After my third Hello Fresh meal (during the first few months of COVID mind you) I was like “why does every recipe begin/bennigans/end with “AND NOW ADD THE BAG OF CREAM CHEESE!!”).

Cancelled soon after the “spicy firecracker meatball sichuan hell!” Meal that culminated in “and now add one tsp of Sriracha to 1/2 cup cream cheese to dress your arugula! (Use less sriracha if it’s too spicy fam!)” Or some such bullshit.

In summation: fuck Hello Fresh (and also use cream cheese where it’s supposed to be used: on bagels, as a frosting base and sometimes in TexMex as a condiment, ya sickos.)

A month ago, my wife saw a nice looking cookie recipe on Instagram. When she tried it herself, the cookies came out looking amazing. We had to throw them out because they tasted awful.

I cook quite a bit, so I disagree a little. you don’t need a stupid expensive knife, but buying one or two good quality knives is worth it. They probably last as long as you do so it’s not like you have to keep buying more, just buy quality once. I still have a couple cheap knives too. Also, expensive != quality. Choose wisely.

The cheap knives suck at holding an edge. I spend more time “fucking around” keeping the cheap knife sharp than I do the good ones.

Hand wash the knives. The dishwasher detergent will accelerate the loss of the edge and pitting, especially in cheaper steel. Use plastic or wood cutting surfaces, not hard ceramic like plates, or glass.

I buy cheap knives with the plastic handles from the local butcher as they always have spares. Got a maybe 2000 grit belt for the belt sander. Sharpen the whole lot in about 15 minutes twice a year and they hold well

agreed on the inexpensive knife, but I've never had good enough results with any quick sharp pull through tool. I use one knife for basically everything and hone it maybe once a week for fifteen seconds. it's very easy to keep it sharp if you don't abuse it (thank you dad for always looking for the sharpest thing in the room regardless of what the task is and for using knives on teflon and steel pans and ceramic plates...). I sharpen it maybe twice a year? I honestly don't remember if I've even sharpened it in 2026

The oil isn't for flavor. It's to prevent the starch from the noodles from forming a foam that boils over and makes a mess. Alternatives to the oil are using a bigger pot, and/or setting the heat lower for a less rambunctious boil.

You're convinced? So you haven't actually confirmed it? Still can't resist the test clack even with this hypothesis?

Not prepared to take that chance…

Every power tool I pick up has a quick vroom-vroom before I use it properly, just like the tongs. It’s tradition.

The click is not for the clacker, it is for the cook.

Sorry, no. Non-clickertation of the clackers is one of the leading causes of early clackers declickeration. Clickeration of the clackers warns of problems early, when maintenance can be applied to the clackers before ongoing misaligned clickeration can have catastrophic effects on your clackers. Remember the old saying: Nine clicks is a fine thing.

Iodine free salt does matter in some applications, like pickling.

Also for some things you want coarser salt, which doesn't really have anything to do with iodine but most of that is going to be iodine free.

For general table salt and such though, yeah, doesn't matter.

And for gluten-free stuff, in some cases, the macros might just be better for your dietary needs/goals. My wife has occasionally gotten gluten free stuff because of that, not because of any issue with gluten.

I know this. And absolutely 100% still tap the can. Sometimes believing is better than knowing. And by sometimes I mean never. But I will still do it.

I can confirm people have been pointlessly tapping soda can lids since decades before the existence of Youtube.

The time spent tapping gently gives the carbonation time to settle back in.

Penn and Teller did a little magic explained video on “transferring” the explosion from one can to the other. You spend thirty seconds waving a wand around so the shaken can settles before opening it gently, then violently pop the other can while giving it a squeeze.

Radial slicing gets the same results with less effort.