Author: admin

• After attending pastry school in France, I’ve learned the secrets to creating the perfect desserts.
• I often see home bakers make the same mistakes, like using expired leaveners or crowding the oven.
• Other common mistakes include overmixing the batter and opening the oven too frequently.

I’m a full-time baker who has attended pastry school in France, completed a baking course in China, and worked in several bakeries in New York City.

After working in the industry for many years and making dozens of cakes, croissants, and cookies, I’ve learned the secrets for success when making a dessert — even if it’s not in the luxury of a professional kitchen.

Here are the seven most common mistakes I see from home bakers, and how to fix them.

Measuring ingredients by volume instead of using a kitchen scale can lead to inconsistent results.

No matter what I’m baking, I avoid measuring cups whenever possible, since they’re not very precise and can lead to pastries that are either too dry or too wet.

The volume in a cup can vary depending on how tightly the ingredient is packed, how it’s scooped, and whether it’s leveled correctly.

To prevent inaccuracies, I like to use a kitchen scale instead. This allows me to measure out the exact same amount of each ingredient, so I always know I’m getting consistent results.

Plus, I find it makes scaling recipes up or down much easier.

I often see bakers make adjustments to a recipe without understanding the science.

Once a treat goes into the oven, the batter or dough triggers several chemical reactions before it’s fully baked.

So, trying to adjust ingredients or make substitutions without fully understanding their role in a recipe might drastically impact the taste.

Sugar, for example, does much more than add sweetness. It attracts and retains moisture, helps baked goods brown, and supports the spread and texture of cookies and cakes. Reducing it too much can produce a dessert that is not only less sweet but also drier, denser, paler, and less tender.

For reliable results, I always follow the recipe as written the first time. And whenever I make adjustments, I change only one ingredient at a time and consider its effect on the final product.

Overmixing the batter can lead to tough pastries.

I find that many home bakers tend to overmix their dough or cake batter, resulting in a tough, dense texture.

For many kinds of baked goods, I think it’s best to simply mix until combined.

Instead of using a stand mixer, I like to use a spatula and mix in the remaining dry ingredients by hand.

Using expired baking powder, baking soda, or yeast is a recipe for disaster.

Before baking anything, I always double-check that my leaveners — like baking soda, baking powder, or yeast — are not expired.

If the expiration date has passed, those ingredients will not have the strength to make a cake or any baked good rise, resulting in poor texture.

Opening the oven too often results in a drier bake.

If I ever open the oven door while something is baking, heat will inevitably escape, lowering the temperature, extending the baking time, and potentially causing the pastry or cake to lose moisture.

Opening the door too early can be especially damaging to delicate bakes like cakes, soufflés, and choux pastry, since the sudden temperature change can interrupt the rising process and cause them to sink or collapse.

As tempting as it is to peek, I always keep the oven door closed for at least the first two-thirds of the recommended baking time.

Whenever I need to check the progress, I’ll use the oven light and watch through the window, then open the door only when I’m ready to rotate the pan or test for doneness.

Overcrowding the oven with multiple pans prevents desserts from baking evenly.

Adding too many pans to an oven can affect the cook time, as each pan absorbs heat from the other, leading to uneven baking.

To prevent this, I recommend using the convection setting to circulate heat more evenly, or rotating pans between the upper and lower racks while baking.

I never like to leave the dishes to the end.

Baking often requires a lot of bowls and dishes for each step, but allowing them to pile up can make the process feel overwhelming.

While my pastries are in the oven or the dough is chilling, I like to use that time to wipe down the countertops and wash some dishes.

This way, I can enjoy the final product without stressing over the mess.

• Donald Trump plans a trade probe into the EU over fines against Google and other US tech firms.
• The EU fined Google $1 billion for unfair competition, prompting threats of US trade investigations.
• Trump accuses the EU of targeting US tech giants like Apple, Meta, and Amazon with unfair fines.

New tariffs could be on the horizon — this time over Silicon Valley.

Donald Trump said Friday his administration will open a trade investigation into the European Union after regulators fined Google about $1 billion, a probe that could pave the way for steep new tariffs on the bloc.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said that the EU unfairly targets American technology companies and said the US would immediately launch a Section 301 investigation into what he described as discriminatory treatment of US businesses.

“The European Union is at it again and, as usual, taking direct aim at GREAT American Companies!” Trump wrote, “The United States of America is not a ‘PIGGYBANK’ for Europe.”

“The European Union will pay a very big price for this illegal and highly unethical conduct, which I have consistently warned them about,” Trump added.

Trump also criticized previous EU penalties against Apple, Meta, and Amazon, saying that the bloc had repeatedly singled out US firms.

Trump’s comments came a day after the European Commission fined Google €890 million (about $1 billion), saying the company violated the EU’s Digital Markets Act by steering users of Google Search and Google Play toward its own services instead of rivals’. The commission said in a press statement that the action was intended to protect competition and consumers.

“The best products should succeed because they’re better, not because they’re owned by the company running the search engine,” Teresa Ribera, the European Commission’s executive vice president for clean, just and competitive transition, said in a statement.

The latest clash adds to a yearslong dispute between Brussels and Silicon Valley. In 2025, the EU imposed Digital Markets Act penalties of €500 million on Apple and €200 million on Meta after finding that the companies had breached the bloc’s competition rules.

The White House and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

• Guilt was a parenting tool passed down through generations in my family.
• I intentionally rejected that approach while raising my five children.
• Now I’m learning that asking for connection isn’t the same as manipulation.

I come from a long line of mothers who have mastered the art of guilt as manipulation.

I believe it started with my great-grandmother. I never met her, but I’ve been told that she ruled her home with an iron fist in a velvet glove, commanding her 11 children to bend to her will. The stories my mother told me of visits to her grandmother’s home painted a picture of a dark and foreboding place.

I was never intimidated by my grandmother

My grandmother, Dora’s daughter, was different. She doted on my brother and me, focusing all her attention on us when she came for her weekly Sunday visits. She brought us the treats our parents rarely allowed, including a coconut cake for my brother and a chocolate one for me.

My mother was her only child and basked in the adoration of her and my grandfather. A gorgeous baby, my mother won several beauty contests and eventually became a model. She was very smart, skipping two grades and enrolling in college at age 16. Although she wanted to live in a dorm and enjoy the full college experience, her parents nixed the idea and demanded she attend a local public university and live at home.

Even after my parents got married, my grandmother still exercised an extraordinary level of control. A few years ago, I found the telegram she sent the day after my parents’ wedding, demanding to know why they had not notified their parents of their safe arrival at their honeymoon destination in Mexico. No words of congratulations or expressions of joy, only the question, “Did you survive your flight or are you lying dead in a field somewhere following a fiery crash?”

When I became a mom, I was determined to break the pattern

The fact that my mother hated how her mother influenced her actions did not prevent her from repeating the pattern with me. The focus was always on her. When I was in college, she required me to call home every Sunday morning to check in. If I missed a week, she called me, never asking if I was OK, but reminding me of my obligation to see how she was doing.

Even before my five children were born, I already knew I would not use guilt to manipulate them. In fact, I intentionally swerved in the opposite direction. While my mother always took center stage, I chose to watch from the wings, cheering my kids on in all their endeavors.

I think I may have gone too far in the opposite direction, though. Now that they are adults, I have no expectation that they’ll prioritize me in their lives and carve out time to meet up, or even call me weekly. My mantra is, “Keep your expectations low, and you’re never disappointed.”

That’s not right either, so I’m striving for a happy medium with just a modicum of guilt-inducement. Instead of responding to their texts asking how I’m doing with an everything’s fine, I’m going to let them know when I’m having a tough day, feeling sad, or missing them. Instead of waiting for a dinner invitation, I’m going to make reservations for a meal together. I’m inviting them to spend Sunday afternoons with me and taking them up on their offer to visit their homes whenever I feel like it.

It’s taking effort for me to make this shift, but I want them to know how much better I feel when I can honestly tell them I need them. In an effort to counter the behaviors of the generations of mothers before me, I don’t have to go guilt-free; I just need to be strategic in how I apply the guilt.

• The number of states affected by a huge outbreak of cyclosporiasis has risen to nine, health officials said.
• People got sick after eating lettuce sold by Taylor Farms in: IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, OH, OK, PA, and WV.
• We made two maps to show the states with the most reported cases, and where food has been recalled.

The Midwest remains the hotspot of a major outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection that can trigger weeks of watery diarrhea.

On Friday, federal health officials said what was previously a five-state outbreak, with most cases reported in Michigan and Ohio, now involves nine states: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

According to the CDC, 1,947 cyclosporiasis cases have been linked to iceberg lettuce distributed by Taylor Farms to Taco Bell locations in the nine states. A total of 98 people are known to have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported. People started falling ill between June 22 and July 20.

Cyclospora season in the US typically runs between May 1 and August 31, according to the CDC, and the multi-state outbreak is a subset of illnesses reported nationwide in 41 states. Cases could continue to rise until September.

Katelyn Jetelina, assistant professor adjunct of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, wrote in her public health newsletter, Your Local Epidemiologist, on July 21 that several outbreaks are running at once, including one suspected to be caused by cilantro in New York. She described the Midwest outbreak as “its own beast.”

On July 17, Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled iceberg lettuce from the US that was sourced from central Mexico, as shown below.

Taylor Farms told shoppers who had bought iceberg lettuce distributed June 29th through July 16th in the following states to not consume it and throw it out: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

However, other foods can’t be ruled out.

(As Business Insider’s Dan DeFrancesco explained in an edition of the Business Insider Today newsletter, the situation is a little more complex than we get into here.)

Jetelina said iceberg lettuce was recalled in 27 states “due to a combination of the complexity of food distribution networks and continued uncertainty around where people are most impacted.”

Posing the question, “When will this end?” Jetelina said, “No one knows. Either the contaminated food works its way out of circulation, or it takes a few weeks, the temperatures get cool, and the parasites no longer mature on produce (basically killing themselves off). It’s hard to tell from the data alone if this outbreak is coming to a close given that it’s significantly delayed.”

Why states and the CDC have different case counts

There are a number of potential sources of confusion in this outbreak, including differing state and federal case counts, and how the FDA and Taylor Farms have shared information on the suspected source of infections.

As of July 21, at least 11,276 cases of cyclosporiasis had been reported across 46 states in 2026, according to Georgetown University’s Health Security Operations Center, which is tracking state and national-level data. Some state health departments are tallying cases as part of the ongoing outbreak, while others include all cases reported in 2026 in their figures.

In contrast to Georgetown’s count, the CDC said in its cyclosporiasis update on July 24 that it had confirmed 4,173 domestic cases of cyclosporiasis, and was aware of more than 7,400 cases that need further analysis to confirm.

How to avoid cyclospora

Cyclospora spreads through contaminated food and water, and symptoms, including watery diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps, can take up to two weeks to show, making it difficult to trace back to a definitive source. The parasite is resistant to disinfectants, and washing food doesn’t guarantee its removal, as it is particularly good at sticking to produce.

Health authorities say in order to definitively kill the parasite, cook foods to at least 158 degrees Fahrenheit. Buying whole heads of lettuce and peeling back the outer layer of leaves rather than choosing pre-washed, bagged, or pre-mixed salads is also a good move, if you are more risk-tolerant.

• Facebook is going to start testing a version of the app that just gives users a steady stream of full-screen videos.
• That is: It’s going to try turning itself into TikTok.
• It’s just a test! And “classic” Facebook isn’t going away. But this is where everything is headed.

Facebook helped make TikTok huge by showing its users tons of ads for the Chinese video company.

Now Facebook may end up becoming something that … looks and feels a lot like TikTok.

That’s the takeaway from a product update Meta’s social network provided Friday: Starting this fall, it is going to start testing a version of the Facebook app that essentially turns it into a TikTok-like video player, as a default setting.

Per Tom Allison, the Meta executive who oversees Facebook, the test will provide a “reimagined experience that puts a subset of people who we think want more video on Facebook into full-screen video the moment they open the app,” which is exactly what you get when you open TikTok.

Allison says people in the test will be able to opt out of the new setting and return to classic Facebook — and that people who stick with the video-first option can always toggle back and forth to see a traditional Facebook feed.

The company plans on rolling out the test in some “video-heavy countries” this fall and may bring it to the US in 2027, Allison writes. A Meta rep didn’t offer more details about timing or anything else.

Here, we need to note that a test is a test, not a final product decision. On the other hand, Meta and other platforms test stuff all the time, and don’t always go out of their way to tell you about it in advance. So I’m taking this as a serious signal.

Allison dropped the news about the new format in a longer announcement highlighting other changes on the service, including a stand-alone app for Facebook Marketplace power users. So this one hasn’t gotten much attention yet. I expect we’ll hear more about it this fall.

But this is also not surprising. It’s the logical endpoint to a direction Meta, and many social media platforms, have been moving toward for years: away from seeing posts and updates from your friends and people you know, and toward an always-on video experience that just shows you an endless stream of clips it thinks you might like. “Everything is television,” as writer and podcaster Derek Thompson put it last year.

There are a couple different reasons why everyone is headed this way. For starters, the platforms would like users to stick around the platforms, so that the platforms can show them more ads. And they’d love a way to show them more video ads, so they can grab some of the giant ad business that still exists on traditional TV.

But it’s also an acknowledgment that social media isn’t really “social” anymore and hasn’t been for a while: Most people who use the platforms are passive consumers, not active posters. So the companies can’t rely on a stream of things from your friends and family to keep you engaged. They have to find stuff from strangers instead.

“We show recommendations because you might follow 200 accounts, and one in 10 of them posted. So we’ve got 20 things [to show you]. And we can reorder those 20 things 20 factorial ways, but that’s only so much upside,” Instagram boss Adam Mosseri told me last year. “Whereas if we look at the billion things posted in a given day, and we find something you’re interested in, there’s more upside.”

It’s also why the platforms are so eager to keep showing you more video given any opportunity: Click on a video post in Instagram and the app immediately starts showing you a TikTok-style never-ending stream of videos; Elon Musk’s X does the same thing.

So what Facebook is testing is the logical next step: just giving you all the video it thinks you want — and which it definitely wants you to see — from the start.

• I moved across the country to Los Angeles for a relationship that ended less than a year later.
• Instead of moving back home, I stayed, networked, and built a life for myself in California.
• I made connections that helped me find my footing as a journalist and meet my now-husband.

Five months after packing two giant suitcases and boarding a one-way flight from Wisconsin to Los Angeles, my boyfriend told me he was leaving the city I had relocated to for him.

In just a moment, I realized I was alone in one of America’s biggest cities, wondering if I had made the right choice.

After securing a job, I moved to Los Angeles for my first love

As cliché as it sounds, I was a small-town Midwesterner who had dreams of moving to the big city after growing up watching TV shows that glamorized Hollywood.

I finally got a taste of this fantasy when I took summer classes in Los Angeles. It was during one of these visits that I met someone there … my first love.

This relationship gave me the final push I needed to move to my dream city. But before making that plunge, I thought it best to have a job lined up.

After months of applying for LA-based positions, I finally landed my dream role in music and programming at a radio station I admired.

At last, I felt ready to pack up my things, move to California, and begin a new chapter with my boyfriend by my side.

He moved out of LA a few months after I arrived, and everything changed

As I was getting established at work, learning how to drive in LA traffic (and find parking!), and navigating life more independently, my boyfriend was studying and preparing for his own career.

Nearly half a year after I’d moved, his career path led him to relocate outside Los Angeles. This was not the way I had expected things to go.

We had both longed to date in the same city to get a truer sense of our compatibility. Now, I was filled with doubt. I wondered if he was as committed as I thought, since he was willing to relocate so soon after we’d finally ended up in the same place.

The relationship was over. And, disheartened by how things turned out, I had two options: move back home or stick around and try life in LA on my own.

I decided to stay and invest in my career, friendships, and passions to keep my mind off the ways my new reality differed from the vision I’d had when I moved.

Staying was one of the best decisions I made, and it changed my life

With much more time to myself, I turned to creative outlets to help process the loss of the life I had imagined. Music had always been a passion of mine.

As a musician and composer, I knew a friend who played guitar, so I asked him to collaborate on a piece to perform later that year for our church. It was an easy way to make a new friend while getting to pursue a hobby I loved.

I also decided to fully commit to my professional development. Though I was in broadcast media at the time, I discovered I had a stronger passion for print journalism.

I quickly learned how important networking was in LA, and how it could lead to even bigger opportunities. My roommate connected me with someone who gave me my highest-paying freelance writing job, which helped launch my freelance career.

Soon, I was contributing to national publications, beginning with Business Insider, something I never imagined when I first moved to LA. Those early assignments laid the foundation for the journalism career I still have now.

Some of my closest relationships today are with people I met in the city, and the friend I played music with ended up becoming my husband. We now have a toddler son who loves banging on the piano and drums.

Moving to LA for someone else certainly didn’t turn out how I had expected, but I wouldn’t change a thing. After all, it led me to the beautiful life I’ve created for myself years later.