Entertainment
Making My Mom’s Salmon My Own
When I was a kid, my harried mom adhered to a small repertoire of easy weekday dinners. She worked full-time but made it home before my dad; getting us fed each evening fell entirely to her. My mom loved to eat, but you wouldn’t have known from our school-night dinners (hot dogs and frozen veggies, pasta with jarred sauce, bland baked chicken breasts and toughly broiled pork chops).
Then, one evening, towards the end of my elementary school years, my mom debuted a new dish: a side of salmon, slathered in mustard and mayonnaise, then grilled. The colors were bright. The flavors, big. The fish — itself something of a pocketbook splurge — suggested luxury rather than utility.
My mother died when I was 21. And while there are many things I miss about her, her cooking isn’t one. This past summer, though, I found myself craving that salmon. All those years, I’d never attempted to make it myself. Maybe I thought doing so would make me miss her too much. Maybe I was just snobbish about the idea of hot mayonnaise. I decided it was time to give it a go.
I made a few tweaks, substituting Dijon mustard for my mom’s yellow, and using wild Alaskan salmon rather than the farmed stuff my mom used to buy (the former is leaner and fishier-tasting, and can stand up to big flavors). For color and complexity, I added lots of fresh herbs, and roasted my salmon in the oven rather than cooking it on the grill.
I tasted the finished product tentatively, skeptical that my rendition could conjure the pleasure I remembered from childhood. I needn’t have been. Under its creamy cap, the fish had remained extra moist. The mustard lent zip; the herbs, texture and freshness. The salmon was delicious. I shouldn’t have been so surprised; it always was. It’s been on heavy rotation on my dinner table since.
Salmon With Mustard, Mayonnaise, and (Almost) Any Herbs
You can use any combination of herbs (dill, parsley, basil, cilantro, thyme, scallions, chives, green garlic) that appeals to you, but I recommend using at least two — dill, basil, and green garlic is my favorite combo to date. If you have extra, chilled salmon makes for excellent leftovers.
Serves 3-4
1 pound side of salmon (wild preferred)*
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
½ tsp. kosher salt
a few twists of the pepper grinder
1/3 cup fresh green herbs, chopped, plus more for serving
Position a rack in the center of your oven, and preheat to 400°F.
Line a rimmed sheet pan or large baking dish with parchment paper, and lay the salmon out on the pan. (If your dish is too short to accommodate the fish’s length, cut the fish horizontally to divide it in two.)
In a small bowl, use a flexible spatula to mix together the mustard and mayonnaise, and season with salt and pepper. Then gently stir in the herbs, and use the spatula to spread the mixture evenly across the top of the fish. Slide into the oven and roast 12 to 15 minutes, or until just cooked through. (Cut into the fish’s thickest part to check for doneness. You’ll know the salmon is ready when it has become flaky all the way through, and the hot pink hue of the fish in its raw state has turned to a muted pastel). Sprinkle with herbs and serve hot.
*Sides of wild Alaskan salmon tend to be no thicker than an inch at their thickest point. The general rule for cooking wild-caught salmon at this temperature is 12-15 minutes of cook time for each inch of thickness. If your salmon is farmed rather than wild, it will likely be both fattier and thicker, and your cooking time may need to be adjusted accordingly.
Sara B. Franklin is a writer and professor at New York University. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Literary Hub, and The Nation. Her latest book is The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her twins.
P.S. Dad’s meatloaf and nine family meals we’ve loved to death.
Entertainment
Apples excellent AirPods Pro 3 are back on sale for just $200 — a $50 savings
SAVE $49.01: The Apple AirPods Pro 3 are 20% at Amazon and Walmart as of April 22. Snag a pair for just $199.99 (normally $249).
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Save $49.01
Our very own Stan Schroeder is fresh off reviewing the new AirPods Max 2, Apple’s updated over-ear headphones. While he thought their noise cancellation has improved since the last generation, they still can’t block out sounds as well as the AirPods Pro 3: “Wearing them on a busy street makes the outside noise vanish in a spectacular fashion,” he writes of the earbuds.
So, if you’re an Apple user looking for best-in-class ANC, stick with the AirPods Pro 3. Right now, they happen to be on sale for just $199.99 at Amazon and Walmart — that’s a savings of nearly $50 and one of their best deals to date. They briefly hit $184 on Amazon back in February, but never since. (And they were $219.99 everywhere last Black Friday.)
For comparison’s sake, the AirPods Max 2 are up to $350 pricier depending on the color.
The AirPods Pro 3 actually have the same H2 chip as the AirPods Max 2, so they support the same suite of smart features like Adaptive Audio and Live Translation. On top of that, they come with a built-in heart rate monitor that “worked perfectly,” per Mashable contributor Adam Doud. (Read his full review.)
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On their own, the AirPods Pro 3 will net you up to eight hours of battery life per charge with their ANC enabled. Their included charging case adds an extra 24 hours of use.
I can personally assure you that you won’t find the AirPods Pro 3 on sale for anywhere cheaper — even if you go for a used pair. In new condition, they’re $239.99 at B&H Photo and full price at Best Buy and Target. Then there’s Best Buy’s open-box AirPods Pro 3, which are are $204.99 in fair condition. Pass.
Entertainment
LA public schools pass screen time limits for students in a first
Los Angeles public school students may be returning to the age of college-ruled notebooks and Scantrons, following a Tuesday school board vote that will limit the use of computers, laptops, and tablets in classrooms.
Titled “Using Technology with Intention,” the new resolution mandates the creation of grade-level and subject-specific screen time limits across Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools, including a complete ban on device usage for kindergarten and first grade. The use of one-to-one devices, like individual Chromebooks, will be discouraged for second through fifth grades, as well.
Revised guidelines will also address video-aided lesson plans, access to video streaming platforms like YouTube, and expanded restrictions on gaming and social media platforms.
District staff must present the revised tech use policy by June, which will go into effect for all LAUSD students beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. Guidelines will be reevaluated every year, and schools are tasked with tracking and sharing student screen time numbers with parents.
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The resolution cites increasing concern about the effect of screen time on young minds and alleged screen addiction, including recent Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studies that show a correlation between high screen time and adverse health effects. The board was unanimously in favor of the tech restrictions, with one recusal.
“We know that tech is not going away and can be a powerful tool in the classroom. This is not about going backwards. This is about rethinking school time and screen time in schools to ensure we are doing what actually helps students learn best,” board member Nick Melvoin said during Tuesday’s meeting.
“This is not about going backwards. This is about rethinking school time…”
Advocates, parents, and even students have spent the last year lobbying for greater tech restrictions following the passing of a 2025 bell-to-bell cellphone ban restricting the use of personal devices during school hours. Schools Beyond Screens, a national classroom tech safety coalition founded by LAUSD parents and teachers, helped craft the resolution in collaboration with board members and co-sponsors Melvoin, Karla Griego, Tanya Ortiz Franklin, Jerry Yang, Kelly Gonez, and Rocío Rivas.
“Now is the time for a safe and science-backed approach to classroom technology, one that is not guided by Big Tech talking points like screen value over screen time,” the organization wrote in a press release following the decision.
“There is much work to be done, and this is only the beginning, but today, we are proud, grateful, and – for the first time in a long time – hopeful. Our kids may yet have the kind of public education that they deserve — one that is proven effective and free of undue digital distraction, harmful content, and corporate exploitation.”
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The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Bluetooth speaker is at the lowest price weve seen all year
SAVE $75: The Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Bluetooth speaker is on sale for $224 at Amazon, down from the standard price of $299. That’s a 25% discount.
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at Amazon
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Save $75
Packing up for an adventure means figuring out how to bring along a soundtrack. A trip to the cabin or a lakeside campground all deserve to be experienced with a great playlist. If you could use an upgrade before summer to get a waterproof Bluetooth speaker, check out this deal at Amazon.
As of April 22, the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore Bluetooth speaker is on sale for $224 at Amazon, marked down from the normal price of $299. That’s a 25% discount that takes $75 off the price. It’s also the lowest price we’ve seen at Amazon so far this year.
A compact speaker with a scratch-resistant aluminum shell is exactly what we should be packing on adventures. With an attached carabiner, the B&O Explore speaker is designed to clip onto your backpack when you hit the trail. Or you can utilize the rubber base to set it on a rock or even in the sand. It’s both waterproof and dustproof, adding to the durability.
Bang & Olufsen notes this model gets up to 27 hours of playtime before it needs to recharge. It weighs under 1.5 pounds, so it won’t add much bulk to your gear. It takes about two hours to recharge the Beosound Explore.
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Before summer kicks into high gear, add the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Explore speaker to your pack. It’s ready for any adventure you have planned.
Apples excellent AirPods Pro 3 are back on sale for just $200 — a $50 savings
Red Bulls' struggling defense clashes with woeful D.C. offense
