Lemon! A squeeze of lemon juice, just enough that you think, “Does this have a little lemon in it?” when you eat it. It’s amazing how much it adds to a chicken soup.

Arby’s brisket sandwich is decently good, for a fast-food sandwich. I get it with no mayo or cheese. (Those don’t belong on brisket!) My wife and I also like their chicken salad sandwich and wrap, which they only have in the summer.

Our local LJS looked exactly like that...until it closed last year. I’m sure it wasn’t good for you, but dang their fried fish with malt vinegar on it tasted good! Their hush puppies used to be terrible, but a few years ago they reformulated them, and the current ones are fantastic, if they’re fresh.

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:

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.

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.

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, but you’re wrong about that, at least where I live. The percentage of our county population of working age 16-65 is already more than 5% lower than the state overall, and it shrinks more every year. Several local elementary schools have closed and merged with others, because there aren’t enough students to keep…

Interesting note: Wendy’s is sometimes credited with creating the first “modern” drive-through in 1970, the three-stop order, pay, pickup setup that’s common today.

We have multiple ones in my town with closed lobbies, or lobbies that are only open for very limited hours. Just this week, the local Taco Bell lobby was closed, because there wasn’t enough staff to work it. The local Dairy Queen lobby has been open for lunch only for months. The population is aging here in rural…

I got a bit of a start over the weekend and harvested and dried herbs from the garden to use at Thanksgiving (and beyond). I’ve got thyme, rosemary, sage, and oregano, all chosen because they’re perennials and varieties that grow well here without needing much care. Last year I hung them in the basement to dry. This…