Many (all?) beans grow in pods, too, so maybe “shaped like peas” also means “shaped like beans.” What we know as green beans or wax beans are generally immature bean pods that don’t yet have the seeds forming (and, sure, are grown for eating that way, but if you let them continue, they fill with seeds the way the pods…

Wow, if Lifehacker had a superthanks or kofi or some such, I’d totally be clicking on it. I’ve learned a lot from Skillet over the years, but this might be the first time I said “genius” out loud just from the headline. I’ve done pork roasts and tenderloin dishes with peaches, but never with bacon.

I wwonder if your second-to-last line is the key to the whole thing — the perfect fries aren’t perfect when the chili is dumped on them. Maybe the secret is to put the fries on top of the chili and cheese so they stay crisp, then you can push them into the chili for each mouthful.

As awesome and powerful as her popular music songs were, when she sang traditional Irish songs... wow. I don’t have words to describe the beauty and power, but if folks are familiar with Irish mythology, something otherworldly crossed the veil to our world when she sang. May her soul find rest and comfort.

I’d assume the candy for this Halloween has already been made — it literally hits stores once school starts (mid-August by me). (Forget pumpkin spice creep! We have Reese’s Pumpkin creep!) The multinational companies also are much more likely to maintain a steady supply, so if there is a possible (not actual at this…

I liked the line about sneering while drinking your own $7.11 coffee! I’m rarely buying coffee in the outside world, but fondly remember the coffee from some franchised Burger King in San Jose, CA some twenty-odd years back that cost next to nothing. And one of the best espressos I ever had was at the Good Sam…

I liked the old commercials, but they didn’t get me to actually eat at Quiznos, so...

“All you need is a tennis racquet and a bottle of beer.” Is it wrong that I read this and thought “that sounds like a great way to go through life”?

And i heard my first back-to-school ad last week!

The company that owns Sam Adams also owns Dogfish Head, so pumpkin products appearing at the same time from both kinda maybe makes sense? Maybe not. Anyway, Boston Beer acquired Dogfish Head a few years ago.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is still probably the beer I drink the most (because I am old and my beer tastes ossified before the rise of hazy IPAs and sweet stouts and such), with Bell’s Two-Hearted a close second. I’m in Illinois, and am a big fan of Dovetail’s brews, but apparently the suburb I live in doesn’t agree with…

Loved Anchor Steam, was blown away by my first Liberty Ale in the early 1990s, always struggled to find Old Foghorn in the Midwest. RIP. San Francisco loses a little more of its quirkiness.

This is a super-interesting article. The prices in LA definitely gave me pause — I was visiting a friend a few months back and there was lots of eating out involved, and my assumption was that the prices were just reflecting post-pandemic life, and I’d find the same thing back in Chicago (hadn’t been going out for…

Oh, bummer -- sorry!

Thanks! Polar is available in the Midwest now with their seltzers, but not their sodas. Maybe when I go back to visit my family (now in Vermont), I can find it.

Growing up in NH, we had a birch beer that was clear like 7-UP, but still had the wintergreen-meets-root-beer taste you describe. This was a fun article — thanks for writing it!

The photo seems to contain a cheese-wiz type product, not cream cheese? I’m assuming her actual order contains the latter, because bagels, but... Wait, looking closer, it’s a bulkie roll or some such, not a bagel, and I’ve never seen pork roll sliced that thin... what’s going on?

Awesome article. Your interviews are always great. My late uncle was in a wheelchair for the final 25 years or so of his life and he had the resources to custom-design his kitchen, and wow was it thoughtfully done. Now my dad has physical issues and worked with my mom to arrange things to help him prep and cook...…

Thanks!

I wonder if it’s the same Irish moss used as a clearing agent in brewing beer? That is also a seaweed, and I understand it is a source of carrageenan, which helps coagulate the proteins and floaty bits in the brewing process. Used to be used extensively in Irish and UK breweries, so if Irish sailors brought it to…