Entertainment
Red Fruit Soup (!)
When I first heard about “red fruit soup,” it sounded — well, made up. Like one of those things you “eat” at a tea party with a three-year-old. Ooh, yes, this is delicious red fruit soup. Would Mr. Bear like some, too? I mean, it’s a lovely idea, but you can’t just make a big bowl of berry soup with cream on top…can you?
Turns out, the Danes have been doing it for 100 years. “Fruit porridges are common across Scandinavia,” says Nichole Accettola, chef and owner of Scandinavian-inspired restaurant, Kantine, in San Francisco. “In Danish, this dessert is called rødgrød med fløde, literally ‘red porridge with cream.’” And it’s as incredible as it sounds: a simple, tart-sweet blend of summer berries, simmered into a mush (her word, not mine!), and served with a pitcher of ice-cold cream. Plus, a bowl of sugar — “for those at the table who want more sweetness.” Nichole’s recipe appears in her new cookbook, Scandinavian Everyday, along with many other Northern European delights (Swedish Sandwich Cake?!), and today, she shares it with us. I can’t believe it took 100 years, but I’m glad someone finally did. Let’s grab all the red fruit we’ve got and do this…
Red Fruit Soup
from Scandinavian Everyday by Nichole Accettola
Serves 4
2 lbs (900 g) any combination of washed and hulled raspberries, strawberries, or red currants
4 ounces (112 g) rhubarb (cut into bite-sized pieces), blueberries, or black currants
1 vanilla bean [or 1 tbsp. vanilla extract]
Pinch of kosher salt
1 cup (240 g) water
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar, plus more as needed, and for serving
2 tbsp cornstarch
Up to 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (120 g) ice-cold heavy cream (or whole milk, if preferred), for serving
1/2 cup (50 g) sliced almonds, toasted
Place the berries and rhubarb in a medium heavy-bottomed pot. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and, using the back of a paring knife, scrape out the seeds. Add the pod and seeds, the salt, and water to the pot. Bring to a quick boil, then skim off and discard any lingering grit or impurities that float to the surface. Decrease the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the berries have broken down to a mush (8-10 minutes). Remove the pot from the heat and discard the vanilla bean.
Some people (like my mother-in law) prefer their fruit porridges to be smooth. If you do, too, use an immersion blender to liquefy the fruit chunks at this point. Next, stir in 1/4 cup (50 g) of the sugar, give it a taste, and add more, if needed. (The amount needed depends on individual taste and the berries’ natural sweetness.)
In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 2 tbsp of cold water, and whisk it into the hot fruit porridge. The consistency should be slightly thickened, just enough to coat the back of a spoon. Transfer the porridge to a heat-resistant container, sprinkle a little bit of sugar on top to prevent a skin from forming, and let it cool to room temperature. The porridge can be served at room temp, or chilled. If you prefer it cold, place it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (preferably overnight).
Before it’s served, I like to add a touch of lemon juice for extra zing. Ladle the soup into four shallow bowls and serve with the almonds, a pitcher of cream, and a bowl of sugar. Some people always add more, while others prefer a little pucker in their porridge. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for this treat, Nichole!
P.S. Five-ingredient strawberry crumble, and the best summer strawberry cake.
(Excerpted with permission from Scandinavian Everyday. Copyright © 2026 by Nichole Accettola. Food photographs copyright © 2026 by Molly DeCoudreau. Lifestyle photographs copyright © 2026 by Mikkel Vang. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.)
Entertainment
The Best New Show Of The Year Is A Supernatural Comedy Horror On AppleTV
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
The 2026 television season has been a little lackluster so far when it comes to original, new series. The Boroughs was a fun binge on Netflix, Margo’s Got Money Troubles was a good comedy, but nothing can compare to the surprising success of Widow’s Bay on AppleTV. It’s a horror comedy, which might be the hardest combination of genres to pull off, that plays out like Twin Peaks meets Parks and Recreation. No show will leave you laughing so hard in one episode, before traumatizing you in the next.
Widow’s Bay Is The Most Original Show In Years
That odd mix of shows makes sense since Widow’s Bay was created by Katie Dippold, a writer for Parks and Recreation. The series takes place in the island town of Widow’s Bay in New England when Mayor Tom (Matthew Rhys) decides to boost tourism to the small community. The catch is that the community, primarily Wyck (Stephen Root) believes the island is cursed.
It’s not a spoiler to say that yes, yes it is cursed, and yes, there are real horrors at work on the island. That’s not surprising. What is surprising is the dry humor and Matthew Rhys’ perfect facial expressions, as the town’s residents will deliver the most absurd lines with a perfectly straight face. If you vibed with the humor of Parks and Recreation, you know what you’re getting into with the odd residents of Widow’s Bay, especially Kate O’Flynn as Tom’s assistant, Patricia. There’s a sequence with her involving a shotgun that is destined to be a social media hit for years to come, and one of those moments that you’ll think, “I’d do the same thing.”
Slapstick Comedy, Horror, And Amazing Sight Gags
Before starting your binge of the first season, avoid as many spoilers as you can. Widow’s Bay sets up mysteries early on with the chained church bell, the strange basement room, a rolling fogbank, and, while it’s not a supernatural mystery, how many Diet Cokes can Town Hall employee Dale consume? His desk is filled to the brim with cans. That can’t be healthy.
Keep your eyes peeled while watching Widow’s Bay as the production team was heavily influenced by The Simpsons usage of sight gags. Some are called out with blatant shots, others exist in the background of a conversation, but put together, they make the town of Widow’s Bay an absurdist version of Twin Peaks.
No one had supernatural slapstick down on their 2026 Bingo card, but here we are. While Netflix pulled the plug on The Boroughs, Widow’s Bay has already been confirmed for a second season, which is good considering the stakes-raising season finale ends by revealing a whole new layer to the mystery of the island. We have a long wait until Season 2 premieres, giving you plenty of time to watch the show of the Summer, and you can still convince your friends you were a fan of Widow’s Bay before it was cool. ]
Widow’s Bay Season 1 is now streaming on AppleTV.
Entertainment
Don’t pay $199 for Windows 11 Pro when it’s currently just $13
TL;DR: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro is down to just $12.97, giving users an easy OS upgrade with advanced security, productivity tools, gaming features, and Copilot AI.
Some upgrades just feel right. This is one of them.
If your PC has been running a little sluggish or you’ve been meaning to bring your system up to speed, Windows 11 Pro is just $12.97 (reg. $199) — a rare, time-sensitive offer that rewards quick, savvy decisions.
Mashable Deals
This isn’t about chasing trends; it’s more about giving your computer the modern foundation it deserves. Windows 11 Pro brings a sleeker UI, better multitasking, and enhanced security — all in a one-time lifetime license.
Think of it as the difference between driving a reliable car and suddenly upgrading to one with a smarter dashboard, smoother handling, and built-in security features.
For professionals, creators, and power users, this upgrade also unlocks features like Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, BitLocker encryption, and seamless Azure AD integration — tools that make a real difference when you’re working across projects or managing sensitive data.
And yes, Windows 11 comes with Copilot, Microsoft’s AI-powered assistant that can summarize pages, change settings, or even help you generate code on the fly. It’s like having a co-pilot (literally) inside your OS.
Mashable Deals
But you don’t need convincing — you already know a smart upgrade when you see one. Get Windows 11 Pro for just $12.97 (reg. $199).
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Entertainment
Gene Roddenberry Secretly Fixed Star Trek’s Earliest Plot Hole
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Star Trek is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Part of why that is so impressive is that this franchise has managed to maintain the same continuity for so many years. Sure, the Kelvinverse rebooted everything for a few movies, and we occasionally get glimpses of alternate universes with their own twisted history. But the main Trek timeline, from The Original Series through Starfleet Academy, has remained the same, which is an amazing creative achievement. But it also leads to something as annoying as it is inevitable: plot holes!
There are many seeming plot holes throughout the franchise. Heck, Starfleet Academy introduced more than its fair share in only one season. However, the earliest plothole goes back to William Shatner’s very first episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” This episode features a mock grave for James Tiberius Kirk that reads “James R. Kirk.” This weird screwup inspired decades of attempts by fans and creators to explain what happened. However, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had a simple explanation from the very beginning. That is, the godlike character who created the tombstone was still fallible, meaning that this would be an in-universe screwup rather than a production error.
A Ghoulish Plot Hole
“Where No Man Has Gone Before” was actually the second pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It’s the episode that sold NBC on this new show, which isn’t surprising, because this is a great hour of television. Strange energy from the galactic barrier gives one of Captain Kirk’s best friends, Gary Mitchell, godlike powers. Those powers are getting stronger by the minute, so Kirk eventually has to make the difficult decision to kill his buddy in the name of keeping the entire ship (and quite possibly the entire galaxy) safe.
At one point, Mitchell uses his powers to summon a tombstone that reads “James R. Kirk.” It makes for a great threat, but there’s just one problem: the character’s name is James Tiberius Kirk. Incidentally, Gene Roddenberry seemingly knew Kirk’s middle name early on, even though it wasn’t officially revealed (outside of The Animated Series) until The Undiscovered Country. In the introduction to Star Trek: The Classic Episodes 1, Original Series writer D.C. Fontana claimed that once Roddenberry noticed the mistake, he came up with a quick and easy explanation. “Gary Mitchell had godlike powers, but at base he was human. He made a mistake.”
Powers Like A God, Mind Like A Human
Unfortunately, Roddenberry kept this plot hole explanation to himself. I say “unfortunately” because this mistake sent fans into a tizzy trying to explain the discrepancy. On top of that, various Star Trek writers tried their hands at providing explanations. One such explanation came from Michael Jan Friedman’s non-canonical My Brother’s Keeper series. In these books, when the future captain meets Gary Mitchell, he claims his middle name is “Racquetball.” Later, when Kirk steamrolls through a discussion, Mitchell says the man’s middle name should be “Rhinoceros.” Therefore, Friedman explained that the “James R. Kirk” on the tombstone is just an in-joke between former friends.
Additionally, the late, great Star Trek writer Peter David tried his hand at an explanation. In his novel Q-Squared, the events of “Where No Man Has Gone Before” take place in a parallel reality in which Kirk’s middle initial really is “R.” In this non-canonical book, we also find out that Mitchell’s powers came from briefly being possessed by Q, who had to pull himself together across all of time and space. Quick side note: while Marvel has really played out the concept of multiverses, Q-Squared is an amazing novel, and every Trek fan should read it at least once.
These writers did their best to explain where “James R. Kirk” came from. On top of this, fans have constantly debated this issue, all trying to one-up each other in coming up with a suitable explanation for this plothole. As it turns out, though, none of this debating and speculating was necessary because Gene Roddenberry had the perfect explanation ready. Namely, that having the power of a god isn’t the same as having the unlimited knowledge of a god. It’s short, it’s simple, and it’s effective. Most of all, it does what Star Trek has always done best: keep the sci-fi storytelling centered around humanity.
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