Kim Shook

Thanks, everyone. I think I'm going to use the melted chocolate idea. I got some white chocolate and will be using that. That way I can fill the pie shell on Saturday evening and the crust should be ok Easter afternoon.

I'm taking a coconut cream pie to my MIL's for Easter. Having not made it in a bit, I'm looking at it tonight to see what I can do ahead of time since we'll be at church all Easter morning. I'm going to make the dough for the crust on Friday and bake it off on Saturday. I was thinking that I could make the filling on Saturday, too, and fill the pie and top with whipped cream on Sunday. But in reading the recipe it specifically says to fill the crust and cover and chill overnight. Why? Is there some reason that you would want to do this? Doesn't it seem like it would dampen the crust at least a bit? BTW, I'll be using the CI Vodka crust. I haven't made this in a really long time and don't remember what I did before. Thanks so much!

Anna – I think those cheese muffins look and sound great. How about adding some chives to them? Matthew – I think that your strawberry creation looks and sounds extremely special! Andie – your Dundee cake is gorgeous. I know that Ted, my English stepdad would have approved! Mr. Kim had a birthday in his office this week and she requested dulce de leche brownies: Very good, but VERY sweet.

Chris – thanks for the information re: the rosemary – I’ll definitely be making the rub. Ann – thank you for the kind words! I have to say that being raised with an English stepdad, your roast, Yorkie and gravy are MY kind of comfort meal! Soba- every time I see a picture of those gorgeous radishes, I practically swoon. They are exactly like the ones that we had in Paris, so seeing yours brings back both a flavor and a lovely memory! Kate – gorgeous pork and spring rolls. Love the trick with the sugar in the water! Dejah – beautiful corned beef! Franci – I loved seeing your beef liver. No one but me likes it, so I never make it. Came down with bronchitis last week, so not a lot of cooking got done. On Saturday, we finished up the meatloaf finally - Grilled meatloaf with BBQ sauce, mac n cheese, fries and baked beans: Very lazy meal – leftover meatloaf, boxed mac n cheese, frozen fries and fixed up canned beans. But it was very comforting – just what we needed.

Regarding peeling eggs. With Easter coming everyone and his brother is offering 'tricks' for easy peeling eggs in every magazine I've seen. I recently had a few to peeling and tried one of the tricks I'd remembered (might be from CI - not sure). It worked amazingly well for some and not quite as well for others, but overall better than any other method I've tried. Here it is, for what it's worth: crack the egg all over. Take a teaspoon (silverware, not measuring) and holding the bowl side of the spoon towards the egg, ease the tip of the spoon into a crack and slide it around under the shell. This sounds fussy and fiddly, but really isn't once you've done it a couple of times. I found that I could slip off the majority of the shell in 2-3 tries most of the time.

I can only add an echo to the thoughts and words of everyone else. Such terrible, terrible news that at first I thought it had to be a horrible hoax when I first saw the notice on FB. I owe so many friends, so many meals, so many new insights and so many new experiences to eG and, therefore, to Steven. Not one trip that we’ve taken since I joined would have been the same without him and his influence. I never met Steven, but he was always kind and attentive and quick to respond to any questions that I had. I remember when PJ was born. Prayers and love to Ellen and PJ.

Dejah – thank you for the info regarding the chicken! I’m hoping to make that soon. You gave me a giggle with the salt! rotuts – great minds! I was thinking either bacon or a good steak sauce brushed on. Chris – those ribs are gorgeous! Thanks for posting the link to the rub recipe. I think I’d like that. Tell me about the rosemary – is it very assertive? I like rosemary, but only when it’s quite subtle. What all meatloaf secretly wants to become: Served with ‘cruddyditties’ (family joke):

Dejah – your oven-fried chicken looks great. I’ve tried over and over again and never had any luck with it. I’ll be trying your method! Do you know the ratio of cheese to crumbs? And I’m so glad you liked the pork. We have a freezer full now, so we’ll be enjoying it regularly for the next couple of months! Regarding the salt – I didn’t have the red salt either and just used some Hawaiian pink salt (not pickling salt) that I got in my stocking this Christmas. Franci – those ribs look beautiful. Soba – Mr. Kim LOVES kumquats and I’ve never used them for anything but garnish. Never, ever occurred to me to put them in a salad. Just sliced into the salad? basquecook – your ‘pick up’ meals are better than my feasts that a month of planning goes into ! An early Sunday dinner with my mother. Roasted shrimp: Ponzu marinated halibut: Thanks to Dejah for the idea. Very subtle and complemented the fish perfectly. Salad: Corn: Much too early for corn, but Mr. Kim brought it home from the new Kroger and it was really good – tender, sweet and crisp. As good as any mid-summer corn we got last year. I’m starting my summer corn binge early if they keep getting this stuff! Three cheese demi from Panera: Also from Panera, some Danish and a chocolate croissant for dessert: Mr. Kim has been battling a sinus infection and still going to work every day, so I thought a comfort meal was in order last night. Meatloaf: This was a new recipe for me from the website “afamilyfeast.com”. The meatloaf tasted great – I’ll definitely use it again. But I think that those white places are unappetizing . It’s the panade and didn’t brown up very well. I guess that’s why most recipes call for some sort of coating for the crust. The recipe was for the meatloaf and also gravy. The gravy was NOT so successful. It was just blah and boring. Not much beefy flavor. I didn’t have any beef stock in the freezer, so I used canned. I’m sure that that is the culprit. Plated with whipped potatoes and green beans: And “gravied”: The gravy LOOKS good, huh? My potatoes where probably the best I’ve ever made – incredibly creamy and fluffy. I remembered all the stuff that chefs say about why their potatoes are better than ours and used half and half and the better part of a stick of butter to 2 good-sized russet potatoes. I’m convinced.

Those look great, Anna. I thought that I'd responded to your request for the Blueberry Breakfast cake, but I can see that I didn't. Here the link for you, and rotuts and Darienne: http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/QuickBreads/Stephanies_Blueberry_B39fast_Cake.html

emmalish - snaps for pound cake - good trade for me! Blueberry Breakfast Cake for Mr. Kim to take to work today: Scarfed up in minutes. He was barely able to save me a piece. I love cooking for those folks!

Here you go: http://www.pineappleandcoconut.com/recipes/hawaiian-style-slow-cooker-kalua-pork/

Dejah – I love the sound of the halibut and ponzu! I found a nice piece of halibut in the freezer and I’m going to try that! basquecook – ouch! Hope the healing goes quickly! Soba – mussel soup! Jessica and I were saying just last night that we’d be happy with just the mussel broth and a giant loaf of crusty bread! Jessica asked me to make a recipe for Cuban Quesadillas. In order to do that, I had to first make the roasted pork. I’d been wanting to try an online recipe for slow cooker Kahlua pork that I found a while ago, so I did that yesterday. The finished pork in the cooker wrapped in banana leaves: Unwrapped: Out of the cooker and shredded: The pork was easy and really, really flavorful. Mr. Kim (AKA Smoking Guy) was surprised and impressed. The Cuban quesadilla: With mustard, provolone, Swiss, pickle, ham and the pork. Plated: Delicious. We’re having it again tonight. I have a LOT of leftover pork. My in-laws are coming by today to pick something up, so they will get some. I’m seeing pulled pork sandwiches and maybe pork-topped cornbread waffles later this week, but a lot of it is going in the freezer!

Breakfast for dinner tonight – fruit, sausage biscuits, gravy, scrambled eggs and cheese potatoes: Plated: The sausage was some that we picked up in NC last weekend – small producer and really good. The potato was from the freezer – the last of the ones I made for Christmas and really past their prime. But THIS is why I made breakfast for dinner: I was thinking about it all day!

I did slice them 1/4" and they were pretty snappy. I think just a touch under 1/4" would be perfect and since I've decided to make them for that meeting in May, I'll have a chance to test them out. Also - they froze beautifully! Here's the recipe for the pound cake: http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/CAKESandPIES/Chocolate-Coconut_Pound_Cake.html

emmalish – Mr. Kim took some of those chocolate snaps to his office and they evaporated! Gone almost before he hit send on the notice! Anna – gorgeous crackly crust on those brownies! Brownies are my favorite dessert. New recipe try out today – Chocolate-Coconut Pound Cake: Slice: An absolutely beautiful and delicious cake. The crumb is perfect. Hard to believe that something this rich has only cocoa in it and no melted chocolate. We just got home from a dinner of dim sum and dessert at Sweet Frog and I just finished a slice of cake.

Franci – thank you! That clams and lobster dish is beautiful! I love clams and never cook them since Mr. Kim is not a fan. Kate – so great to see you posting! You’ve been missed. Mark – the hash looks great. Soba – thanks! Those are some of the most gorgeous vegetables I’ve ever seen. Radishes are one of my favorites, so I’m especially drawn to them! Dinner last night: Chili mac w/ cheese and sour cream.

Hassouni – you gotta come down to the lower counties, my friend. I was born in the district and raised in Alexandria and never ate better (or cooked better) than after I moved to Richmond! Brunswick stew: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunswick_stew and my general set of directions: http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/Kimberlyn/SOUPSandSTEWS/Brunswick_Stew.html If I have some BBQ pork, that goes in, too. Annabelle – your Indiana dinner sounds delicious to me . Too bad they didn’t serve you fried chicken and pie – we ate some of the best of both when we lived there.

Ann – that St. Patrick’s day dinner looked wonderful. I don’t much care for the boiled version, either – yours looks perfect! And the sandwiches after? My word. Bruce – your beef slivers w/ cilantro looked and sounded so good. And it’s something that I could eat without the peppers – I could just add them at the end for Mr. Kim after taking out my portion. Teapot – beautiful halibut! I’ve got to see if I can find some that doesn’t cost the earth this year! Baron – how in the world do you get your asparagus peeled so perfectly? It is just lovely. Soba – dying over the Eataly pictures! I’ve never done the milk in Bolognese thing – what do you think it added? dcarch – ok, you! Smart aleck! Professional photographers? You say that then show that pork shoulder picture ? Gorgeous and delicious looking! Norm – she stole your smoker and you let her live??? You ARE a good guy . Those hens are beautiful. Thank you for posting the recipe! Dejah – we love lamb, too! I’d pay to have anything in your house fixed if you made that lamb for me! Basquecook – love the look of that fried chicken dinner. I think we have a mutual friend who would love every bit of it, too! For dinner the other night, I tried a new recipe. Not this: This was just Kim’s obligatory salad! The recipe test was for ‘Chicken Pillows’. This dish was a result of insomniac perusing of Pinterest. I could tell that the recipe was going to be trashy (Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and cream of chicken soup? How could it not?). But would it be good trashy (Paula Deen) or bad trashy (Sandra Lee)? Turns out to be somewhere in the middle. I have no objection to whomp bread dough. But that unmistakable ‘cream of whatever soup’ flavor is off-putting. Even with the addition of sour cream and real cheese, it reeks of FAKE. The original recipe called for no seasoning AT ALL. I added S&P, parsley and hot sauce to the chicken mixture, but it still needs something to amp up the interest. A friend suggested broccoli. Not a bad idea, I think. But the thing is – do I like this enough to devote the time and effort it would take to ‘fix’ this recipe. To be honest, probably not. But here’s what it looked like: Bite: There’s just something about a rich, creamy chicken filling inside a crunchy bread crust that appeals to me. Maybe I’ll make them again and just serve them with some homemade gravy. My all by myself dinner tonight while Mr. Kim plays poker: Fried eggs on toast with salami. He’ll be home in time for the UVA tipoff, but I couldn’t wait after reading through this thread!

RWood – Happy Birthday! That cake is gorgeous! Just exactly what I’d make for myself if I had your skills! Paula – what a beautiful macaron! And the flavor combination is one of my very favorites. I’d give a LOT to be able to taste one. I tried out emmalish’s chocolate snaps recipe this week. I’m making cookies for an Episcopal Church Woman’s board meeting that our church is hosting in May. I wanted a recipe that made lots of cookies and could be frozen: I took them to this week’s ECW meeting. Everyone loved them. They are thin and full of chocolate flavor and very ‘snappy’. I’ve got some in the freezer now to see how they do, but I imagine they will work fine.

Thank you, William! I should have said (since I couldn't post my pictures) that the ceramic liner is there. Do you think just a good wash with hot water and dish soap is enough?

I found a Keystone ice bucket at an antique shop in the Outer Banks. We paid $25 for it. Based on the research I’ve been able to do, I’m not sure it was a great deal, but I love it. I’d like to actually use it - how would I make sure that it was sanitized fully? I don’t want to use anything that would leave an odor behind that would get into the ice. Having trouble with pictures - flickr has changed and I can't figure out how to get the pictures to actually show. Funny how often "improvements" complicate once simple things, huh? Anyway, this is a link to an online picture of the piece: http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-keystoneware-ice-bucket-art-129860752

Thanks to everyone for the help! I did have better luck this time thanks to following the suggestions from Mjx and Melissa. I also periodically thwacked the ends of the logs as I was rolling them to ‘contract’ them. I only got a few holes this time when I sliced the cookies. I’ll be posting the cookies on the Daily Sweets thread later.

VA would be country ham, certainly. But you can't forget Brunswick stew. I've been to lots of BBQ restaurants in VA that have only so-so BBQ, but fantastic stew. There is even a really good canned stew made in our area - Mrs. Fearnow's. NC has to be BBQ pork, of course. IN - pork tenderloin sandwiches.

Whenever I make slice and bake cookies (from scratch), I always have the same issue - when rolling up the logs, there is always a fissure that runs through the middle. I can't seem to manage to get a solid log. Then, when I slice them, the cookies have a ragged hole in the middle. I have to squeeze each one to mash it back together and end up just wishing that I'd just scooped and flattened them. Does anyone have any techniques that will help me avoid this problem? Thank you!

I made the mistake of reading this thread today. I wasn’t even hungry. But then I began to crave eggs and bread and PORK! If I had had any patience, I’d have had sausage gravy, but this was FAST: Egg, cheese and sausage on a buttered and toasted scali roll.