Kim Shook
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Posts posted by Kim Shook
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Cheez Whiz and Velveeta are another pair of things that people buy and I don't understand. Especially when there's real cheese available.
I see what you're saying, but I can't make mac and cheese without using Velveeta. It makes it SO creamy and good.
And, I do love some Cheez Whiz on a philly steak sandwich.....
I'm from Kansas. Don't mock me.
Ditto. Except I'm from Virginia
. Actually I have NO business being appalled at what other people buy. I remember being stunned that my nieces had never seen anyone make pancakes from scratch, but I'm 'guilty' of many, many of the things mentioned above. I use those microwave rice packets a lot. I like them and they take 90 seconds. I sometimes have self-rising flour on hand. Most southern cooks I know do too. I cook cakes from scratch most of the time, but I always have mixes on hand just in case, plus I like the texture - wish my homemade cakes could have that texture, in fact. And on and on and on. I know that there are a LOT of folks, especially here at eG that don't ever take a shortcut or eat food that isn't completely from scratch. But that's not me. Never will be. It's not something that bothers me too much. I get a lot of pleasure seeing those folks cook and seeing the amazing things that they create. But is that going to lead me in the same direction? Probably not.-
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My dining room table is used as extra counter space more than dining space! I also have a card table that lives behind the piano that I set up when I need even more space.
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I have about 7 feet of counter space, plus a 36x43-inch island. The island was made for me by my stepdad – Ted Fairhead who used to post here. I adore it and will never give it up as long as I live:
P1100810 by ozisforme, on Flickr
The top is used for prep work, staging things (oftentimes my mise ends up here), breadbox, fruit basket and mail sorting/note taking/etc. Except for the Easter basket and the rack of decorative plates behind it, nothing is really ‘for show’.
It has bookshelves on three sides – perfect for cookbooks, magazines and a low liquor shelf:
P1100811 by ozisforme, on Flickr
P1100813 by ozisforme, on Flickr
P1100812 by ozisforme, on Flickr
Also room for seldom-used pitchers. Yes, the currently-in-use drink bottles end up on the floor. Please ignore the Godawful vinyl flooring which we have been meaning to replace since we moved in over 15 years ago. The toaster lives under here, which is fine with me since I don’t use it very often. The vacuum sealer (known as the Suck Thing around here) is under there, too. Which means that I forget to use it as often as I should.
When I measured the counters, I was surprised that there was 7 feet of it. Because it is so awkward, I guess. The first section:
P1100807 by ozisforme, on Flickr
is just less than 2 feet long and dominated by my beloved convection/toaster oven, which I use a lot.
The second section:
P1100808 by ozisforme, on Flickr
Is the always problematical corner section which houses the KA, the coffee maker and coffee accoutrements and the famous utensil forest. This is also where most of my prep work happens. Each of the ‘arms’ of the counter is about 19 inches long.
The last section:
P1100809 by ozisforme, on Flickr
is nine inches long and houses salts, oil, garlic and Mr. Kim’s instant coffee. Pot holders hang on the side of the fridge.
All I can say is thank God for wall mounted microwaves! There are things that have to be stored elsewhere in the house – blender, food processor, etc. that don’t get used very often because they are a PITA to get out/find. Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated!
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Stash – I adore Stracciatella! Is it considered ‘home food’, do you know? Because I never see it in Italian restaurants.
Dcarch – thank you so much for the strawberry instructions – really genius! Also for the leftover compliment. When we first married, I was an EXTREMELY profligate cook. I’d toss anything less than a cup of food. And even whole portions of things if I thought I didn’t want them again the next day. Mr. Kim was raised much more frugally and was strenuous in his objections. I’ve tried for years to be better at repurposing leftovers, but I still prefer new things most of the time.
Bruce – that BBQ pork looks and sounds wonderful. And not spicy, so both Mr. Kim and I could eat it
! I’m printing out the ingredients!Elise – your tart sound so good. I’m printing those ingredients out, too!
It was breakfast for dinner last night Chez Shook:
That croissant is from a bakery in Old Town Alexandria. I was up there to meet with an old friend on Thursday. It was excellent. I don’t think that there is any place in Richmond (at least not near me) to get a croissant of that quality. I guess I’m going to have to start a cooking project, huh?
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KA – I’d love some directions for your toad in the hole – it is the best looking version I’ve ever seen!
percyn – my MIL makes dozens of the hot cross buns every Easter and delivers them in time for enjoying all Easter week. Our little 2 person house got 3 dozen! Luckily they freeze well. Last September we discovered a forgotten bag in the outside freezer and feasted for a week!
Kate – the smoked salmon on toast looks so fantastic. They were ‘sampling’ smoked salmon at Costco yesterday. It was actually really good quality, but they had topped the slices with some kind of sweet mustard sauce (maybe even honey mustard salad dressing?). Ick. And how I wish that we could get some of that heavenly thick cream that you had on your scones!
rotuts – gorgeous sausage. Every single Edwards product I’ve ever had has been stellar. We are lucky enough to live in VA and can find lots of Edwards’ pork in local markets.
Xilimmns – OK…I need a tutorial on how in the world you made those gorgeous eggs. Incredible. (And, of course, you're going to say SV - and I will have to bang my head against the wall in frustration
).This morning – more Easter ham for breakfast
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Ham and cheese scrambled eggs. The toast is from some bread that I got at a bakery in Old Town Alexandria on a recent trip. Perfect toasting bread.
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I have one of those tart tins. They are really hard to find. My step-sisters’ mom gave it to me for making lemon curd tarts. I haven’t used it yet, but my step-dad uses it every year to make mincemeat tarts.
It’s really a good thing that I don’t live in Canada. I would OD on poutine. God, that stuff is good. It’s weird that we don’t have that here in Virginia – it is EXACTLY the kind of food southerners love.
I finally can play in this thread! I drove up to Northern Virginia to have a day with an old friend. I’m lucky enough to have as my best friend someone I went to high school with. We met 37 years ago and are still as close as ever. She lives near Boston, so we don’t get together much. When we do, food always figures in! We walked all over Old Town Alexandria, drove around finding old haunts – schools, friends houses, etc. We stopped at Society Fair – a wonderful food emporium with a bakery, deli, restaurant and general nommy ingredients. I picked up a couple of lovely pieces of chocolate – Poco Dolce Tiles. One in burnt caramel/sea salt topped bittersweet for me and an Aztec chile for Mr. Kim. I also got these:
P1100804 by ozisforme, on Flickr
Gorgeous croissants and a big, dense loaf of delicious bread.
We had lunch at Restaurant Eve. What a fabulous place – excellent food, stellar service and gorgeous furnishings. Lynn had the asparagus velouté soup:
P1100797 by ozisforme, on Flickr
Which she said was fabulous. She also had a beautiful salad with roasted fingerling potatoes and an amazing salmon mousse:
P1100798 by ozisforme, on Flickr
Just perfectly made – light and fluffy and the essence of salmon.
I started with a vodka tonic w/ lime:
P1100795 by ozisforme, on Flickr
which I wouldn’t bother mentioning except it was the best vodka tonic I’ve ever had. The tonic was housemade and the drink was ridiculously expensive - $13, I think. But worth every penny.
I had pork belly rillette with salt and pepper pork rinds, Kentucky soy and young coriander:
P1100799 by ozisforme, on Flickr
My GOD, this was amazing. The rillette was not the chunky kind that we fell in love with in NOLA. It was soft and smooth and silky. More like a mousse really. And just decadently good.
We stopped at Occasionally Cake on King Street for cupcakes:
P1100800 by ozisforme, on Flickr
On the left is Lynn’s – Amaretto cream frosting on vanilla cake and the other is mine – cotton candy frosting on vanilla cake. Very good – as a matter of fact, the cake was as good as I’ve ever had from a cupcake bakery. I was hoping to sweet talk them into giving me some hints about how they cracked the code on the cotton candy flavor for frosting, but they didn’t. Like my efforts, it was good and sweet, but not terribly cotton candy-like.
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Patrick – another tahdig! <sigh>. I think everyone thinks that their mom makes the best potato salad, but hers really is great – she made a huge bowl and there was almost none left.
mm – Mr. Kim was sighing over your John Dory. He had it for the first time on our trip to London and declared it his favorite fish of all time.
dcarch – your strawberries are especially amazing, my friend! Are they completely sliced through and then stuffed or only partially sliced? And what is sprinkled over?
Kate – you are hesitant to post that gorgeous grilled squid after my ordinary American dinner??? Wha…? Not to mention that incomparable view!
A couple of nights ago, I made dinner from the leftovers from a not so great dinner out with my dad:
The original steak didn’t have a very good char, so I heated up a pan of butter and Worcestershire sauce and gave it a good incineration. It was slightly overdone, but not too bad. Still, it started out as a really good piece of meat, so it was tender and tasted great. This is Mr. Kim’s plate and the sprouts are fresh.
My plate:
The leftovers from a gigantic baked potato that Daddy and I shared. That is a dinner plate!
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I have really enjoyed this, Christa! Are you going to encourage your husband to read this so that he can see what you got up to in his absence?
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I want a piggy bowl, too! Great report - I love culinary travels!
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Thanks rotuts and PC - I'll pass your lamb love on to Mr. Kim!
eldereno - I laughed when I read your comment because I had the damndest time finding the recipe myself. I always call them Carrot Cake Bars, but the name of the recipe is actually Frosted Carrot Bars
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I swear I never think about breakfast on weekday mornings unless I come to this thread. And then I OBSESS about it! Percyn’s ham and eggs look so good – makes me really happy that we made both lamb AND ham for Easter!
Easter breakfast:
Scrambled eggs, NC sausage and MIL’s Hot Cross Buns
And our eggs (since this seems the proper thread for it):
We got a late start dyeing our eggs this year and were too tired to do our usual creative efforts. All we could manage was a couple of rubber band eggs, a couple of crayon eggs and one half and half!
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Robirdstx – thanks for the sausage info – I’ve saved a link in my favorites to order sometime. It sounds like something that both of us would love. Your pizzas are super and when I saw your gratin, it made me wish that I’d insisted on making it for Easter.
Stash – Your beautiful spring dishes are one of the things that I always look forward to this time of year.
Paul – I’ve added mashed potatoes to fish cakes, but not crabcakes. Good idea! I’ll be trying that this summer.
Elizabeth – that romanesco rising from your plate is really rather unworldly looking.
Kate – your delicious looking nem nuong sent me scurrying for a recipe. I really want to taste those patties!
Easter dinner this year was at 3pm and was, as I said in another thread, a potluck this year. As I suspected, a potluck saves a bit of money, but doesn’t save much in the way of work and aggravation! If you are the host, you still have to clean and prep and set up a bar, etc., etc. And people are STILL late. Luckily, the family that was an HOUR late wasn’t bringing anything really vital – just some vegetables
. Seriously, though, it was a very good meal and we all had a great time. The menu included (didn’t get pictures of everything):CI’s Apple Cider Baked Ham:
The flavor and tenderness and moistness of this ham was wonderful – I will definitely be using this recipe again. The ham itself was a problem. Carving was a giant PITA – I’ve never seen a ham with more stuff (it looked like silverskin) running through it. After carving around those sections, we ended up with very few decent sized pieces and lots of almost bite sized pieces. From online pictures, I’m pretty sure that we had a shank end ham, but from the description of the meat itself, I’m just not sure.
Smoked lamb w/ minted goat cheese:
Mr. Kim smoked and I did the goat cheese. The lamb was perfect – tender and juicy and NOT overcooked. Everyone raved about it and said that it was some of the best lamb they had ever tasted (just like year before last!). I eat so slowly that I ended up with stone cold lamb on my plate and even then it was amazingly tender. The minted goat cheese was an idea that I stole from Ocean Blvd. restaurant in the OBX. It was a perfect accompaniment to the lamb – tangy and minty. I’m not a big fan of bottled mint sauce and don’t like mint jelly at all, so this was a great improvement.
My mother’s potato salad :
MIL’s scalloped carrots:
A friend brought green beans and sweet potatoes. Another friend brought the deviled eggs. My SIL brought a gorgeous fruit tray (I’m still working on that). Jessica made what is probably my very favorite salad:
It’s that Asian salad with Napa cabbage and toasted Ramen noodles.
I did Michael Ruhlman’s Buttermilk Rolls:
Always a success for me. They are HUGE, though. These were 3 oz. (an ounce smaller than the directions call for), and they were STILL enormous! I baked them just slightly short of done on Saturday and covered them with foil. Then on Sunday, I baked them until they reached the correct temperature. They were perfect. I had an extra couple of pans (I doubled the recipe and ended up with 30 rolls) and heated one up on Monday night and they were still great. I love this recipe so much. Best compliment ever? My MIL who is a champion baker (literally – she’s won contest and state fair 1st place ribbons for her yeast rolls), asked me for the recipe!
My MIL’s GF Lemon angel food cake:
Surprisingly good – I’d never have guessed GF.
I did Rainbow cookies:
Very, very cute, but I want to make them so that they look like the ones in the internet post about them. I love that each section of the coil is distinct and I love the crisp edges on the colors.
I did my usual carrot cake bars:
So good – even people who don’t usually like dessert like these.
I also did some GF Brownies for my niece:
My niece liked them and was happy to take them all home with her – I thought they were gacky – not much chocolate flavor and wet!
An adorable Red Velvet cake that my friend made:
My dad and stepmom were here for a couple of days after Easter. The first night they were here I served Jessica’s Asian salad:
And tagliatelle w/ Bolognese sauce along with some cheese topped chicken that was braised in the sauce:
I do not find pasta to be very photogenic. At least not the way I take pictures.
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Kim:
I always thought the pictures on the plates were supposed to represent Native American petroglyphs, but I really haven't a clue.
Re: Yquem: I've only had it once before, about twelve years ago (that time it was a 1990), and it was amazing, but you can get really stunning Sauternes for a fraction of the price. I've had very high-scoring ones from $30 - $50 for a (375 ml) bottle. It's worth a look if you like dessert wine.
You are probably right - I'm an Egyptophile (and I make up my own words!), so I just assumed hieroglyphics.
I will search out a reasonably priced Sauternes - I've had other people suggest that to me.
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Christa – I am just loving this blog, just like I knew that I would. A couple of things:
I love your ‘theme’! I am a big ‘me time’ person and have threatened to run away from home in order to get it!
I’ve printed out your strawberry cocktail recipe – I want that as soon as the strawberries are good.
I love your plates. Are those really hieroglyphics?
In my recipe file cabinet, I have a print out, probably 15 years old, with a description of Yquem. I’ve never tasted it, but I've also never been able to toss the paper – I’m haunted by this wine. I jumped and smiled when I recognized the bottle!
Taco flavored Doritos are manna.
This is so good.
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Can't wait for another southern blogger. Love the name of your blog - referencing the book or something else?
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Easter cupcakes for the nieces and nephews:
GF yellow cupcakes w/ fondant flowers:
Given in a little window box I found at Walmart:
Padded with marshmallow bunnies to prevent a lot of shifting:
I think the girls will LOVE them, I think the boys will be polite
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Happy to help Kim
Is that an everything bagel?
Mr. Kim (who did NOT have pancakes and bananas) had some CHOICE words for me when he heard about my breakfast!
And, yes, that IS an everything bagel - our favorite with cream cheese and bacon.
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Enrique – absolutely gorgeous tortilla! Thanks for showing the cut pieces too.
Patrick – the tahdig is just beautiful. I remember being extremely interested when Hassoumi described and showed it on his recent blog. Your partner’s version looks perfectly browned and crisp. I find it interesting that you say “Persian”. One of my English cousins was married to a young lady who was very specific about being Persian and would strenuously correct anyone who said that she was Iranian.
RRO – when you do your BBQ tour, let me know. I’ll join you for the NC section! That is actually something that I’d love to do, too. I was raised on central NC BBQ, but I have absolutely no prejudices about BBQ – I love it all: beef, pork, chicken, sauce/no sauce/tomato-based sauce, NC, TX, SC! Your horseradish meal had me banging my forehead on the desk. I want that fennel!!! Good GOD it looks fantastic. Thanks so much for posting the link to the recipe. I keep noticing recipes for roasted grapes – I guess that means I’ll be trying them soon!
Rich – I came home with 4 bags of VooDoo, 2 bags of Salt & Vinegar and one bag of the Hotter N Hot – even with Mr. Kim being on South Beach, the jalapeno is GONE – and I don’t eat anything spicy!
Robirdstx – oooooohhh! Beautiful glisteny, tender pasta! I want that for dinner. And where’d you get that freaking GORGEOUS sausage, girl??? Wow! I want one of those right next to my pasta. I have to remember wrapping sausages/dogs up in tortillas – Mr. Kim is doing South Beach and I think he’ll appreciate that trick when he gets a little further along.
Stash – beautiful spring salad! So that’s where your breakfast eggs went
!For dinner last night, I started with a salad:
Mr. Kim started with broccoli – cheese soup:
This soup was a bit of an experiment. I found a great deal on broccoli a while back and bought much more than we could eat before it would go bad. I thought of making soup with it. When I did some internet research, people seemed to have uneven success with freezing the soup. I made a couple of adjustments to the recipe that I thought might help stabilize it for freezing. I subbed evaporated milk for half of the 1/2&1/2 called for and Velveeta (I know, I know – but it works for freezing so well and if the rest is Cheddar, we like it just fine) for half of the Cheddar. It froze, thawed and reheated very successfully.
Then we both had eggs baked in baby spinach and bacon:
We both liked this dish a LOT. I slightly over cooked it (so no money shot) – next time I will take it out sooner. But the combination of the spinach and egg and Parmesan cheese was great.
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Pork,fried pickles and Cheerwine could be GA too. Note the lack of an NC BBQ sauce.
I think those are hush puppies, darlin'.
That doesn't look like NC slaw. Though if it's homemade it could be. Hmmm. Good strawberries - farther south than NC, too, I'd think. Maybe even north Florida? They like to pretend that they are southerners
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Stash – your non-egg breakfast looks absolutely perfect to me. I could eat that at any time of the day or night!
percyn – your hash is gorgeous, but, as you’ll see below, your pancakes inspired me!
Mr. Kim surprised me with breakfast on Sunday. When I got up, he’d already been out to the bagel place and was starting my scrambled eggs! My breakfast:
ET bagel with cream cheese and bacon.
His eggs topped with spinach, jalapenos and tomatoes:
I almost never make breakfast just for myself. But percyn’s banana and walnut pancakes were haunting me this morning while I was trying to get some chores and pre-Easter cooking done. I couldn’t get them out of my head. So I made an easy version – pancakes with sliced bananas (piled on top and tucked in) with maple syrup:
Absolutely delicious – and I’ll have breakfast for the rest of the week from this batch! Thanks, percyn!!!
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No activity on this thread in almost 3 years and it's the newest one for Laguna Beach. Hope this is the right place to put this question. BIL has moved to Laguna Beach and his BD is coming up this month. I'd like to send him a gift card for a restaurant. He's increasingly crunchie, almost vegetarian, thinks organic supplements will save countless lives, has a Vitamix and uses it exclusively to make bright green smoothies
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OK, I'm lost. What is it? Is it just a baking dish?
It's most common use was as an ice bucket. It is double-walled, insulated, so designed to keep cold things cold but could also be used to keep hot things hot.
It was a very popular item and was manufactured by the West Bend Aluminum company from the early 1960s and into the '70s. Made in West Bend Wisconsin.
Well, dern. Then it wasn't a wedding gift if they were married in 1956. Must have just been something that they had. But I STILL wish I had it!
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Found yesterday, ($5.00) needs a slight polish but otherwise nearly pristine - the bakelite is perfect.
Oh, my goodness! Gorgeous. My mother had that. I'd give anything if she still had it. She got it for a wedding present in 1956 and they are still selling used ones that work perfectly. I doubt the one that we received for a wedding gift in 1982 will still be in good working order in 2038!! Too much plastic in it.
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Never could understand the combination of applesauce and potatoes. Sour cream is good, but for me ketchup is the best. With LOTS of salt and pepper.
Breakfast! The most important meal of the day (2012)
in Cooking
Posted
Thank you so much! I'm printing this out and will try the method as soon as I can (heading to the beach on Thursday, so it may be awhile). This is funny - I was so amazed by that egg, that until I read percyn's comment, I didn't even notice what it was sitting on! The Croissant Croque Madame IS a brilliant idea and I'm stealing it, too!