Kim Shook

That is an wonderful idea, Andie! Now I'm thinking that bacon jam served on the side would be great, too!

Mr. Kim’s breakfast this morning: A very messy ham and Cheddar omelet with jalapenos and Shiracha.

Dinner last night was leftovers from a spaghetti dinner that we had the night before at a local restaurant. There was an enormous amount leftover, so I added some cheese and sauce and made baked spaghetti: This is a perfect example of the ridiculous portions served at restaurants. We both ate as much as we could the first night (admittedly, with me, that wasn’t very much) and the leftovers still filled a 2-quart casserole. We could have easily fed 6, possibly 8, people with that. Guess what’s for dinner tonight ? There was also some of our starter left over. It was a baked feta, tomato and basil dish which I just served with some crusty bread:

Fantastic kitchen, Scotty! And I don't think that meal is over the top at ALL. For you. For me, on the other hand....well, I'd faint just thinking about getting all that stuff cooked. I can't WAIT to see the results!

Harry – I love Swedish meatballs and yours are the second ones I’ve heard mentioned recently. Usually after a couple of mentions, I am compelled to make something that I haven’t had in a while. I think meatballs need to go on the ‘to-do’ list soon! threestars – I had to Google Pork Sisig. It sounds wonderful. How is it served? I mean, what sides – bread? Tuesday night, I did the Bon Appetit fried chicken recipe from February issue: I liked it a lot and so did everyone else, but I’m not sure that it is any better than my usual recipe – Shelly’s Fried Chicken. We also had a broccoli and cauliflower gratin: Mashed potatoes and gravy: Green beans: And Sister Schubert rolls: One of the best parts of not working is making real meals in the middle of the week and not having to wait until the weekend to cram everything in. I know that other folks manage to make special meals on work nights, but I've never been good at it!

Bruce – I do cheater red rice a LOT – always with salsa and taco seasoning, though. Next time I’m going to try the enchilada sauce instead – that’s a great idea. Patrick – those beans and rice look fantastic! Dinner last night was Italian Wedding soup from our CSA soup swap this weekend: This lady really did it right – everything was balanced, the meatballs were very tender and the stock was so flavorful!

We almost never eat at KFC anymore. I used to like the chicken, too, but our local grocery stores make MUCH better chicken than our KFC and we are lucky enough to have a small cafe that serves great fried chicken. I remember loving their slaw, too. I even used to stop and buy just a tub of slaw to go with dinner if I didn't feel like making my own. The last couple of times that I did it, I was disappointed - they've changed the recipe and it is not at all like it used to be.

Probably shouldn't do orange with the blue - those are UVA colors and might keep the Carolina folks away ! Seriously, though, I really like the idea of Carolina blue and white stripes - very fresh and modern, but still homey. Good luck! Will this be just weekdays, or weekends too?

By the way, I'll let you and everyone in on a secret. Labne is VERY easy to make at home. Just line a sieve with a coffee filter or cheesecloth, put some yogurt in it, place it over a pot, and let it drain overnight. Voila! When you buy it, it often has cream and other stuff in it to make it extra thick and creamy. Homemade labne is rather different (and healthier, I think!) I do this when I have time, but for a quick fix our local Lebanese owned deli has fine labne.

RRO – gorgeous squid! I thought at first they were lobster tails. percyn – what is the coating on your oysters? It looks almost nubby? Great sandwiches! And dammit! You know that your lobster rolls always make me faint . Stash – thanks for the stew pictures! That is some great looking stew! Where were the pictures taken? Saturday our new CSA had a soup swap. Everyone had to make soup and bring a pot of it for tasting and 2 one-quart containers to swap. Mr. Kim and I made the Escarole & Bean soup with Italian Sausage: It was absolutely delicious and ended up being fairly popular. There were a lot of good soups at the swap and I’ll be glad to get the recipes. My favorites were a sweet potato and caramelized red onion that could have subbed for a dessert soup, a great posole and one of the two Italian Wedding soups that were brought. One poor lady did something that I think we’ve all done. When you make a soup with pasta ahead of time and forget how the pasta will suck up all the available liquid? Her soup was like a porridge of giant meatballs and eency-weency little pasta stars – no liquid at all! That happens to me almost every time I make vegetable soup with vermicelli! I put the pasta in and think, “well, that can’t be enough” and add more. Then, when I go to heat it up the next day, I have to add TONS more stock! I think that a CSA attracts a lot of vegetarians (logically), and the sausage in our soup kept them away, so we brought home almost half of what we took. There were no leftovers of the vegetarian soups. My sister and niece were visiting this weekend from NOVA and Hampton, so we had dinner with them and my parents. I made a big salad and a casserole: This was just the rice dish that I’d made for Valentine’s day with cranberries, almond and orange juice. I thought it would make a great casserole with chicken. It was ok. Nothing really wrong with it, just not terribly interesting. It makes a great side dish, but not a main. Odd, that. At the soup swap, they were serving Flour Garden Bakery baguettes and had some leftovers, so we took one and had that, too. Dessert was just a mix fix-up: I had a pound cake mix in the pantry from Christmas time. I usually bake a couple of pumpkin pound cakes to add to the dessert trays I give out, but never got around to it this year. So I added some lemon zest and juice to the batter and topped it with a lemon 10X glaze.

percyn – your pork hash looks delicious! Xilimmns – I love the idea of serving eggs over crispy polenta (or grits). I must try that sometime! Kay – bacon, tomato and mayo is the best part of a BLT, anyway (I can always dispense with the lettuce)! That looks divine! We had company this weekend – a sister and a niece. On Sunday, my parents came over for breakfast. Scrambled eggs. Everyone is always bizarrely amazed at how long I take to scramble eggs. Then they remark on how moist and fluffy they are! Benton’s bacon. And a new take on Lois’ Best Coffee Cake: This recipe is from Maggie. Now my go-to recipe for coffee cake – whether I’m serving it or gifting it, I have made it numerous times and it never fails. I’ve tried various toppings and additions (tiny wild blueberries and lemon zest were wonderful) and left it plain and either way, it is easy and elegant and special. This time, I decided to use up some peaches I had in the freezer. The night before, I roasted the peaches with some brown sugar until they were tender and gooey and pink and then refrigerated them. I topped the batter with them and baked. I think a hint of almond extract would have been perfect, but Momma is averse to almond flavor, so I left it out this time.

Yes . These were just the white ones. I can't imagine what you would do with them. But they were somehow irresistable at the store.

OMG, recipe, recipe! Here you go, ma'am. This was a recipe that Maggie's mother used to make and that Maggie wrote about in her wonderful eG essay Swans and Streusel.

What a fantastic blog, Chris! I am so looking forward to this week. Like Andie, I adore Lebanese food. In Richmond, where I live, all the best ‘Greek’ restaurants are owned and run by Lebanese folks. I had a Lebanese friend who once quizzed me on my favorite ‘Greek’ restaurants here and delighted in letting me know that they were all Lebanese owned! We have a wonderful Lebanese food festival here in the spring run by the Maronite Catholic church, and it is our favorite food festival in the area! I really loved your breakfast – once I found a place that sold labne, I was in heaven! Best stuff on earth!

We bought a bag of those enormous marshmallows, just because they were hilarious, and the other night, I roasted one. I had to eat it in layers (I like them burned BLACK) and the final layer was a gooshy, gooey, delicous mess. One filled me right up. And this weekend reminded me that Lois' Best Coffee Cake takes about 45 minutes from idea to hot coffee cake slathered with butter to crunching down through a buttery, sugary, cinammony cracked top!

How about last time ? What's Brunswick stew ? Thank you, sir! Here's a link to a description of Brunswick stew. Pay no attention to the bogus claims that it was invented by Georgians. It is a Virginia creation.

Blether – I never get tired of shepherd’s pie, especially one as gorgeous as that. But next time, I’d like to see a picture of the inside, please! lochaven – your Swedish meatballs look delicious. We haven’t had them in so long – I need to do them soon. Dinner tonight: Cheese soufflés, Shriner Brunswick stew – fixed up (I added hot sauce, Worcestershire, a little bacon salt and a LOT of pepper), but still not as good as mine . I always add some of Mr. Kim’s pulled pork and that makes all the difference in the world!

I have literally over a dozen jams, jellies, preserves, etc. And the truth is that I usually prefer just butter on my toast - especially if it is an egg meal.

dcarch – love, love, LOVE the look of that dirty rice! Shelby – oh, my, dear! Your Fat Tuesday meal? Every single thing looks delicious and beautiful! I’m still full and I would have some of everything! That bread is truly impressive. Franci – how I envy you being able to buy plaice. I love it so much! Bruce – your pasta looks fabulous and I, too, am intrigued by the idea of slow cooked onions on pasta! robirdstx – mmmmm, tonkatsu! Haven’t had that in awhile. Dinner tonight: Smothered cube steak, smashed potatoes and green beans. Just good, plain comfort food.

judiu – sorry, I didn’t notice your question until just now. Here is the recipe for Doddie’s salad. I had a wonderful lunch on Wednesday and I’d love to duplicate it. Mr. Kim and I met downtown and went to church on Wednesday and had lunch from one of the street carts. Mr. Kim’s was no great shakes, but mine was great! I had I had a shrimp wrap with lettuce, tomatoes, feta and spinach. The shrimp were plump and sweet and spiced perfectly: My side was Israeli couscous with orange segments, corn, black beans, cilantro and cumin vinaigrette: Really good. Mr. Kim had a lime and cilantro marinated beef sandwich with feta and tzatziki and red pepper hummus: The beef was kind of bland – couldn’t taste the lime and cilantro and the tzatziki was not as good as mine !

I don't know where the garlic comes from around here, but I've found the quality to be anything from bad to just ok. This has been a constant for all of my cooking life (30 years) with grocery store garlic (the only place I'd ever bought it). Year before last, when we joined a CSA, was a revelation. The garlic was so fresh and juicy that I was tempted to eat a raw clove. We've joined a CSA again for this year and I'm hoping that we'll get that incredible garlic again.

Keith – aaahhh, if only I could – unfortunately they are 6 hours north of me. But I googled pork buns in my town and found a restaurant that serves them. Soon! Christine – thank you, ma’am! When I make those, I always make extra for the freezer – we love having them for a pick up dinner or breakfast. We have enough for one more meal! Dinner tonight was fried shrimp w/ rémoulade, Marlene’s panko onion rings, slaw: Those onion rings are positively addictive.

I am thoroughly enjoying this, Chris - so glad to see you blogging. I am in awe at your chocolates. One of my 'retirement' projects is supposed to be learning how to temper chocolate, but I can't imagine getting something that perfect! I'm glad to see someone else who likes their smooth-top range. I love mine and can't imagine trading it for anything else. I always feel like I have to justify my love, though!

Anna – ‘heroin wings’ – I want some for dinner! And would you give a little primer in Parmesan onions? Pretty please? Those look wonderful. I must be on your wavelength, because that shrimp salad with the hearts of palm looked fantastic to me, too! Shelby – how does sesame honey chicken work? It looks great. Kay – I’d call those meals MUCH more than decent! I’m swooning over the shrimp and grits, especially. Dcarch – what kind of sauce was under your lamb chops? It looks almost creamy. David – your cod wrapped in bacon is beautiful – so clean and fresh looking! Mrs. S – your entire anniversary meal looks and sounds delicious, but I believe that I would have shamed myself with the gougeres and parm crisps! I can almost taste them. amkr – Welcome! Your pork belly bun is a thing of beauty! I want to find somewhere hear that makes those! robirdstx – your soup looks so good. We are making a sausage and escarole soup with cannellini beans on Friday for our CSA soup swap on Saturday, but the next time that I make it, I think I’ll switch out the beans for lentils! Stash – that blood orange and endive salad looks like early Spring! So pretty and fresh sounding. Finally starting to feel human again after being sick since Sunday. Dinner last night came out of the freezer (I did cook them originally, though): Sausage rolls and mini quiche Lorraine. Plus a salad

Thanks so much for posting this, David! I'm printing this out and will place with the pastrami short ribs recipe so that I'll remember to do it next time!