Illinois doesn’t even have a state property tax, it’s all local. There are a small number of cities (medium-sized ones, not Chicago even) with high property tax rates that distort the average up. I live in the southern part of the state, and our property taxes are average, about right in the middle for the nation.…

You’re probably right, but all my experience is with I4 turbos, and I’m getting to be too old a dog to learn new tricks. :-/

I made a point of eating at Iron Chef Michael Symon’s restaurant Lola in Cleveland with my daughters a few years ago. And, alas, it’s now closed. It seems like there are several TV-famous chefs with restaurants in Nashville, so I’m hoping to visit some of them. Before they close. :-/ Being in Southern IL, Nashville is…

My first car, a ‘76 AMC Pacer. I will always maintain it was ahead of its time. Part of me would like to have one again, and swap a turbo 4 of some kind into it. Not mine, but it looked like this:

Nah, I’m pretty sure that picture at the top is a Muppet.

Probably mostly because people are dumb and think it will make their food radioactive.

If you have to use a touch interface in a car, I prefer the now-archaic resistive screen. My 2016 Fusion has a resistive touch screen, and while yes, it’s not quite as responsive as a capacitive screen, it works no matter what gloves I have on, etc. I really think this Fusion dash and console design is about the best…

Ours is from ‘85 when we got married, and I’m pretty sure it still has the skinning a squirrel section. Really a thorough and useful cookbook that everybody should have on the shelf.

But only 1% of the fan wank of Tennant popping up there at the end. :)

Came here to say the Fusion. We bought one 4 years ago, 2.0L EcoBoost pretty loaded with options. It’s the first Ford I’ve owned since the ‘85 Escort I bought new, but my wife and I really like the Fusion a lot.

As an old guy, I really appreciated seeing all the old-school DW actors last night.

Yeah, I normally would use beef and lamb, but it’s about a 25-mile drive to get ground lamb, and I was lazy.

I usually cook brats in beer for 10 minutes or so, then put them on the grill to get some char on them.

Trying to decide if those are Georgian khinkali in the lead image, or some kind of Asian dumpling or bun?

Love me some creme brulee. That’s a good recipe, one I’ve made myself. Another addition I’ve used besides espresso powder is white chocolate. It doesn’t have a strong flavor, but it adds to the smooth silkiness of the resulting custard. You can also do some simple mix-ins. Melt a bit of jam or jelly and drizzle over…

I know I’ve said this before, but sumac is really underappreciated here in the U.S. And it grows here natively, even! If you can get your hands on some, give it a try. It’s easy to love, very lemony and just a little earthy.

Sorry. 0.41 dekascaramuccis.

Brings back memories! As a kid I got to see Enterprise when it stopped at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois on that last piggyback flight back east. I remember making a pencil sketch and then building a model from cardboard and balsa wood. 

Fascinating. Buckminster Fuller held a kind of visiting professor position at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL, for over a decade. He actually owned and lived in a geodesic dome house there, as well, which is still there. 

It was legit confusing back then when Ronald Reagan picked as Treasury secretary a guy named Donald Regan.