Kim Shook

@HungryChris – lovely clam chowder. I love NE chowder, too, but yours reminds me of Outer Banks (NC) chowder. Very bracing and full of clam flavor! One of Mr. Kim’s online diet buddies challenged him to eat something new. She said that she would try kale and asparagus if he would try eggplant and zucchini. He’s had both in the past and didn’t care for them. I offered to make ratatouille. I figured that since he likes everything else in it, there might be hope. This was a sacrifice on my part because I detest almost everything in it, except for onions. My mize: Red bell peppers, zucchini, garlic, chopped tomatoes, onions, eggplant, oregano, coriander, thyme and fennel. I’m sorry, but I find this horrifying looking: (shudder) Mr. Kim’s plate: Roasted shrimp, ratatouille, and orzo. My plate with some leftover beans from a BBQ place: I DID taste the ratatouille. And hated it. I find bell pepper of any sort invasive. Anything they are in tastes wholly of pepper. That is why I am perplexed when I see recipes for crabmeat calling for bell peppers. Why in the world would anyone spend the money on beautiful, sweet, delicate crab meat and then demolish it with bell pepper?

I should send you my broccoli stems, @Anna N! I trim mine so close that my florets are the size of marbles!

Welcome, Hobo! Looking forward to your contributions! Don't be shy!

I am hardly cooking at all lately. We seem to be doing nothing but grabbing quick bites. And I have 3 FULL freezers (one is just the fridge one) that I need to get empty for loading up with Christmas stuff and church bake sale things. So I really need to be cooking. A couple of recent throw together meals: pickley stuff: Salad: And Dianne’s Garlic Shrimp: Another night – chopped salad: Which is obviously completely different from yesterday’s salad. LOL. And Stouffer’s lasagna: Sigh.

My daughter and MIL just got back from a NOLA visit last night. They ate at Borgne and were actually told about it by the manager and assured that nothing like that would happen under Chef Landry and that Besh was no longer associated with the restaurant. We are so disappointed about this. Marine Corps vet, his work after Katrina, father, husband. And now this crap.

I like almost everything that everyone else hates, except for Circus Peanuts. And anything banana flavored. Yuck.

I remember being at a Fridays once for a lunch with co-workers. We were refused lemon in our water because "we could have used the sugar on the table to make free lemonade".

Yep, I'm a Duke's girl. May be habit as much as anything - it was what my grandmother always used. I actually grew up on Miracle Whip and there are still some recipes that I use it in. But I don't care for the sweetness of it with most stuff. I love homemade mayo, but use so little of it and hate to throw it away. I'll make my own when I know I'll be using a lot.

@robirdstx – thank you for the directions. I’ll be trying those soon! @Captain – those crusty spuds look fantastic! Exactly like I like them. Would you share the method? Mr. Kim got a recommendation from a co-worker for this soup: It is Creamy Garlic Mushroom Soup. He and Jessica loved it. I am not a mushroom eater. Very inexpensive and easy to make. He only needed a little help. Steak night. Mr. Kim’s plate: Steak, roasted beets w/ sherry vinegar, roasted Brussel sprouts and sweet potato. Mine with baked potato and NO beets:

@Captain – I LOVE sardines. Not sure I could face them for breakfast, but certainly by brunch time. My family shares your household’s distain for them, though. Because I am kind, I do my sardine and smoked oyster eating when they are absent. We managed to get by my very favorite Richmond bakery yesterday morning. Sub Rosa does wood fired baking and stone milling and makes the most amazing pastries and breads in our area. I snagged a Pain au Chocolat and a croissant: Delicious, as always, and I love how dark their wood fired oven gets the pastries.

@robirdstx – the chicken breast in your salad looks so perfect! Would you mind explaining your technique? Mine never turn out that well.

My MIL is cleaning out her cookbook collection and, of course, gave me 1st refusal of her discards. I chose these: I already have some that she gave me, but you can never have too many of this series. They were published in the early 1960's and are one of the main sources of James Lileks' funny blog and books. The more creative recipe are really hilarious. I grew up in the 1960's and my parents entertained a LOT and my mom never cooked like this. No one I knew cooked like this.

Wonderful, @shain! I've bookmarked it. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Like Andie, I come in on the side of raisins. In fact, I like most dried fruits and have to watch myself with them as I can, without thinking, end up eating what amounts to a bushel of fruit and suffer the results!

I find all the flavored chips to be wonderful diet aids. I don't really care for most of them that I've tried, but even with the ones that I liked, I never found myself eating half a bag without thinking about it like I can with a bag of plain old salt Utz!

LOL! This could be Mr. Kim talking. He dutifully packs leftovers every single day for his lunch. As I scan the fridge for lunch, my eyes go right over any leftovers without registering them.

Dessert for my FIL’s BD celebration on Sunday: Michael Ruhlman’s Angel Food cake. And since it takes 10 egg whites to make the cake, I made 2 batches of lemon curd:

@BeatriceB – when you wonder if your meal is “good enough” to post, please look back at my post on 9/28. If I can post that boring looking, blah tasting meal, you can post ANYTHING! A few nights ago - Marinated London Broil and squash: This is an old, old recipe that my MIL and SIL and I used to make and we had all forgotten about it. The meat is marinated with oil, Dijon, soy sauce, lemon juice, onions, garlic, Worcestershire and black pepper. It is still SO good! On Sunday, we had family over to celebrate my FIL and niece’s BDs. We started with Evergreen Avocado Dip w/ tortilla chips: I got this recipe almost 10 years ago from @Toasted (who last posted in 2012). We really like it and you make it ahead of time – no browning! And Hot Bacon & Swiss Dip w/ Ritz crackers: Apple Cider-Glazed Pork Tenderloin w/ a cider jus: @Marlene's Smashed potatoes: Sautéed Snow Peas: Which got a little overdone. Red cabbage: My SIL made a spinach, dried cranberry, smoked Gouda, and apple salad with poppyseed dressing and my MIL made orange glazed carrots (not pictured).

Yup - that was good. A ciabatta that friends brought us from an Italian bakery at the Outer Banks. Since I don't eat squash, my plate included a small cucumber. That was good, too!

Well this sucked: Leftover Cheese Noodles, squash and onions, and chicken casserole from the freezer. Mike said the squash was good, but neither the noodles nor the casserole survived well. Bland, beige and boring.

It was on the show - one of the new ones with the Cutesy Twins. Here's a link to the recipe on my site: Pecan Bars

Yay! Someone else who likes candy corn. You or Ronnie? Try this: handful of candy corn and salted peanuts – mixed. Tastes oddly of caramel apple. Mike and I discovered this. We are peculiar. And yes, squishy white bread (toasted) for creamed chipped beef – Texas Toast is good, too. That must have been someone else you are thinking of, @Thanks for the Crepes. I don’t use Buddig – sometimes Armour in the jar and sometimes something in a pouch that Food Lion carries, but not Buddig. Though now, I’m remembering Buddig ham sandwiches on Wonder bread with nostalgia.

Made ATK Ultranutty Pecan Bars for dessert last night: These were really good and very easy. You mix up the crust and press it in the pan. Then you mix up the pecan layer and pour it on top. No need to bake the crust separately. Loaded with pecans and not too sweet.

Niece and daughter were over for dinner last night - two broke girls who needed a home cooked meal! Grilled Steak Rolls: Cheese Noodles: Broccoli and salad: And a really good brioche loaf that we got at Lidl: Dessert was ATK Ultranutty Pecan Bars:

They were delicious - an had a good texture. Some chew, but tender enough to be enjoyable.