Two potatoes are better than one.The Kansas City Star’s Parmesan Sage Crusted Sweet Potato Gratin combines slices of Yukon gold with sweet potatoes in a layered, breadcrumb-topped dish known as “au gratin.”Au gratins are typically starchy vegetable dishes napped with cream or milk and liberally topped with cheese. For instance, the Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond’s recipe for Perfect Potato au Gratin uses 3 cups of heavy cream, 1 cup of whole milk and 2 cups of cheddar cheese.Granted, it serves 16, b

ACAPULCO, Mexico -- Sorry, but for this story we’ll skip the standard references to Elizabeth Taylor’s third wedding, JFK’s honeymoon and cliff divers.Acapulco. Gorgeous, still -- much of it. But it has problems.First, the news: Grupo Autofin, already a strong tourism-industry presence here, announced plans this summer to invest $1 billion in new construction and upgrades along the Pacific coastline well south of the heart of the city and its famous bay. Included are high-end hotels, renovation

Prolific star from golden age of Korean film recognized for lifelong devotion to craft

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israeli archaeologists Wednesday unveiled a seventh century B.C. text they said contains the earliest mention in Hebrew of Jerusalem outside the Bible, prompting officials to stress the Jewish connection to the city.“For Israeli archaeology, this is the first mention in Hebrew of the city of Jerusalem outside the New Testament,” Amir Ganor of Israel’s antiquities authority told AFP as the papyrus was presented in Jerusalem. The antiquities authority said the papyrus, found nea

“The Mothers” By Brit BennettRiverhead (278 pages, $26)The Mothers of Upper Room Chapel are worried about the future: “Anyone knows a church is only as good as its women, and when we all passed on to glory, who would hold this church up?” they demand, gazing with disapproval at the teenagers in their small Southern California congregation. Who will carry on? Not the “sullen and slow” boys, not the girls, who are “even worse.”How can any community survive with such a disappointing legacy?“The Mot

“Scream: A Memoir of Glamour and Dysfunction” By Tama JanowitzDey Street Books (304 pages, $25.99)When author Tama Janowitz was 15 years old, her pothead father suggested she enter a wet T-shirt contest if she couldn’t find a summer job. As one of New York City’s “It-Girl” writers in the 1980s, she rubbed elbows with the likes of Andy Warhol and the who’s who of magazine editors by day, and retreated to a meat locker-turned-apartment at night. Later, she traded city life for upstate New York, wh

From the latest floral design trends for next year’s spring fashion to the daringly dark “Suicide Squad” inspired collection, HERA Seoul Fashion Week unveiled the latest collections from some of the country’s best up-and-coming designers. Held from Oct. 17 to 22 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Seoul Fashion Week showcased 41 designer brands and six global companies, while the “Generation Next Seoul,” SFW’s trade show, included more than 100 designer brands and young designers, as well as group fashi

“Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man who Wrote ‘Dracula’” By David J. SkalLiveright (652 pages, $35)Several years ago, I read the book “Dracula” for the first time, expecting that Bram Stoker’s 19th century fable of blood, lust and the undead would be a quaint echo of Dracula’s many screen incarnations. I was astonished at its powerful sense of creeping, unstoppable horror, still spellbinding more than 100 years after its publication.In “Something in the Blood: Bram

LONDON (AFP) -- Paul Beatty has become the first US author to win the Man Booker Prize for his novel “The Sellout,” which the novelist said should not be read as a “mono-directional” take on race.The jury behind the world’s most prestigious English-language literary award said the novel was a “shocking and unexpectedly funny” portrayal of Beatty’s native Los Angeles, using satire to explore racial equality in a fictional neighborhood.Beatty said readers should think of the novel as a work of fic

BEIJING (AFP) -- His uncle was the last emperor of China, reigning over the Middle Kingdom from the Forbidden City. Now Jin Yulan scours the antique shops of Communist-ruled Beijing for trinkets that might once have belonged to his family.The Qing dynasty ruled over China for 268 years until it was deposed after the 1911 revolution. But interest in the past is growing, and when Jin opened an exhibition of his artifacts this week dozens of enthusiasts attended.A retired teacher dressed in a polo