I would have stopped at “it’s sometimes worth giving one of your hometown standards a try in a foreign land.” I’m from Chicago and have a liking to the dogs “being dragged through the garden,” but it’s really hard for me to find a favorite. I second the Danish dogs as being worthy and delicious competition. (Not quite…

I agree with most of the posters - it depends a lot on where you start financially. In my early 20s I was beyond broke - working in a restaurant so I wouldn’t have to buy food - moving into a basement apartment near work because my car died, etc. What worked for me was an extreme budget of no frills, no extras, no…

Yeah, for me it boiled down to luck. I dropped out of school because I couldn’t afford it. I got a job in a restaurant so I skim free food. I picked up dishwasher shifts just to get in extra hours. I had to move out of my affordable (shared) basement apartment into a roach motel closer to work because my car broke…

I must respectfully disagree. I happen to like the more modern approach to Old Fashioneds, but with a quality cherry like Luxardo and orange peel rather than the slices. Part of the joy of the Old Fashioned is the making - the blending / muddling of the sugar and the cherries and the choice of the liquor. The original…

Sorry, I agree - this needs to meld for a few days. Other fun game to confuse your palate  - doing the same with fresh ginger, fresh jalapenos, or chinese peppercorns (the ones that taste warm but also numb / tingle your tongue).

I tended bar for many years and we even had parents who would put their children on the bar top and let them wiggle around - despite drunks with Long Islands, stacks of glasses, (and this was years ago) and overflowing ash trays. Any comments about this from me were usually met with “I AM watching,” “He / she’s a…

SPRAY PAINTING GOT PAINT ON FORESKIN OF PENIS CAUSING PAIN

1. Black pepper. Hot peppers. Chili paste from dried chilies. Red pepper.

This is one of my favorite installments of “trash.” Now I feel I need to buy some more feta just to get more brine. Maybe a splash in a bloody mary?

2 things: roasted crisp brussels sprouts and cast iron corn bread. Oh yeah, 3 things - everything else.

If you efile - the first filer gets in and any other filings are rejected - legit or not. If you mail them in, a real person looks to see if there are any duplicate filings. Slow, yes, but that’s why snail mail is used.

Well, yes. 2015 Congress told the IRS to get the refunds out, no questions asked, as fast as possible. Fraudulent filings skyrocketed and many didn’t get refunds for over one year. 2017, changes in W-2 filings and id verification cut fraudulent returns by 50%. If the IRS just said, no refunds until August, it could…

Currywurst at the Hamburg, Germany, train station. I still have dreams about it.

I worked for TGI Friday’s as a bartender - we were expected to handle all aspects of carry out - take the phone order, box it up, deliver it to the customer and collect the cash - for $2.30 per hour. If there was no tip, there was no incentive to do any of this work - in fact, carry out work took us away from tipping…

Just as a shout out - Rittenhouse Rye - Bottled in Bond of course (100 proof) is the greatest rye for the price - under $30. However, I applaud the idea of stepping stones to better whiskey. Hell, forget flavor profiles, talk to your bartender and try new things. Exercising your palate is like exercising a muscle.

Buy what’s on sale. The prices of avocados, tomatoes, asparagus and some fruits and melons can vary widely. Where I am in Chicago, the price of asparagus bounces from .99 per pound to $4.99.

Well, if you have the toothbrush up there, you might as well add the toothbrush holder - it just makes sense.

Port, sherry, sweet vermouth - maybe shallots - greek yogurt - can’t go wrong.

Sorry, no excuse for not cooking from scratch - when you do a column on how to save time using only fresh ingredients - I’ll jump in. In a word: “spatchcocking” allows you to make almost everything ahead of time.

Offhand, I can’t think of time I said “these are not made right, I will throw them away.”