Samer, I think Hamilton may have hacked your account...

Apparently they are good out-of-hand when fresh? At least according to Kenji.

... you say that as if it’s a bad thing...

Those high enrollment schools (Ashford, Phoenix) are all for-profit colleges. Probably don’t have many traditional students.

“Make the Sweater Better”

Are you aware that this is basically the title and content of a sketch from “The Birthday Boys”, late of IFC?
I suppose not. It’s one of those “too many shows” you are complaining about.

I have always seen this referred to as “blitz” and it is the basis of Stella Parks’ pie dough (as I expect that you know, owning her book as you do).

Bamba! The company is Osem.

BTW, I just did this on Sunday. It was a tremendous ass-pain, so i would welcome experimentation to find tweaks that make it more efficient/less ass-painful.

Hey, I like Bamba. They are alright.

Gift cards are strictly dominated by cash, and this is the main reason why I hate them. The only reason to not give cash is to retain the veneer of personalization. But at the point where you are giving an Amazon gift card or an Amex gift card... You aren’t significantly constraining what they can get nor even giving…

Temper chocolate.

The correct answer is:

I went to the Maryland Renaissance Faire, so of course I ate a bunch of awesome/terrible fried food. “Beef fingers” and gravy, scotch eggs, fried mac and cheese on a stick, turkey leg, etc...

Can you do tempering chocolate? I know it works (Kenji... again...), but seeing the results for different types of chocolate and hearing your experiences may be educational!

Yeah. Taylor Gourmet is also a chain. But I get it.

Logic was one of the most useful courses I took in college. Helped me immensely with learning how to code.

Vacation in the same place every year (and build traditions) or vacation in a different place every year (and have new experiences)?

John Cleese begs to differ...