What’s wrong with brining? It has been shown to increase the moistness of cooked chicken... It isn’t inherently an evil practice.

As a practical matter, no.

That is terrifying. And sad. But it would explain how claiming $20K more would work.

I don’t get what you mean. The IRS isn’t going to pay you back anything that wasn’t paid in on your behalf—i.e., by your employer. Usually the amount paid in is based on how much your employer expects to pay you. So telling the IRS you made more than your employer expected usually means you owe the IRS, not the other…

Maybe I’m confused, but wouldn’t they need to claim $20K less in income to generate a big return? While the IRS may not know your income if it doesn’t generate a W4, I’m pretty sure they know how much got paid in on your behalf. So I’m thinking you would need to set up a case that you overpaid relative to how much you…

Wouldn’t that have a high likelihood of causing the Mason jar to break?

Works if your slow cooker has a removable insert that can be put on the stove—most don’t seem to have them. And the “hi” setting on most slow cookers isn’t enough to sauté or brown things.

Guiness I could get behind. My grandfather used to marinade his chili beef in beer ‘n stuff. Don’t think he tried Guiness though. But if it works in Irish Stew, I could go that route.

Therein lies the problem. I’ve never had chili with cinnamon in it that wasn’t off-putting because you could taste the cinnamon flavor. This isn’t like adding anchovy paste to things where it just disappears and enhances flavor, cinnamon is pretty strong.

I’m willing to go with the coffee or chocolate (hey, they put chocolate in mole, right), but I think cinnamon in chili is an abomination. And I like cinnamon. In ice cream. On apples. In chewing gum. But not in chili. Used to be a place around DC called Hard Times that, among other nastiness, used to serve a…

Independent of the fact that I pay $15/hr for babysitting, the linked premise is silly. This is supply and demand. This is market rate. Saying it is “not right” makes as much sense as complaining about what NBA players make.

I saw that, but I guess I’m assuming that the bots are programmed with tables that are based on user profiles...

I feel the same way, but when I think about it, the Dot is priced basically where the initial promo pricing for the Echo was. What I want is a promotion bringing back the $99 Echo!

The username portion of this doesn’t seem quite fair, since half the devices I have that use “admin” or “administrator” as the root password won’t let me change the username. I’m also having a problem believing “St@rt123" ranks ahead of, say, “123" or “123456" or “qwerty” or the like. But perhaps enough systems have…

I was just considering the benefits of having a second Echo this morning... My Dot is already on order. I bought the first one on a lark, but it has been quite the useful little chunk of gear.

I think that’s what I meant about a “vanity” purchase—there may be some psychic/intangible, but—in your words—”not because it’s a better pot.” I think my experience, as well as the experience of a lot of others on cooking forums and product review sites, is that the LC is actually a better pot. I fully recognize it…

I’ve got nothing against Lodge, but just assuming the quality is the same as Le Creuset because they neither holds patents is just as silly as saying the quality of Le Creuset is better because they cost more. First off, there’s design and functionality—I’ve played with a lot of pots. I still like my LC 6 qt Dutch…

This also looks suspicious to me. I’ll accept that a company may have a product that is particularly good and a “lifetime” product, but the idea that 6 of 9 luggage products that reach this status are made by Eagle Creek? I’ve used their luggage—its OK, but not what I’d consider best in class/best value in class. And…

Crap. I feel like I should have figured this out after reading the science behind his recipe for pie dough involving vodka. Three years of fried chicken that could have been crispier for no good reason.

Make sure you dry it off well before you try any of this—pile of paper towels works fine. I also brush with a bit of melted butter. I’ve heard adding some kind of sugar will help caramelize/crust at high heat, but never tried that one.