
“Independent ko sa pagkakaron pero og naay muingon nako, si Mayor Tommy ba, nga ari ka nako. Ari diri dawaton nako,” he added.
(I am running as an independent now but if somebody would say, perhaps, Mayor Tommy [Osmeña], that come here. Come here, I will accept you.)
Verdida believes that with some backing, he stands a better chance of succeeding in his bid for a council seat.
“Og inyo ko tabangan nga makadaog ta, mao ra gyud ang libreng sakay kada birthday nako akong mahatag kay wala man koy kwarta. Og kaloyan ta nga makadaog plus tulo ka sako nga atong ipa raffle kada birthday nako,” he said.
(If you will help me to win, I can only offer you free rides everytime I celebrate my birthday, which is the only thing I can give because I don’t have money. If God will favor us with a win, plus three sacks that we will give away through a raffle draw everytime I celebrate my birthday.)
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The Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL for short) returns this October 2024 for two weekends in a row, with lots of music, food, drinks, and general merriment. Festival attendees returning to the Austin music festival will be able to debate the lineup and figure out what they’ll see. As guests arrive from around the country to see Chappell Roan, Dua Lupa, Chris Stapleton, Tyler the Creator, and others perform live, it’s worth thinking about how to maximize your dining and drinking enjoyment during those three full days at Zilker Park.
C3 Productions, the festival organizers, have tailored the food and drink offerings to suit the event over time — and it remains a much better food court than it needs to be. Naturally, Austin’s greatest hits — tacos, barbecue, beer, and burgers — feature heavily. Thankfully, the offerings also showcase local food and drink for weekend visitors, which certainly adds to the overall experience.
There are always annual tweaks and changes to ACL’s food and drink lineups, and this year is no exception. There’s the first-ever taco court featuring some of the best Mexican restaurants in town like Con Todo, Paprika, and Veracruz All Natural, curated and including Cuantos Tacos and Discada. Likewise, Neapolitan pizzeria Bambino is slinging pies within the formerly named Springs Beer Hall (now called the Big Tent). There’s still the desserts-forever section ACL Sweets. And most importantly, festival standby the Mighty Cone is back. There are 62 food vendors this year.
Below are Eater’s tips for navigating the festival, and picks for on-site dining, as well as selections for brunch, late-night, cocktails, and more outside of the grounds. The festival takes place from Friday, October 4 through Sunday, October 6, and then again from Friday, October 11 through Sunday, October 13, all at Zilker Park.
ACL Sweets during 2023.Taylor Regulski for ACL Fest 2023
ACL Festival Tips
With all outdoor festivals, the best experiences result from advanced planning. Note the following food and drink-related rules and related things to know:
There’s a strict bag policy (clear bags no larger than 12 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches and/or regular bags that are not bigger than 6 inches by 9 inches and/or smaller bags with only one pocket. i.e. clutches and fanny packs).
Empty wearable hydration packs with at most two pockets and plastic/metal/aluminum water bottles are allowed. No glass containers. Refill stations are available within the park.
Stay hydrated! Water is your friend.
The weather predictions for both ACL weekends at this point will be nice, with sunny skies and hot during the daytime (low 90s) and pleasant-to-chilly in the evenings (high 60s the first weekend and low 60s the second). Wear layers. There’s an under-20-percent chance of rain the first weekend, but remember that umbrellas are banned.
It’s fair to expect restaurants along Barton Springs Road to sell to-go booze again this year.
General admission bars will serve cocktails.
ACL Festival Grounds Eats
Lots of food and drinks at ACL Eats.Taylor Regulski for ACL Fest 2023
For those new to Austin’s food scene, the choices at the food courts can be daunting, especially when lines get long during peak dinner hours. Here’s where to focus your dining during those food breaks to save some time. Eater didn’t receive finalized menus from the festival in time for this guide, so we’re making general suggestions for your lunch, dinner, and dessert picks over the weekend.
Friday
Lunch
Stop by Nervous Charlie’s at ACL Eats: The bagel slingers will offer all-day sandwiches made with its everything bagels: bacon/egg/cheese ($12), the vegetarian-friendly avocado/egg/cheese ($12), and even what it’s calling a bagel dog (!!!) where said-frank is placed in an everything-bagel bun ($8).
or
Head to the La Pachanga Eatery for Con Todo: The Eater Award-winning food truck will be slinging what it’s calling XL carnitas tostadas ($16), where two corn tostadas will be topped with slow-cooked pork, guacamole, cilantro, onions, and salsas. Per the name of the business, everything should be ordered “con todo” (with everything).
Dinner
Opt for barbecue truck CM Smokehouse at ACL Eats: the crunchwraps are a portable way to fit in this meal while you’re making your way to the headlining stages to secure good views. There’s the brisket one ($13 for half, $24 for whole) and the vegetarian-friendly cauliflower version ($24) made in either corn or flour tortillas.
or
Cuantos Tacos at ACL Eats: The essential food truck serves fantastic Mexico City-style tacos. During ACL, it’ll offer trios of brisket ($18), carnitas ($18), and grilled mushrooms with adobo sauce ($18) for filling meals.
Dessert
End the day with JP’S Pancake Company at ACL Sweets: The little pancakes in cups from the food truck work very well for wandering the grounds. Of the available flavors, make it a festive course with the birthday cake option ($11), where the pancakes are covered in a birthday cake glaze and sprinkles. Gluten-free and vegan pancakes are available, plus you can add all the toppings you want.
Musical performances
Check out Chris Stapleton, Blink-182, the Marías, Santigold (weekend two), Dasha, Norah Jones, and Mannequin Pussy (weekend one).
Saturday
Lunch
Try T-Loc’s Sonora Hot Dogs at ACL Eats: Get a taste of Arizona in Austin through the Sonoran hot dogs ($15) from this food truck. The bacon-wrapped hot dog is doused in pinto beans, sauteed onions, diced tomatoes, mayonnaise, mustard, and jalapeño sauce.
or
Tiny Pies at ACL Eats: Yes, the bakery doles out great sweets, but the savory options work for a filling meal. The chicken hand pie ($14), which is basically a chicken pot pie, is the best bet.
Dinner
Venture over to Paprika at La Pachanga Eatery: The food truck’s suadero taco trio ($16) isn’t to be missed, with confit brisket and goodies atop corn tortillas.
or
Even though New Texan butcher shop and restaurant Salt & Time is technically closed, it’s still serving at the ACL Eats food court: Find a version of its iconic burger, but this time, it’s a smash burger ($12 for a single patty, $16 for double) made with wagyu beef layered with cheese, mayonnaise, pickles, and optional bacon for an extra $3.
Dessert
Scope out Holla Mode: The ice cream truck dishes up fun rolled Thai ice creams, a perfect way to cool off after a day of music. The sticky rice mango ($10) is a great pick.
Musical performances
Check out Dua Lipa, Reneé Rapp, Vince Staples, Khruangbin, Remi Wolf (weekend two), the Beaches, and Something Corporate (weekend one).
Paprika’s tacos.Paprika
Sunday
Lunch
It’s apt to get tacos for the last day of the festival, no? Make your way over to Discada at La Pachanga Eatery: The truck will be making its namesake tacos, the discada, available in threes ($16). The meaty mixture is made with confit beef and pork, plus onions, cilantro, pineapples, and habanero escabeche.
or
Steamies Dumplings at ACL Eats: Chinese dumplings make for an excellent lunch, and the farmers market stand-slash-cafe-slash-shop serves up some of the best iterations in Austin. Half-dozen potstickers will be available in pork-cabbage ($16), chicken-shiitake mushrooms ($16), and vegan ($16).
Dinner
For the final (savory) meal of ACL, head to La Santa Barbacha at La Pachanga Eatery: The food truck is all about barbacoa, per the name, so, yes, order the trio of barbacoa tacos ($16) served on corn tortillas with cilantro, onions, salsa, and limes.
or
Burro Cheese Kitchen at ACL Eats: The grilled cheese truck’s been a staple at the festival for quite some time. Opt for one of the vegetarian-friendly sandwiches, especially the sweet-savory Via 206 ($12) with cheddar cheese and a balsamic-apricot-fig sauce on sourdough bread. Bonus: there’s vegan cheese and gluten-free bread available too.
Dessert
Close out ACL with ice creams from newcomer Dulce Amor Mio at ACL Sweets: The ice cream truck focuses on Mexican-ish flavored frozen sweets available in cups ($10) or waffle cones ($12). The fresa con cream (aka strawberries and cream) sounds absolutely refreshing.
Musical performances
Check out Tyler the Creator, Sturgill Simpson, Chappell Roan, Dom Dolla, Kehlani (weekend one), and Orville Peck.
The Joe Mars aka the Tracksuit pie from Bambino.Bambino
Drinks
Beers
ACL turned what was previously the Barton Springs Beer Hall into the Big Tent, but it’ll still offer beer cans and draft cocktails. Also new this year is a whole pizzeria setup by Austin restaurant Bambino. It’ll fire up pies like the Mi Scusi (smoked mozzarella, marinara sauce, basil, and olive oil with a sesame seed crust), the Little Stinker (a white pie with provoline cheese, mozzarella, red onions, kale, and optional sausage), and the Joe Mars aka the Tracksuit (with those picturesque cupping pepperoni slices, mozzarella, ricotta, hot honey, basil, and marinara sauce). There are also gluten-free crust options and dairy-free cheeses. Expect the tent to be very crowded midday on Saturday, October 12 as people watch the University of Texas at Austin versus the University of Oklahoma college football game.
Cocktails
ACL is still serving actual mixed drinks in the main festival area. There are its general admission bars (plus bars available to varying VIP-style wristbands) as well as sponsored areas such as the Hendrick’s Gin garden, Tito’s Vodka’s setup, Topo Chico’s hard seltzer bar, Aperol Spritzes, and the Flor de Cana rum bar at the Barton Beach Club tiki bar. From the main bars, expect Tito’s vodka-sparkling lemonade ($15 for 12 ounces and $23 for 16), among other options.
Wines (alas, there are no Texas options)
The ACL’s Wine Grove is a good bet for carafes of wines, typically lighter ones like sparklings, rosés, and whites.
Nonalcoholic drinks
Lemonade: The Come and Take It stand is offering freshly squeezed lemonade at ACL Eats.
High Brew Coffee: These portable coffees are ubiquitous in Austin for a reason. Fuel your rally to the finish with a can — the double espresso is the most balanced of the selections, with less sugar than flavored offerings.
Rambler Sparkling Water: The Texas-based fizzy water company will offer its signature plain fizzy water as well as flavored ones.
The Bobs Dance Shop at ACL’s Bonus Tracks in 2022.Ashley Osborn for ACL 2022
Food Near Zilker Park
For those looking to escape the festival grounds for a bit, check out Eater’s vetted list of food and drink options right near Zilker Park. It covers migas, barbecue, cocktail bars, ramen, and everything in between.
Outside of the ACL Festival Grounds
Other Austin Essentials
Eater’s comprehensive city guide is a cheat sheet of sorts for newbies to town. Looking for more options? Here are a few more maps and guides that may be of interest.
Breakfast
The first meal of the day is very important to get you prepared for all the standing, dancing, and drinking that is ahead of you at ACL. Fuel up.
ACL’s Wine Lounge in 2019.Katrina Barber/ACL Fest
Drinking
Hydration is important, but so is booze, and Austin has all kinds of cocktails, beer, and happy hours to keep you going.
Late-Night Food
Embrace the fact that you’re probably going to stay up really late (or really early, depending on how you look at it). Might as well take in some food during those waking hours.
This guide was originally written by Tom Thornton.
Alabama Crimson Tide true freshman cornerback Zabien Brown faced the biggest test of his young career this past weekend, going up against the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs in just his fourth-ever college game.
Brown, a five-star recruit in the Class of 2024, immediately impressed the coaching staff this offseason, leading to him playing a significant role from Week 1 onwards in the Crimson Tide secondary.
And the results have been positive. Through the first three games, Brown allowed just two total catches for 27 yards on seven targets, while playing 86 coverage snaps, which led Alabama’s trio of five-star true freshmen cornerbacks.
However, Georgia was a significant step up in competition from Western Kentucky, South Florida and Wisconsin. And when the Bulldogs saw a significant deficit early in Week 5, they looked in Brown’s direction to try and win some 1-on-1 matchups.
Playing the most snaps in a game thus far, Brown saw a team-high nine targets come his way in Week 5, with almost every one of them coming deep, as his average depth of target thrown at him was 21.9 yards.
Georgia quarterback Carson Beck threw his way early in the first half, but Brown had good coverage, forcing an offensive pass interference against top wideout Dominic Lovett that ultimately derailed the Bulldogs’ first drive of the game.
It was in the second half, however, when the action started to pick up, as Beck looked Brown’s way several times as the Bulldogs attempted to mount their comeback.
It all began when the true freshman was beaten 1-on-1 against Arian Smith, giving up a 12-yard touchdown pass that brought Georgia back to 30-15.
On the next drive, Brown gave up a 4th & 6 to Dillon Bell, but Beck fumbled on the play after, ending that drive.
The big play came with Georgia driving yet again down 33-21 with under seven minutes to go. Looking for the big play, Beck targeted Brown again, hitting Arian Smith for a 47-yard gain up the sidelines on a back shoulder where the cornerback wasn’t in great position. That ultimately led to a touchdown two plays later, cutting the lead to 5.
But, when it mattered most, the five-star cornerback came to play, as Beck looked his way again on the final drive twice, trying to hit Colbie Young 1-on-1 deep on 2nd & 8 after entering Alabama territory. Brown was there on the play in close coverage, forcing the incompletion.
After Georgia got the first down, getting all the way to the Alabama 20-yard line, Beck looked to target that 1-on-1 matchup again, but Brown called ballgame, preparing well for the back shoulder and intercepting the ball in the end zone, giving the Crimson Tide a major 41-34 victory in one of the biggest games of the year.
All year long, Brown has been ready for the moment, but there was no bigger than the game winding down on Saturday, when the cornerback made the play of the game to seal the deal.
“[Defensive Backs] Coach Mo (Linguist), he kept stressing his vertical, his vertical game,” Brown said after the game, via Alabama.com’s Matt Stahl. “Back shoulder. This was coming. Earlier on, I had turned away from the back shoulder and I just knew, if I had the opportunity again, I was gonna turn to the man and the ball would be right there.”
Well, Brown did exactly that and was showered by celebrations both in and after the moment, showing how he was ready for the biggest moment of his life as a true freshman.
Through four games this year, Brown has allowed a catch rate of just 43.8 percent, while giving up a passer rating of 58.6. But, he got the stat that mattered the most: his first career interception, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Israeli military says it is carrying out a ground operation inside Lebanon.
Israel says its army has launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon to target Hezbollah.
It is the latest escalation after more than a week of air strikes across the country, which have killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians and Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
There are growing calls from Israel’s allies for it to negotiate a ceasefire with Hezbollah, including from United States President Joe Biden.
But Washington’s position is anything but clear. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has voiced support for the Israeli military’s goals in Lebanon.
So, what is the US’s strategy in the Middle East?
Does it want to push Israel towards a diplomatic solution? Or help it to weaken Hezbollah?
Presenter:
Mohammed Jamjoom
Guests:
Michael Wahid Hanna – US programme director at the International Crisis Group
Ilan Baruch – chairperson of the Policy Working Group, an Israeli advocacy team focusing on policy issues based on the two-state solution
Andreas Krieg – associate professor at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London
The inaugural Food & Wine Classic in Charleston kicked off with a salty bang this year, with chefs from Charleston and all over the country — including Mike Lata, Stephanie Izard, Andrew Zimmern, Rodney Scott, Maneet Chauhan, and James London — cooking up a storm. Using ingredients local to the Lowcountry, including shrimp, oysters, rice, and a lot of butter, they shared tips and tricks from their kitchens that you can use in your kitchen all year long. Here are some of the best cooking tips we learned this year in Charleston.
Get the grit out of clams
No one enjoys eating a gritty, sandy clam. Mike Lata likes to steam the clams ahead of time to get the clam liquor out. He then strains and decants the liquid through a wet coffee filter to make sure there’s no sand whatsoever. Why does he wet the coffee filter? “Because if the coffee filter wasn’t wet,” he says, “it would absorb my precious clam liquor. So by wetting it first, it’s just going to pass right through.”
Be gentle when mixing batter
While making the batter for her fried catfish, chef Nyesha Arrington of Next Level Chef stirs it in a figure eight pattern so she is combining the ingredients without developing the gluten from the flour in the batter. Doing this keeps the batter from getting tough or gummy.
Make your shrimp go further
Stephanie Izard loves all things seafood, since she grew up near the New England coast. Her tip for shrimp, besides making sure you always devein it, is to cut it in half horizontally, also known as butterflying the shrimp. “It makes it look like you have double the amount of shrimp and they cook more evenly,” she says, “Plus, it makes it easier to not overcook them.”
Don’t forget to season your cooking liquid
When poaching shrimp, James London of Charleston’s Chubby Fish doesn’t waste an ounce of flavor. He’ll add any scraps of aromatics, such as onion or garlic peels, to flavor the poaching water. London also tailors the cooking technique to the species of shrimp. In particular, for brown shrimp, he cooks them in their shells to provide flavor. “Even just the shrimp tail will impart a lot of flavor,” he says.
Use baking soda to tenderize meat
Baking soda might be the standby for crisp chocolate chip cookies, and for cleaning your oven, but Andrew Zimmern has another use. “Sprinkling meat with baking soda tenderizes it and assists it in crisping up,” he says. Zimmern uses baking soda on even the nicest cuts of meat, such as the tenderloin he was preparing at the event. “Baking soda is having a moment,” he adds.
Alex Lau
The secrets to better biscuits
Contrary to everything we’ve ever heard about butter and biscuits, Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit founder Carrie Morey doesn’t use cold butter for biscuits — she believes it is a fallacy. “We’ve tested with all temps of butter and found no difference,” she says. Instead she uses room temperature, salted butter and soft White Lily flour for her biscuits. And, she adds, don’t forget to flour anything you’re using to cut your dough, such as a biscuit cutter, bench scraper, or knife. Anything that cuts the dough should be covered in flour to avoid pinching the layers together.
Keep lean ground meat from becoming dry
Using ground turkey or chicken can help reduce the calories and fat in a dish, but it can also make for dry meatballs. To keep them moist, chef and TV star Maneet Chauhan adds a spoonful of cream cheese to the meatballs to keep them from drying out. This makes for a much more luscious meatball without using fatty meat.
Be choosy with your ginger
You might be tempted to grab the big hunk of ginger at the market but Maneet Chauhan says to go small. When choosing at the supermarket, she says, “the smaller the piece of ginger, the more flavor you get.” Ginger-garlic paste is her secret flavor bomb — she blends her own then freezes it in ice cube trays so she can add a cube or two to soups, curries, and stews.
Add this to baked goods to amp up their flavor
Stephanie Izard always makes sure she adds salt to her baked goods. “Salt is important in baked goods,” she says. “It doesn’t make things salty, it just brings out the flavor.” She adds that Hondashi powder, also known as Japanese dashi broth powder, not only adds umami-savory flavor to everything she’s making, it also has salt, so she adds it even to sweet baked goods.
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell
Fry your fish in advance
If you are hosting a fish fry at home and want to avoid frying the fish at the last minute, Nyesha Arrington says to fry up the fish an hour in advance and keep it on a baking sheet at room temperature. Just before she’s ready to serve, she’ll put it in a 300°F oven for 10 minutes to gently warm it up.
Add some crunch to your crumble
While making a crumble topping for a yogurt bowl, Izard likes to add extra crunch and texture by adding puffed grains, like black rice or quinoa. In a pinch, she’ll reach for cereal like Special K or Rice Krispies, then spice it up before sprinkling it on top of a dip or salad.
Temper spicy food with other spices
Chef Claudette Zapeda loves heat in her mole and adobo sauces but she knows it can get a little spicy for some. If a sauce is too spicy, she adds a pinch of ground cloves to slightly numb the heat. She then strains her mole and adobo sauces to make sure they are less bitter and look glossy.
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