The message I see here is free = junk. I don’t see a lot of qualification the way you seem too. Besides, if you read it the way you want, it seems kind of like pointless advice—”free stuff might be useless’?

Sure, if you are a minimalist. But I don’t understand the attraction myself. And the implicit statement that “if it is free it isn’t worth anything” is a bad message. There are many things I have acquired over the years that would not have purchased—televisions, stereo components, household electronics—that people…

I’m not a huge multitool guy, but here’s another DIY option (from Adam Savage) that could be done with a smaller tool arsenal...

Being able to weld is hands down of the most awesome skills to have. While I have oxyacetylene and a MIG in my garage, my local TechShop has spot, MIG & TIG. So there’s some options out there.

Still here. I’m trying to keep my blood pressure lower by having more rational conversations, however. I don’t think my view on this has changed much—too much of this debate seems to proceed from a sense of entitlement by millenials that they are owed broadband service at fantastic speeds at low cost. But the way we…

Having recently participated in a community yard, I spent some time thinking about whether I’d do it again and decided I probably would. Time spent was a waste, didn’t earn enough to make it worthwhile. But what it did was create a forcing event to weed through your stuff. And the idea that you get some money for…

It seemed odd to me that he’s arguing that a notebook is useful in the event your battery is dead. But later he says he transcribes all that stuff into digital form anyway, so the contact data is still lost if your phone is out of juice. Seemed like a manufactured justification—if this works for him, so be it. But I…

Fast food tastes like shit anyway, so aiming for the least bad for you item on the menu doesn’t seem like “obsessing over every morsel you put in your mouth.” I am perfectly willing to stuff fat-ridden empty calories in my pie-hole, it’s just that I’d rather do it with some good BBQ or a ribeye and not a series of Big…

Anybody else wondering why the camera was framed the way it was? Or am I just too cynical?

I get a weird Corey Feldman vibe from that picture...

Something you did that corrects an issue I didn’t like about the OP is using a beefier corner bracket. While he did go ahead an drill a mounting hole outside the leg to strengthen things, those zinc-coated corners are just plain awful—I can bend them bare handed. Where the leg sits outside of the corner, like in the…

A subfloor is intended to do something completely different than flooring. And the issue really is denting. In a shop, who cares? But with a shiny coat of poly on it, you’ll see every single dent and indentation. That, and the softness/denting is likely to crack the finish, which provides an opportunity for…

Good hardwood-faced plywood strikes me as being way too soft for flooring. The center cores are usually softwoods, so I’d worry about dents. Before you try it, I’d get a friend with high heels to walk across a section and see how it fares.

I think the issue is that the sodium citrate has to be dissolved in something, not necessarily an interaction with tomato. The idea with most cheese sauces—whether for MnC or queso, is that you are suspending fat in a liquid. If the sodium citrate is in powder form and gets dropped directly into the solid cheese, I’m…

Now that you have some sodium citrate, you can also use it to make your own melty cheese slices out of any cheese you want. Think about the melting properties of American cheese for burgers, but made with a nice aged gouda or a gorgonzola.

Technically you can do this with a whisk. But sodium citrate isn’t the fastest dissolving substance on the planet.

Having tried god only knows how many mac ‘n cheese recipes, I will recommend this one without qualification: http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/silky-…

I think the truth is probably somewhere in between. Even with the overall right environment, if you don’t create the time to sit down and engage your kids on a regular basis, I don’t think your outcomes will be as good. I believe there have been studies directed specifically at the effect of a family mealtime that…

So your defense is that your original comment was irrelevant to the article at hand (which is about beginner cookbooks) and to start getting all snide? You’re still saying the book is appropriate for beginners. I’m saying there are a lot better options in terms of bang for your buck if you are starting out. Just…

It is a good reference. But it isn’t a starter cookbook, and if you think that book is the functional equivalent of IKEA instructions, I think you’re delusional. And, yes, while safe food handling practices are good to learn, virtually no home kitchen in the US could pass a health inspection, so the level of detail is…