The secrets to carefree weekday pasta dinners? First, stock the fixings. Dried pastas, tinned tomatoes, hard grating cheese, fully cooked meatballs or sausage, dried herbs and olive oil. Second, prep a few things in advance. I roast vegetables, make sauces, saute onions and mushrooms, slip an extra ear or two of corn into the pot, even cook ground meat a day or two ahead. At dinner time, I simply reheat ingredients and boil water.

Many recipes call for apple cider doughnuts to be fried. We’re taking a simpler approach with a rich cake batter version, then baking them in specialty pans. They can brushed with butter, then dredged in cinnamon and sugar, or dipped in glaze.

A sea cucumber rests in the coral at Kahalu’u Beach Park on Friday morning. (Terri Brache/Community Contributor)

A bunch of bananas burst from the inflorescence of the pseudostem, soon to become tasty treats. (Jeri Gantley/Community Contributor)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In the year of the new coronavirus, when new gardeners came out in droves to try growing their own vegetables, tomatoes were still king. And in a twist, the respect-seeking turnip actually turned some heads.

MOSCOW — A trio of space travelers blasted off to the International Space Station on Wednesday, using for the first time a fast-track maneuver that allowed them to reach the orbiting outpost in just a little over three hours.

This year, roughly a quarter of the vast Pantanal wetland in Brazil, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, has burned in wildfires worsened by climate change. What happens to a rich and unique biome when so much is destroyed?

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s new moonshot rules: No fighting and littering. And no trespassing at historic lunar landmarks like Apollo 11’s Tranquility Base.

The sun sets on an empty Hapuna Beach. (Jennifer Caulfield/Community Contributor)