That does seem more reasonable.

While I can occasionally be talked into some deep-dish pizza- rarely, but it is still ultimately bread, cheese, and sauce and those are all things that taste great together - I am at a loss to understand the Chicago dog.

Clothesand manor-houses/castles.

That was one of the worst storylines on the show, both in concept and execution. All to contrive more unnecessary drama for the Anna-Bates relationship.

I’m a little confused - I’m pretty sure Julian Fellowes is well aware he made a period melodrama in the upstairs/downstairs vein so he could mine his love of manor-porn, attention to detail, and excellent costuming choices. So I would say that Fellowes is pretty aware it’s fairly shallow, but the fan base can be kind…

When this show came out, I laughed hysterically at the pilot. Not because of the deathless writing, but because I had recently moved on from Vertebrate Paleontology as a profession. (The short version - Academia sucks, and I didn’t feel like spending my life chasing grants while guys were trying to grab my ass and…

We went to the UK last year, and while there were some things I couldn’t wrap my head or tastebuds around - mushy peas, UK bacon vs. US bacon, chips vs. a more skinny-style french fry - holy crap, there was some spectacularly tasty stuff.

For Szechuan, two places leap to mind, Tea House (the University branch) and Szechuan Spice in LynLake. Both are excellent.

Oh. So. Many. This town has a surprisingly excellent food scene. What are you interested in?

Aw, man. I wish you well, but The Takeout has been such a great place to hang out and talk about food and food culture. Your replacement has big shoes to fill!

Growing up, jarred sauce was referred to as “summer sauce.” Basically, my Mom didn’t want to take the time or heat up the kitchen making the vat of sauce she needed to make to feed a family that included my father - a man who has got to be hollow - and at one point, three voracious teenagers. It was a base she could…

You can speak wistfully of blue crabs.

More Northern Virginia. But I spent plenty of time in Maryland visiting family and friends there. (And at the Quarterdeck in Arlington, for that matter.)

When my Mom lost a ton of weight from chemo, everyone kept telling her how great she looked, frequently because they didn’t know what else to say. After another well-meaning/tongue-tied neighbor walked away when we were doing some light yard work, she turned to me and said, “I swear to god, the next person who tells…

Steamed Blue Crabs. Plenty of Old Bay. I didn’t realize how spoiled I was in crab shacks until I moved to the Upper Midwest. (h/t to the Quarterdeck for the picture)

My family’s stuffed squid recipe relies on shaker parm.  It distributes well in the rice stuffing, and provides that “salty and generically cheesy” tang that plays nicely off of the diced anchovies/anchovy past.

Suitcases and other luggage are even better for folded clothes. The boxes with hanging rods are great for moving your clothes that need to stay on hangers.

Yep. I got a new printer and a TV about a year or so before I knew we would probably be moving. I popped them both back into their original sytrofoam packaging and heavy boxes and they were a breeze to move.

Putting your glasses in socks is interesting, but a royal pain in the butt. Throw down a little bit of cash and get a box or two of this packing paper https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/210087/Office-Depot-Brand-30percent-Recycled-Packing/ - depends on how many glasses you have - and wrap glasses in this. Your…

I used to take a puddle jumper pretty regularly, and just booked my seats in the back. Because, inevitably, everyone clustered in the front and we had to rearrange for weight distribution.  The FA’s always appreciated it.