[Illustration: Biodiversity Heritage Library]

You did it! Another week down!

We're putting up a post very much like this one every Friday afternoon, to celebrate the fact that the week is done. Down with the lame Monday-through-Thursday days! Up with the not-lame Friday-through-Sunday days!

We think of this series as something of a send-off for the week, giving you the option of a brief interlude for your Friday afternoon. Of course, if your work week is just starting, or if you're still in the thick of it, think of this as a pick-me-up for your personal hump day, or as a nice way to kick off your weekend shifts.

We hope to provide a short mix of mostly silly, mostly food-related, mostly entertaining things to look at, listen to, and read, and we hope you'll find it amusing, and maybe, sometimes, edifying and enlightening. We also see it as an opportunity to go over some of what's new on the site, which you, dear readers, may have missed.

If you have feedback, or if you run across any interesting/oddball/totally crazy stories/podcasts/images/videos during the week that you think may be appropriate for this little collection of miscellany, email us! We can't guarantee that we'll use it, but we will 100% appreciate the effort.

What's New on Serious Eats

You can, of course, browse all our content in reverse-chronological order. But for you, on this day, some highlights:

• This week we spent some time, figuratively speaking, where we left our heart, where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars: San Francisco. Shakirah Simley took us on a local's tour of some of her favorite places to grab drinks and food, and Rachel Levin shone a golden light on where to find the best burritos.
• Daniel, ever industrious, spent weeks lifting weights in the kitchen to determine whether a new crop of cast iron skillets are worth buying.
• Stella, after years of being asked about those silicone baking pads and cookies, decided she'd had enough. Don't use 'em!
• Sasha buried an important PSA in his primer on preparing green beans: Don't buy pre-trimmed green beans! They're bad, and they don't save you time.
• Oh, and don't sleep on Stella's new recipe for chocolate-hazelnut breakfast buns, which are like cinnamon rolls but filled with homemade Nutella, so...better.

Our Favorite Comments of the Week

From "Over It: The Food Trends We'd 86":

Just chiming in with a series of I-statements because there seem to be a lot of comments which don't seem to cotton on at all (!?):

1. I respect that Staff Picks is an opinion/personal series, out of many different series and types of articles published by SE, most of the others being objective and titularly serious

2. I support people's right to have and write about and be quoted on the topic of irrational personal opinions about harmless things like food trends

3. I enjoy reading these.

(Thank you, yarning!)

From "How Silicone Baking Mats Are Ruining Your Cookies":

Like my Grandmother used to say “it’s an ill wind that blows no good”. I never understood why folks used those silly mats but I’m glad they do. It keeps them around for purposes they are suited for. If you can find the pure mats, not the ones with fiber lattice in them, they are great for lining twist on caps for spices or other things you want to keep dry and fresh. Trace the lid with a pen on the mat, cut just inside it and place in the lid. If you use the snap on champagne corks put two layers of this stuff in over the original sealing surface. Bubbles will be there for eternity. Flour in a pickle jar with the top lined with silicone sheet and a few silica gel desiccate bags and it’s powder fresh for all time. If you can find the 2mm thick ones get them. If not auction sites sell them. Awesome as temp lids if you’re steaming veggies as well.

I hear they suck for baking? Which is OK since I don’t bake anything but antique car parts after painting them.

From a commenter (who we are frankly quite worried about) on Facebook, in response to a note about how "we're heading into green bean casserole season" that prefaced "Green Beans 101: How to Buy, Prep, and Cut Green Beans":

Imagine if the world had an entire other hemisphere that had opposing seasons....nah let’s just pretend the World is running the same seasons as the US [facepalm emoji]

A Brief Book Break

He insisted that the waiter spare him the perusal of the menu and bring him whatever he - as an expert - should think good. The expert at once revised his opinion of this shabbily dressed person and, recognizing the secret connoisseur concealed within this long, lean gentleman, served him immediately with the most expensive dishes. Hardly was he served than the eyes of all the loving couples were drawn towards his plate. The recipient of these luxuries noticed their attraction, and although the food tasted delicious, he consumed it with evident repulsion. 'To consume' seemed to him the most unimpassioned and therefore the most suitable expression for the process of taking nourishment.

From Auto-da-Fé by Elias Canetti, translated by C. V. Wedgwood.

Food Numbers, News, and Hijinks

Have a wonderful weekend, everybody!

All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.