PanthersATL

The important thing is to enjoy what you're doing. Some advice (like using a thermometer, or ways to utilize a piece of grilling equipment) is practical and can apply to everyone. There are lots of different BBQ/grilling websites to reference to grow your own knowledge and skill. Bookmark the AmazingRibs.com one for sure - Meathead and crowd are similar to Kenji's writing on SeriousEats.com in terms of trying to break down the science behind why various foods cook a certain way. Get rid of the myths that have been passed down from 1950's Backyard Grilling Dad to 1960's Backyard Grilling Dad (etc) that have since been proven to not always be the best advice

Doesn't matter what you're cooking or how you're cooking it. The #1 recommendation (which I alluded to earlier) is to get at least one quality digital meat thermometer and a temperature chart that covers as many different items as possible. Don't trust anything other than the thermometer until you have hundreds (thousands?) of cooks under your belt to go by gut or a finger test. If you do nothing else, cooking your food to the correct desired temperature will increase the quality of your eating tremendously. If you haven't been temping your food, you'd be surprised at the difference between chicken at 155 degrees ("chef temp") vs waiting until it's at USDA-approved 165 before you pull it off the grill. Or how fast a rare filet mignon can jump to medium if you're not careful. (Ex: A friend was grilling chicken and was just going by eye as to whether to pull the chicken off or not. Every piece I temped was at 180-200. WAY overcooked, but he didn't know) https://blog.thermoworks.com/chicken/3-keys-to-perfect-chicken-breasts/

Almost any suburban neighborhood gathering will have variations folks trying to make "Traeger" a verb. It's just a pellet smoker. Recteq, Green Mountain, Daniel Boone, Weber, and others... they all cook with pellets pretty much the same way, and for way less $. Have heard good things about the newest Weber pellet cooker update vs their 1.0 model. But Traeger has marketing clout to make it seem like they're the only ones in the market. They've taken over Home Depot and pushed Weber down the aisle a smidge, for example -- which likely costs them a bit of inventory floorplan marketing money to do. But if you go to a dedicated BBQ grill store that caters to hardcore cooking people? You won't see any Traegers anywhere

The 2023/2024 model brand new $$$ high end Traegers are supposed to be decent options compared to lower-end or older Traeger models, but you're paying a lot for the brand name and marketing vs other pellet brands with similar cooking feature sets Traegers are also built in China, if that's something that matters to you. (Some outdoor cooker people are particular about only buying American-made grill items) The new hotness these days seems to be the Kamado Joe line over the Big Green Egg. Basically the same product, but less expensive and has more innovation in the add-ons.

Keep in mind that a Traeger (well, pellet cookers in general) are more like an oven with smoke flavor rather than a traditional smoker. You're not going to get massive smoke from any pellet vs a dedicated smoker -- the food will still be good, but if you're looking for a heavy smoke profile you may be disappointed. You also are unlikely to get any decent "grilling" on a pellet cooker. You may want to check out GrillGrates for anything that needs a post-smoke sear

Make sure you do a burn-in before you attempt any food cooking Fireboard is decent choice for tracking overall temp/cooking routines as you build your skills. You can also check Thermoworks' website for any additional temp-related items that you may like (their Thermopen is the A+ standard for insta-read thermometers) Don't pay full price for any of their stuff, they run sales super-regularly for 10-20-30% (or more).

Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker should be good. Disney's investment into Dr Who production is a win. If they were smart, they'd figure out a way to make a Dr Who-oriented attraction and meet-n-greet with any number of different Doctors and Tardis photo op. https://www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-features/bbc-and-disney-branded-television-join-forces-on-doctor-who

It will get the cougars in the crowd grooving.

On the bright side? He's known to put on a good show, and chances are you know (or at least have heard) whatever songs will make the setlist So I guess that's good?

Usher

Non-measurement method, but works for all quantities, from a glass to a vat put sugar into the tea and stir. Repeat until the sugar stops dissolving

All times eastern FRI 9/22: Lenny Kravitz - 10:34p TLC - 11:07p Sheryl Crow - 11:37p Tim McGraw - 12:41a Lil Wayne - 2:11a SAT 9/23: Public Enemy - 10:34p Foo Fighters - 11;07p 30s to Mars - 11:47p Kelly Clarkson - 12:22a Fall Out Boy - 12:57a Travis Scott - 1:32a

don't get a coffee at starbucks #1. it's just a starbucks. there's better coffee in seattle

We do like the Seattle food scene. Try the chowder at the Pike Place Market chowder house, located behind Starbucks #1 at Pike Place

There's the obvious: get an Amazon Prime account. The local broadcast version: games on ESPN (and apparently, on Prime as well) are simulcast on a local broadcast station, accessible via antenna. BUT we know how well that worked out for some people this week for MNF The added bonus for TNF being on Amazon? Amazon makes the TNF games available for free on TWITCH https://www.twitch.tv/nfl . For those of you without a Prime account and problems tracking down a local broadcast, this might be the freebie option for you. Figured I'd share early, but will likely bump this a few weeks from now when the game gets closer

I'll take just one at this point.

Week 2:

week 1's Panthers reference made me chuckle. I mean, it wasn't about actual gameplay. But still

Is it more an NFC/AFC North thing? We don't hear about scuffles happening a lot in other stadiums as often as we do for those locations

Was that really an F around and find out shirt on the TV broadcast?

Now is the time for the unexpected qb sneak

Still better than the corn husk dude

Where's the crowd noise on Defense?

For once I'm hoping the refs had called offsides on that play

He's done a ton for restaurant and service workers In the industry, he has tons of respect