Carolina's Greatest Hits

NPR sues Trump administration over executive order to cut federal funding to public media

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — National Public Radio and three of its local stations sued President Donald Trump on Tuesday, arguing that his executive order cutting funding to the 246-station network violates their free speech and relies on an authority that he does not have.

Earlier this month, Trump instructed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies to cease funding for NPR and PBS, either directly or indirectly. The president and his supporters argue their news reporting promotes liberal bias and shouldn’t be supported by taxpayers.

Retaliation is Trump’s plain purpose, the lawsuit argues. It was filed in federal court in Washington by NPR and three Colorado entities — Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KUTE, Inc., chosen to show the system’s diversity in urban and rural areas.

“By basing its directives on the substance of NPR’s programming, the executive order seeks to force NPR to adapt its journalistic standards and editorial choices to the preferences of the government if it is to continue to receive federal funding,” Katherine Maher, NPR’s CEO, said Tuesday.

Lawsuit says Trump is targeting a private nonprofit corporation

The lawsuit alleges that Trump is acting to contravene the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private nonprofit corporation set up to distribute federal funding to NPR and PBS, which is intended to insulate the system from political interference. Congress has appropriated $535 million yearly to CPB for 2025, 2026 and 2027.

In response to the lawsuit, White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said that CPB “is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers’ dime,” so Trump was exercising his authority under the law. “The president was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective,” Fields said.

Trump hasn’t hidden his feelings about NPR, calling it a “liberal disinformation machine” in an April social media post.

The court fight seemed preordained, given that the heads of NPR and PBS both reacted to Trump’s move earlier this month with statements that they believed it was illegal. The absence of PBS from Tuesday’s filing indicates the two systems will challenge this separately; PBS has not yet gone to court, but is likely to soon.

“PBS is considering every option, including taking legal action, to allow our organization to continue to provide essential programming and services to member stations and all Americans,” PBS spokesman Jeremy Gaines said Tuesday.

Trump is in other legal disputes with news organizations

The president’s attempts to dismantle government-run news sources like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have also sparked court fights.

The administration has battled with the press on several fronts. The Federal Communications Commission is investigating ABC, CBS and NBC News. The Associated Press also went to court after the administration restricted access to certain events in response to the organization’s decision not to rename the Gulf of Mexico as Trump decreed.

The lawsuit says 11% of Aspen Public Radio’s budget is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It is 6% for the Colorado Public Radio, a network of 19 stations, and 19% of KUTE’s budget. That station was founded in 1976 by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.

NPR notes that the order attempts to prohibit individual stations in NPR’s system from using any federal money to buy NPR programming, like “All Things Considered,” the most listened-to afternoon radio news program in the country, its early counterpart “Morning Edition” and cultural programming like the Tiny Desk concerts.

The order “directly interferes with editorial independence by requiring them to seek programming elsewhere,” the lawsuit said.

NPR says it also provides infrastructure services to hundreds of public radio stations and without it, their coverage area would shrink. It also provides the backbone for emergency alert systems across the country.

“Public broadcasting is an irreplaceable foundation of American civic life,” Maher said. “At its best, it reflects our nation back to itself in all our complexity, contradictions and commonalities and connects our communities across differences and divides.”

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Trump administration moves to cut $100 million in federal contracts for Harvard

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration asked federal agencies Tuesday to cancel contracts with Harvard University worth about $100 million, intensifying the president’s clash with the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university.

The government already has canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants for the Ivy League school, which has pushed back on the administration’s demands for changes to several of its policies.

A letter sent Tuesday from the General Services Administration, which oversees contracting and real estate for the federal government, directed agencies to review contracts with the university and seek alternate arrangements.

The New York Times first reported on the letter.

President Donald Trump has railed against Harvard, calling it a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism. The school filed a lawsuit April 21 over the administration’s calls for changes to the university’s leadership, governance and admissions policies. Since then, the administration has slashed the school’s federal funding, moved to cut off enrollment of international students and threatened its tax-exempt status.

Contracts include scientific research, executive training

The administration has identified about 30 contracts across nine agencies to be reviewed for cancellation, according to an administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly and provided details on the condition of anonymity.

The contracts total roughly $100 million, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations. The contracts include executive training for Department of Homeland Security officials, research on health outcomes related to energy drinks and a contract for graduate student research services.

Agencies with contracts that are deemed critical are being directed not to halt them immediately, but to devise a plan to transition to a different vendor other than Harvard.

The letter applies only to federal contracts with Harvard and not its remaining research grants.

Trump threatens to give Harvard’s funding to trade schools

Trump laid into Harvard on social media over the weekend, threatening to cut an additional $3 billion in federal grants and give it to trade schools across the United States. He did not explain which grants he was referring to or how they could be reallocated.

The president also accused Harvard of refusing to release the names of its foreign students. In a new line of attack, he argued that students’ home countries pay nothing toward their education and that some of the countries are “not at all friendly to the United States.”

International students are not eligible for federal financial aid, but Harvard offers its own aid to foreign and domestic students alike.

“We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,” Trump said on social media.

It was not clear exactly what the president was referring to. The federal government already has access to visa information and other records on foreign students at Harvard and other universities.

The Department of Homeland Security has demanded that Harvard turn over a trove of files related to its foreign students, including disciplinary records and records related to “dangerous or violent activity.”

Harvard says it complied, but the agency said its response fell short and moved to revoke the university’s ability to enroll foreign students. A federal judge in Boston temporarily blocked the move after Harvard sued.

Other nations respond

Japan’s government said Tuesday that it’s looking for ways to help Harvard’s foreign students. Education Minister Toshiko Abe told reporters she planned to ask Japanese universities to compile measures to support international students.

The University of Tokyo, Japan’s top school, is considering temporarily accepting some Harvard students hit by the Trump sanctions.

Universities in other countries have made similar moves, including two in Hong Kong that recently extended invitations to Harvard students.

On Harvard’s campus, law student Carson Durdel said he was proud of the university for standing up to Trump. He said intellectual independence has historically made the United States strong.

“It’s the reason we are like a beacon for the rest of the world,” he said. “I think that undermining those things, cutting those things is not only a bad short-term view but a horrendous long-term view.”

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Associated Press reporter Leah Willingham in Cambridge, Massachusetts, contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

‘Duck Dynasty’ patriarch and conservative cultural icon Phil Robertson dies

WEST MONROE, La. (AP) — Phil Robertson, who turned his small duck calling interest in the sportsman’s paradise of northern Louisiana into a big business and conservative cultural phenomenon, died Sunday, according to his family. He was 79.

Robertson’s family announced in December on their Unashamed With the Robertson Family podcast that the patriarch of the clan had Alzheimer’s disease. The statement on social media from Robertson’s daughter-in-law didn’t mention how he died.

“Thank you for the love and prayers of so many whose lives have been impacted by his life saved by grace, his bold faith, and by his desire to tell everyone who would listen the Good News of Jesus. We are grateful for his life on earth and will continue the legacy of love for God and love for others until we see him again,” Korie Robertson wrote.

Phil Robertson skyrocketed to fame in the early 2010s when the A&E network created a reality show, presented like a sitcom. It followed the adventures of Robertson, his three sons — including Willie, who runs the family’s Duck Commander company, their wives and a host of other relatives and friends.

Phil Robertson and his boys were immediately recognizable by their long beards and their conservative, Christian and family-oriented beliefs.

That got Robertson into trouble, too. He told a magazine reporter in 2013 that gay people are sinners and African Americans were happy under Jim Crow laws.

A&E suspended him from “Duck Dynasty” but reversed course in a few weeks after a backlash that included Sarah Palin.

At the time, Robertson’s family called his comments coarse, but said his beliefs were grounded in the Bible and he “is a Godly man.” They also said that “as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm.”

A lifelong Louisiana man

Robertson was born in north Louisiana and spent his life in the woods and lakes that make up the region called Sportsman’s Paradise.

Robertson played football at Louisiana Tech and taught school. He also loved to hunt and created a duck call in the early 1970s that he said replicated the exact sound of a duck.

The calls were the centerpiece of the Duck Commander business Robertson would grow into a multimillion-dollar enterprise before A&E came calling.

The family just didn’t sell outdoor and hunting gear, but a lifestyle.

“The Robertsons face everything from beavers to business deals in their own special way — with a twist of downhome practicality and a sharp sense of humor,” A&E wrote in its promotion for “Duck Dynasty.”

Tributes pour in

Appreciations for Robertson appeared on social media shortly after this death was announced, largely from conservative politicians.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas wrote on X, “The great #PhilRobertson passed today. He loved Jesus & he was utterly fearless. One of my fondest memories was duck hunting with Phil — he was the best shot I ever met. And, in 2016, he recorded this amazing commercial for me. Rest in peace, my friend.”

“Saddened to hear of the passing of Phil Robertson — a man of deep faith, bold conviction, and unwavering love for his family,” wrote Ben Carson, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary, also on X. “I’ll never forget the time I spent with Phil and his wonderful family at their homestead in West Monroe, LA. We rode through the swamp stopping at his favorite duck blinds before being welcomed by Miss Kay with a warm, home-cooked meal, surrounded by their extended family and close friends.”

A&E shared their own tribute to the “Duck Dynasty” X account, writing: “We are saddened to hear of the passing of Phil Robertson, a hunting industry pioneer and the patriarch of the beloved Robertson family. Our thoughts are with them during this difficult time. We extend our deepest condolences and respect their privacy as they grieve.”

The scars from Hurricane Helene are healing slowly in this Appalachian tourist town

By ALLEN G. BREED AP National Writer

CHIMNEY ROCK VILLAGE, N.C. (AP) — The brightly colored sign along the S-curve mountain road beckons visitors to the Gemstone Mine, the “#1 ATTRACTION IN CHIMNEY ROCK VILLAGE!” But another sign, on the shop’s mud-splattered front door, tells a different story.

“We will be closed Thursday 9-26-2024 due to impending weather,” it reads. It promised to reopen the next day at noon, weather permitting.

That impending weather was the remnants of Hurricane Helene. And that reopening still hasn’t arrived.

The storm smashed into the North Carolina mountains last September, killing more than 100 people and causing an estimated $60 billion in damage. Chimney Rock, a hamlet of about 140 named for the 535-million-year-old geological wonder that underpins its tourism industry, was hit particularly hard.

Despite being nearly wiped off the map by the remnants of Hurricane Helene, tiny Chimney Rock Village, North Carolina, had optimistically predicted it would be open for business by Memorial Day. Mayor Peter O’Leary says that was overly optimistic, but that he sees progress everywhere. (AP video/Allen G. Breed)

Eight months later, the mine, like most of the surviving businesses on the village’s quaint Main Street, is still an open construction site. A flashing sign at the guard shack on the town line warns: “ROAD CLOSED. LOCAL TRAFFIC ONLY.”

Village Mayor Peter O’Leary had optimistically predicted that downtown would open in time for Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer tourist season. He now realizes that was too ambitious.

“We had set that date as a target, early on,” he said, sitting in the still stripped main room of his Bubba O’Leary’s General Store. “But I always try to remind people, you don’t always hit the target. Anybody that’s shot a gun or bow and arrow knows, you don’t always hit the target.”

The Broad River — which gave the restaurants and inns lining its banks their marketable water views — left its course, carving away foundations and sweeping away the bridge to Chimney Rock State Park. O’Leary said about a third of the town’s businesses were “totally destroyed.”

Several are gone for good.

At the north end of town, all that remains of Bayou Billy’s Chimney Rock Country Fair amusement park is a pile of twisted metal, tattered awnings and jumbled train cars. A peeling, cracked yellow carousel horse that owner Bill Robeson’s own children once rode balances precariously on a debris pile, its mouth agape to the sky.

At 71, Robeson — who also lost a two-story building where he sold popcorn, pizza and souvenir tin cups — said he doesn’t have the heart to rebuild.

“We made the dream come true and everything,” said Robeson, who’s been coming to Chimney Rock since he was in diapers. “I hate I had to leave like it was. But, you know, life is short. You just can’t ponder over it. You’ve got to keep going, you know?”

At the other end of town, the Carter Lodge boasted “BALCONIES OVERLOOKING RIVER.” Much of the back side of the 19-room hotel now dangles in midair, an angry red-brown gash in the soil that once supported it.

Barely a month before Helene, Linda Carter made the last loan payments on repairs from a 100-year flood in 1996. Contractors estimate it will cost $2.6 million to rebuild.

So, the widow said she’s waiting to see how much the federal government will offer her to let the lot become a flood-mitigation zone.

“I just don’t have it in me,” said Carter, who lived in the hotel. “I’m 74. I don’t want to die and leave my children in debt. I also don’t want to go through the pain of rebuilding.”

But others, like Matt Banz, still think Chimney Rock is worth the risk of future heartache.

The Florida native fell in love with a fudge shop here during a vacation more than 30 years ago. Today, he and his family own four businesses in town, including the gem mine and the RiverWatch Bar & Grill.

“The day after the storm, we didn’t even question whether we were going to rebuild,” Banz said, with workers rebuilding the riverfront deck on new cement footers. “We knew right away that we weren’t going to let go.”

O’Leary, Banz and others say federal relief has been slow. But volunteers have filled the gaps.

Down the street, Amish workers from Pennsylvania pieced together a mold before pouring a new reinforced foundation for the Broad River Inn, among the oldest businesses in town. The river undermined the back end and obliterated the neighboring miniature golf course.

“We definitely could not have done what we’re doing without them, that is for certain,” inn co-owner Kristen Sottile said. “They have brought so much willpower, hope, as well as many other things to our community.”

The Amish are working in concert with Spokes of Hope, a Christian nonprofit formed in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, which hit the Carolinas in September 2018.

Jonathan Graef and his siblings bought the Best View Inn in late 2023 and were halfway through renovations when Helene struck. They’ve been flooded twice since, but the new rafters and framing the Amish workers constructed have held.

“It’s really trying to kick us down,” said Graef, whose property borders what is left of the Bayou Billy’s park. “But our spirits are high, our hopes are high and nothing’s going to stop us from opening this place.”

Throughout town, the ring of hammers and saws mingles with the sizzle of welding and the rumble of debris-removal trucks.

Workers lay sewer lines. A temporary steel bridge to the state park — replacing the ornate stone and concrete span that washed out — should be ready soon, O’Leary said.

“In a normal year, they easily have 400,000 visitors that come to the park,” he said. “That’s really the draw that brings people here.”

One recent evening, Rose Senehi walked down Main Street, stopping to peer into shop windows to see how much progress had been made.

Twenty-two years ago, the novelist stopped in town to buy an ice cream cone. As she licked, she crossed a small bridge, climbed a rickety staircase to a small house, looked around “and saw that mountain.”

“Within an hour I signed the contract and bought it. Out of the blue,” she said, her eyes lighting up. “Never been to this town. But I knew THIS is what I wanted.”

The bridge is gone. So is that ice cream shop. But Senehi said there’s more to this place than stores and treats.

“There’s something about this area that, it’s just compelling. The mountains. The green. It’s just beautiful,” she said. “It’ll definitely come back. And it won’t be the same; it’ll be better.”

O’Leary said he thinks some Main Street businesses will be open sometime this summer. The council is looking for village-owned properties that can be leased or sold to business owners.

“I can see progress on all fronts,” said O’Leary, who came for a park job 35 years ago and never left. But he cautions that recovery will be slow.

“We don’t want everybody to come at the same time, but we do want people to visit and be patient with us,” he said. “This is a long rebuild. But I think it’s going to be worth it.”

Insect-eating Venus flytraps thrive in the Carolinas as hikers peek into their native ecosystem

By ERIK VERDUZCO Associated Press

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. (AP) — Park ranger Jesse Anderson leads dozens of people on a weekly hike in North Carolina to see some of the most unique living things in the world — plants that supplement the nutrients they get from sunlight by digesting ants, flies and spiders.

But the Venus flytraps aren’t like the human-size, ravenous and cruel Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors.”

In the wild, Venus flytraps are the size of a lima bean and pose no harm to anything other than insects. Their special hairs snap their leaves together when brushed — but only twice in about 20 seconds or less to reduce the amount of false alarms by dust or rain.

Park ranger Jesse Anderson guides visitors on the weekly carnivorous plant hike at Carolina Beach State Park in North Carolina. (AP video: Erik Verduzco)

Once inside, the insect is doomed to become plant food, Anderson said.

“It continues to trigger those hairs and the trap slowly closes and eventually starts releasing digestive enzymes to start breaking down the insect. And because they’re in nutrient-poor environments, they supplement their food with insects,” Anderson said.

Anderson’s hike at Carolina Beach State Park on the southeast North Carolina coast also showcases other carnivorous plants. There are vase-shaped pitcher plants with liquid at the bottom that traps insects, then digests them. Butterworts and sundews attract insects with glistening leaves, then secrete an adhesive to trap them in place. Bladderworts work similarly to Venus flytraps.

And the hike is one of the few places to see Venus flytraps. The plant only grows in 12 counties in southeast North Carolina near Wilmington and a few nearby places in South Carolina, which made the organism the state’s official carnivorous plant in 2023.

Now is an especially good time to take that hike. Venus flytraps bloom from about mid-May to mid-June, Anderson said.

The flytrap is a fragile plant that needs fire to survive. Wildfires in the pine forests where they grow clear off the denser overgrowth to provide the abundant sunlight the plants need.

They face two big enemies — poachers and development.

Harvesting the plants without permission is a felony in North Carolina and a misdemeanor in South Carolina. In 2016, a man was sentenced to 17 months in prison for taking nearly 1,000 Venus flytraps from game land in Hampstead, North Carolina.

And the flytraps live in one of the fastest-growing parts of the U.S., where neighborhoods and businesses have been built over their habitats. Most of the plants can now be found in preserves and other undisturbed areas.

Scientists counted only about 300,000 flytraps in the Carolinas several years ago.

While Anderson’s hike is one of the few ways to see Venus flytraps in their natural environment, he said commercially grown plants can be found around in greenhouses and plant stores around the world and can thrive in homes in the right conditions

“They like nutrient-poor soils, and also they can’t stand typical well water or tap water. So they need things like rainwater or distilled water or versus osmosis,” Anderson said.

Venus flytraps need abundant sunlight and soils that are moist but not drenched. And they don’t have to eat bugs if they can get enough nutrients from photosynthesis.

Please don’t feed them hamburger meat — that’s not what they eat. And try not to trigger the leaves shut without something to digest. That takes a lot of energy the plant needs to replace.

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Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this story.

King Charles to outline Canada’s priorities in Parliament amid Trump annexation threat

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — King Charles III will outline new Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government priorities in a speech in the Canadian Parliament on Tuesday. It’s widely viewed as a show of support in the face of annexation threats by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump’s repeated suggestion that the U.S. annex Canada prompted Prime Minister Carney to invite Charles to give the speech from the throne. The king is the head of state in Canada, which is a member of the British Commonwealth of former colonies.

Carney said in a statement the visit speaks to the “vitality of our constitutional monarchy and our distinct identity.”

UK’s King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive in Ottawa ahead of the opening of Parliament (AP Video)

It is rare for the monarch to deliver what’s called the speech from the throne in Canada. Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, did it twice in her 70-year reign, the last time in 1977.

The speech is not written by the king or his U.K. advisers as Charles serves as a nonpartisan head of state. He will read what is put before him by Canada’s government.

Carney , the new prime minister and a former head of the Bank of England, and Canada’s first Indigenous governor general, Mary Simon, the king’s representative in Canada, met with the king on Monday.

Canadians are largely indifferent to the monarchy, but Carney has been eager to show the differences between Canada and the United States. The king’s visit clearly underscores Canada’s sovereignty, he said.

Carney won the job of prime minister by promising to confront the increased aggression shown by Trump.

The new U.S. ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, said sending messages to the U.S. isn’t necessary and Canadians should move on from the 51st state talk, telling the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that if there’s a message to be sent there are easier ways to do that, such as calling him or calling the president.

“There are different ways to ‘send a message’ and a phone call is only of them,” said Daniel Beland, a political science professor at McGill University.

“The King would normally add his own short introductory remarks and observers will be listening to them very carefully with the issue of Canada’s sovereignty in mind.”

A horse-drawn carriage will take the king and queen to the Senate of Canada Building for the speech. It will accompanied by 28 horses — 14 before and 14 after. He will receive the Royal Salute from the 100-person guard of honor from the 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment before entering the chamber for his speech.

The king will return to the U.K. after the speech and a visit to Canada’s National War Memorial.

Hurricanes’ 15-loss streak in East finals games is over. And Rod Brind’Amour is thrilled by that

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Go back to June 1, 2006. Rod Brind’Amour was a captain then; he’s a coach now. Logan Stankoven was 3 years old then; he’s a budding star now. And in those days, when people talked about Cam Ward, they meant the goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes, not the quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes.

That was also the last day on which Carolina won an Eastern Conference finals game.

Until Monday, that is.

It’s over. Not the season. The streak. Carolina’s 15-game streak of consecutive losses in the East finals ended Monday night, with the Hurricanes beating the Florida Panthers 3-0 in Game 4 of their matchup. It was Carolina’s first win in the East finals since June 1, 2006 against Buffalo, a night where Brind’Amour — then the Hurricanes’ captain — got the game-winning goal.

“You know what? I didn’t even think about that,” Brind’Amour said. “But that’s nice.”

Carolina’s winning goal Monday came from Stankoven, someone whose future Brind’Amour raves about. Stankoven has no idea of the circumstances surrounding what had been Carolina’s most recent East finals win before Monday; considering he was a toddler when it happened, that’s understandable.

The odds of overcoming a 3-0 series deficit are overwhelmingly slim. A 3-1 deficit is no picnic either, but the Hurricanes at least know now that they can beat the Panthers in the playoffs.

“It’s just what you can do,” Stankoven said. “You start with one and go from there. We just try and preach about winning a period and going from there. And I think it was nice to get the lead tonight as well and play on our toes instead of on our heels.”

Under Brind’Amour, the Hurricanes have gone to the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons but have no Stanley Cups — or even Stanley Cup Final trips — to show for it. The seven straight playoff berths is the fourth-longest active run in the NHL, behind only Toronto’s nine, Colorado’s eight and Tampa Bay’s eight. The Lightning have two Cups in that span, the Avalanche have one.

This looked like it could have been the team to change the fortunes for Carolina. The Hurricanes rolled through the first two rounds, ousting New Jersey in five games in Round 1 and then needing only five more games to eliminate NHL all-time scoring king Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in Round 2. They were a top 10 team this season in goals scored, a top 10 team this season in fewest goals allowed, had a pair of eight-game winning streaks this season and outscored the Devils and Capitals 34-18 in the first two rounds.

Momentum was building until the first three games against Florida. Now going home for Game 5, the Hurricanes still have a chance.

And streak talk, thankfully from Brind’Amour’s perspective, will end.

“I mean, it means like nothing to these guys because half of them weren’t here, but it’s been a story,” Brind’Amour said. “So, yeah, it’s nice to not have to talk about that.”

Mini Beef Wellingtons

Photo Courtesy of BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com

Mini Beef Wellingtons Recipe from Beef It’s What’s For Dinner

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10-12 minutes

Serving size: 12 servings

Ingredients

1 pound beef Tenderloin Steak, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 package (8 ounces) mushrooms, chopped
3 tablespoons minced onion
1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
1 package (17.3 ounce) frozen puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup Dijon-style mustard
Horseradish sauce and chopped parsley, optional

Directions

In large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook 2 to 3 minutes until tender and all liquid is evaporated, stirring often. Stir in onion, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; remove from heat and set aside.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss beef with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Spray 24 mini-muffin cups with cooking spray. Unfold puff pastry on a lightly floured cutting board; cut each sheet into 12 (2-inch) squares. Place squares into mini-muffin cups. Brush dough with mustard, then place heaping teaspoon of mushroom mixture in center of dough. Top with steak piece.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 135°F for medium rare; 150°F for medium. Let rest. Temperature will continue to rise to 145°F for medium rare and 160°F for medium.
Serve warm topped with horseradish sauce and parsley, if desired.

The Seven Beauties of the Coast

Lighthouses of North Carolina

Ocracoke Island Lighthouse

Ocracoke’s lighthouse is unique in that it is a beckoning lighthouse instead of a warning lighthouse. It is on without a flash or rotating device, telling sailors to come to it and not worry about rocks. Built out of dressed stone and timber with brick and mortar surface in 1823, it stands at 75 feet or 23 meters tall, it is actually very short compared to its lighthouse brothers. It is the oldest operating light station in our state and the second oldest still standing.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

Bodie lighthouse, pronounced “body”, is actually the third lighthouse that has stood on Bodie Island. The other two were farther south close to Oregon Inlet which is now underwater due to the migration of the inlet. The first was built in 1847, the second was build in 1859 but was destroyed by the Confederate troops. This third construction was completed in 1872 and moved a bit Northward. It is made of brick, cast iron and stone and was made automated in 1940. It stands at 164 feet and about 50 meters tall.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

This lighthouse is found on Hatteras Island and boasts a height of 210 feet or 64 meters tall, making it North Carolina’s tallest lighthouse. It is constructed out of brick and reinforced concrete, with black and white striped lines with a red brick foundation base. Nicknamed Hamilton’s Light after Alexander Hamilton requested a lighthouse be built on Hatteras because his ship almost crashed off it’s shores in 1794. So in 1802, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was constructed.

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

The only red lighthouse on our list is Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Completed on December 1, 1875, the lighthouse was not painted which left its beautiful brick facade exposed and is made of nearly 1 million bricks. It stands at 162 feet or 49 meters tall and is a conical tower. It protects the northern Outer Banks shores just before you reach Virginia.

Cape Lookout Lighthouse

Cape Lookout is a unique lighthouse because it is one of the few that actually runs during the day. This lighthouse is the second to stand tall in this location, the first was completed in 1812 but was found to be too short at only 96 feet tall. It was nicknamed “Horrible Headland” because the light couldn’t reach the treacherous Lookout Shoals and many ships perished. The current lighthouse was built and lit on November 1, 1859 and stands much taller at 163 feet or just under 50 meters tall.

Oak Island Lighthouse

Oak Island Lighthouse stands at a height of 153 feet or 47 meters in the town of Caswell Beach near Cape Fear River. Construction began in 1957 and completed in 1958, it replaced the Cape Fear Light, a steel skeleton structure on Bald Head Island which was demolished earlier that year. Its colors are the top is black, middle is white, and the bottom is gray.

Old Baldy Lighthouse

Bald Head Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse still standing in our state. Constructed in 1817, the specific date is unknown and is made of dressed stone. It stands at 110 feet or 34 meters.

Peruvian Steak Kabobs

Peruvian Steak Kabobs Recipe from Beef It’s What’s For Dinner

Prep time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 8-10 minutes

Serving size: 8 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds beef Inside Skirt Steak (pounded 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick)
1 zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise (1/8 to 1/4-inch thick)
1 yellow squash, thinly sliced lengthwise (1/8 to 1/4 inch thick)

Sauce and Marinade:

4 limes, juiced
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 small Spanish onion, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon salt
1-1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground chiles de arbol
1 tablespoon Cowboy Steak & Roast Rub

Directions

In a food processor or blender container, combine lime juice, oil, vinegar, onion, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, oregano and ground chiles de arbol. Blend together until smooth; set aside.
Add half of marinade in a food-safe plastic bag. Add beef, zucchini and squash. Close bag securely and marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Alternately thread beef and vegetables onto metal skewers. Sprinkle with steak and rub seasoning. (If using wooden skewers, soak in water 10 minutes to prevent burning on the grill.)
Place kabobs on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, 9 to 12 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, 8 to 10 minutes) for medium rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness, turning once. Remove from grill.
Serve kabobs drizzled with remaining reserved sauce.

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