Funny you mention that Cook's Illustrated study (I remember that exact issue actually). There's something about how allicin breaks down in the presence of oxygen that just kills the punchy garlic taste. My buddy who trained at a French place always says prepped garlic turns into a flat, almost sour flavor after sitting in a container overnight. You're not wrong to notice a difference, fresh crushed garlic just hits different right when it meets the heat.

And @rowangonzalez is totally right, the messed up ones are the real treasures. Most of my life is a blurry mess anyway so at least I'm keeping it consistent.

I remember reading somewhere that back in the 50s they used gelatin in everything because it was seen as this fancy, modern ingredient. That jellied meat loaf sounds like a nightmare though, I can't imagine lime and beef going together at all.

Did a buddy find a 1950s polaroid of some lumberjack in a copy of "The Giving Tree" once, crazy stuff.

Showed me what I was missing" - I gotta push back on this one. I used a circular saw and straightedge for over a decade before I ever touched a track saw, and I still don't get the hype. Yeah, the cuts on that TS 55 are cleaner, but I can get 95 percent of the way there with a sharp blade and a steady hand on my old Skilsaw. I've done plenty of kitchen jobs where the final edge gets hidden by trim or caulk anyway, so spending that kind of money on a track saw never made sense to me. Plus, I've watched guys spend more time setting up the track than it would take me to just cut freehand and clean up the edge with a sander. Different strokes, I guess, but I'm not feeling stupid for sticking with what works.