Kim Shook

Thanks for posting that link @heidih! That is exactly what I would have suggested!

This is what I buy. I had NO luck using plastic wrap before finding this product. And it fits in my "wrap and bag drawer"! I'm reminded of a post by @Fat Guy years ago where he was rhapsodizing about the improvements in the way paper towels and TP were now made - so that it was no longer a massive PITA getting the roll started. He was SO pleased. I don't think I've ever started a roll of either without thinking about him! LOL.

Welcome! I'm looking forward to your comments and contributions!

England is my favorite of all the places I've ever been and the idea of being there during Christmas time is just thrilling to me. We loved the Wolseley. And they have a large, lovely vegetarian menu.

@Shelby - Didja notice the shot reindeer in the sugar cookies? Jessica makes them every year. Show it to Ronnie and tell him it's an homage to hunters. LOL

A sample of our sugar cookies. The dough is just Pillsbury sugar cooky dough with some flour added. I have never found a sugar cooky recipe that gave me a cooky that you could cut and would stay the same while baking. Every recipe I've tried got "blurred" in the oven. These work fine. Happy Accident Candy: Leftover crumbs and shards from my sponge candy mixed into melted (I won't say tempered) leftover chocolate. Finally did the centerpiece for the dining room table: From now until Christmas day, everyone eats on TV trays (it will be a buffet table tomorrow night). I have never in my adult life been so late getting ready for Christmas. Food, shopping, wrapping, etc. Taking care of my mother is just the hardest thing I've ever done and lots of things had to go by the wayside.

I think this is a joke in the US. I can't imagine that anyone really does it. But for some reason, it is a thing that people talk about.

They were. We were surprised that they were as good as they were. Very sweet and tender.

Virginia peanuts are unique and the very best in my opinion. I send some to my dad in Florida every year for Christmas. Cousin and his wife sent us lobster tails. We feasted last night.

lobstergram.com

So, two things in the CSO today. Both big successes. I did the ham - ask Kay suggested, I cooked it to 140F on bake/steam at 325F. It was incredibly moist and tender - even the cut edge: I I'll do the other 4 tomorrow. We were gifted lobster tails the other day. Did those on steam cook at 210F for 20 minutes: Perfect.

Gluten free cookies for my niece: These are made with a GF cake mix. They have really improved the quality of the mix. When I made these last year the dough was very difficult to work with and the cookies were dreadful. They were sticky outside and left a powdery feeling in your mouth. These were much better - good texture and decent taste.

Dinner tonight was courtesy of my cousin and his wife who sent us lobster tails: They were really good. I was a little surprised at how sweet and tender they were. Served with salad and long grain and wild rice:

Well, that's what I thought, too. But the consensus seemed to be that I needed to heat it first. I misspoke, though, when I said I was going to heat it. I'm not - it will be served basically room temp.

Toast and cold shrimp from Costco.

Need some advice on making my hams for Xmas Eve. I am cooking 5 of these. They are small enough that I think one will go in the CSO and large enough that ONLY one will go in a time. I am planning to bring to temp and glaze and then slice and refrigerate (going by advice I received in another thread). I'll reheat slightly for serving Xmas Eve - using a slow cooker with a little Coke in the bottom. I was thinking that the best way to cook them is with the bake/steam method. Wondering about temperature, minutes per pound, etc. - generally anything you all can offer that will help to make this ham good. Thanks so much, as always!

Look here. This is the breakfast page of my recipe webpage. Lots of good ideas and some are fairly elegant - the bacon, egg and cheese breakfast boat and the basil breakfast strata present really nicely. Also, this Breakfast Strudel in the egg section is lovely.

@Darienne - I just noticed it: "bottom bare". LOL - my head is made of cotton these days.

Thank you! I did do the cocoa dusting after I blotted the butter off the hot toffee. I just did a fairly thick layer of chocolate on the top and left the bottom bare. It just seems to work better that way for me.

Mine were fine. But I don't blame people for complaining, considering the lovely little shape of Hershey Kisses is the best part of the candy.

Broke this up this morning: @Darienne's Toffee. This turned out exceptionally well this year. Perfect yielding crunch, almost no chocolate loss and it broke into nice squares. It tastes heavenly. It always tastes heavenly, but I've never had the chocolate cling so nicely before. Usually breaks of in sheets. This year instead of melting the chocolate and spreading it on the 30 minutes cooled toffee, I waited only a few minutes and while the toffee was still screaming hot (but firming up) and sprinkled the chopped chocolate on. It melted almost immediately and I spread it out and sprinkled on the finely chopped almonds. Once the chocolate was slightly firm, I scored it as deeply as I could with a knife. It broke almost perfectly. Thank you, @Darienne! Mr. Kim swooned when he tasted it this morning! @Darienne - question for you: how do you store your toffee? I did some research and found that because Engstrom's toffee has so much butter in it, they suggest storing it in the refrigerator. Is that what you do for yours?

I make all kinds of "sort of" Rice Krispie treats - Capn Crunch Peanut Butter, Kix, etc. They are popular with both kids and adults in my experience. But has anyone tried Sesame Ginger Rice Krispie Treats? They are from Momofuku Milk Bar and are truly amazing. A real grown up Treat. Just finished making 2 batches of Sponge Candy (yes, it is 2:30AM 😴 - life has gotten in the way of my usual early prep): The one on the right is the 'correct' one. I'm pretty sure that the one on the left got too hot - it tastes ok, but I don't like those huge pockets. When I poured it into the pan, it just ploofed everywhere. I have inadvertently invented something useful, though. Part of the reason that I overcooked the left one is because I was having to use my infrared thermometer which just measures the surface temp. Because I was boiling sugar, every time I tried to use my Thermapen, it would get an instantly hardening coating of syrup. You have to soak that stuff off, so it rendered my Thermapen useless. Sigh. So - my invention is a Thermapen condom, if you will. Some little disposable sleeve thing that would sheath the probe, but still measure the temp accurately. You could just pull it off and use a new one a couple of minutes later. Isn't this a great idea? I know I could use a clip on candy thermometer, but I truly hate those things. I never found one that was very accurate or that would stay on a pan properly. Unfortunately, I have no idea how one would go about actually making the condoms. Practical stuff is not my strong point. But I offer it to the universe - free. If you run with it, just promise to send me the first batch! 😁

Benton’s bacon, some delectable Harry & David pears Jessica received for Xmas and eggs scrambled in bacon grease:

I agree completely. I honestly haven't ever made a better tasting brownie than Ghiradelli. So, that's what I do now.

There was a ton of leftover turkey from the 3 breasts that I did for Mr. kim’s agency Xmas party, so I made “BBQ”: With Bullseye and Short Sugar’s (a Reidsville NC BBQ restaurant that I grew up on) sauces. Served with slaw and fries: