Kim Shook

Thanks so much, Simon! I printed out all the info on the other thread and will give it to Mr. Kim. He leaves Thursday, so he'll be glad to have this.

Dejah – that is a gorgeous pie! Rhonda – all this NOLA food is torture! We absolutely fell in love with boudin balls when we were there and I just found out that a new restaurant in town makes them. Can’t wait to get there! Dinner was the most enormous chicken I’ve ever cooked. It was 7 1/2 pounds. At just over $5, I couldn’t pass it up. I salted it and let it air dry all day – not long enough, because my skin was still a little soft, but it roasted up lovely: My gravy turned out especially well: I also did a panzanella-inspired salad: Plated with Brussels sprouts, Marlene’s Crispy Smashed Potatoes and leftover spoonbread (which was helped by the gravy):

percyn – did you buy that pretzel wrapped sausage or make it? That looks so good! And what is this leftover crab cake of which you speak? I’ve never heard of such a thing . Seriously, though – what a perfect poached egg! Andie – I Googled Bourbon Bacon Marmalade and all the recipes that I found were basically the same as Bacon Jam. I was hoping for something different – something clear with bits of bacon suspended in it. Someone should get right on that . Parmhero – love, love, LOVE fried salami and rye toast! I sometimes spread some cream cheese on the toast and make a salami sandwich with it! Rhonda – I SQUEALED out loud when I saw the Stanley sign! We had breakfast there twice on our trip and loved it. I thought that the hollandaise was some of the best I’ve ever had – and I loved the ‘pourability’ – especially since mine always turns out the consistency of mayo ! Breakfast this morning: Scrambled eggs, bacon, orange, croissant and Nutella.

I DREAM about British convenience store sandwiches in the triangular plastic molds. They are so ridiculously good compared to anything you can get over here. Cheese and pickle, egg and tomato, ham and cheese, egg and cress, you name it. Just fantastic fast food. Clotted cream to die for. So jealous. Thank you, Patrick! I almost didn't post that because it seemed so silly to rhapsodize about convenience store sandwiches! Nice to know I wasn't alone!

Shelby – Well, Otis thought that the entire outside world was a smorgasbord just for him, but I don’t remember him bringing anything for me ! Fried green watermelon! That is truly a making lemonade from life’s lemons dish! And I need to show Mr. Kim that pork roast – I don’t roast much pork, because it is generally tasteless unless we hock the silver and go to the butcher shop, but I’m sure smoking it would improve even supermarket pork! For dinner tonight we had Matthew’s Grilled Spareribs with Cherry Cola Glaze, baked beans, slaw and spoonbread We really loved these ribs. The sauce is sweet and sticky, but with the added mustard and horseradish not at all cloying. I was a bit disappointed in the spoonbread: I used the recipe on the back of the bag of cornmeal mix I bought and thought it was a little bland. I’m not completely sure why. The two recipes that I usually make call for butter and this one used shortening. Obviously, butter tastes better than shortening, but I think that the cornmeal itself wasn’t ‘corny’ tasting enough. I hate to toss the whole bag, though, so I’ll try it again using butter and maybe adding some creamed corn. Dessert was that crazy pie that Shelby made: It’s called 10-Minute Lime Cracker Pie. Those are Ritz crackers in the pie. This thing has absolutely no business being as good as it is. Just lime juice, heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk and Ritz crackers. You chill the pie overnight and the crackers turn into this flakey layer. It all firms up in the fridge and cuts beautifully. I confess that I didn’t squeeze the limes – I had some Key lime juice that needed using up. Also – that’s ReddiWhip on top . My mind is spinning with ideas for this method. Strawberry. Orange. Peanut butter with a fudge ripple. Thanks so much for posting the link, Shelby!

Kate – all that lovely pottery reminded me of something I wanted to ask you about: In your picture of the beet cured salmon breakfast there was a hauntingly beautiful bowl (maybe filled with salt?) that seemed to be a repeat of a woman’s face. Am I crazy? I haven’t been able to get the image of that bowl out of my head. Where did it come from?

It won't be long now - just a couple of days left in England . Hope you'll be reporting on your London trip! Actually, there is more cream on there than it looks like from the picture - really piled up on the back side. I kept urging Mr. Kim - "that's cream, not butter - PILE it on!" Thanks so much, Prawn - that means so much coming from a native! Yep, 'skon' - I was raised with that pronunciation! Oh, yes - tell me why the bars in the US haven't glommed on to a Pringles machine??? And it's not butter, Shelby - even better the thickest, richest cream you can imagine. You can actually make it at home with good (pasteurized, not ultra pasteurized heavy cream). You need to try this.

Oh, goodness - that butcher shop and the market are truly remarkable. RE: photos - I really don't get the problem. If anything, it provides some free advertising for the vendor. I don't bother asking anymore - I just hang my camera around my neck and unobtrusively snap away.

Days 8&9 Dorchester and the Coast! After our LONG, LONG tour of Salisbury Cathedral we drove to Dorchester. I’m not sure of the route that Jeeves (GPS) took us, but it was gorgeously scenic. Not a lot of places to eat, though. We are both diabetics (mine is diet controlled since having the gastric bypass) and we were desperate for lunch. And we needed gas. Here’s my half confession/half revelation. We ate at a One-Stop. This was JUST EXACTLY like a 7-11. Except not. We were thinking that we could get some crackers and cheese or maybe some hard boiled eggs. Any kind of protein and carb. We perused the sandwich selection, full of hope but not very optimistic. They were the typical convenience store packages – triangular shaped hard plastic with a sheet of cellophane to cover. But they looked different….kind of good. And we were starving. So we took a chance. And they were different – and good. Really SURPRISINGLY good. Mr. Kim got the ham, Cheddar and pickle (British pickle, remember) baguette. Mine was the most ordinary sandwich in the world – egg salad and ham – on white bread. But the egg salad tasted really fresh, the ham was REAL (not slimy deli ham), and the bread was firm and actually tasted of bread. Another interesting thing is that there was egg salad and sliced hard boiled eggs on the sandwich – I’ve never seen that before and I’ve been having my egg salad sandwiches like that at home lately. It seems ridiculous to go on and on like this about convenience store sandwiches. They weren’t the most amazing sandwiches ever. But they were good – if 7-11 had sandwiches like that, I’d probably have them once a week for workday lunches. We checked into our Dorchester hotel, The Kings Arms: 22-1k6 by ozisforme, on Flickr And headed right back out to explore some of the shore area. We were stunned by Weymouth – the white cliffs and views for miles up and down the coast. I was SO tempted: 21-117k by ozisforme, on Flickr Seaside fish and chips and ice cream cornets – the stuff of juvenile dreams for me. But cooler heads and still full lunch tummies prevailed. I mean, it was probably awful, right? RIGHT??? We drove along the coast road, catching sight of the sea, then losing it – through Abbotsbury (another impossibly charming and gorgeous village) surmounting a hill so high, with a view so sweeping that we felt sure we should have been able to see France. We dipped back down to drive into Chideock – out of view of the sea, but still near. This was another favorite village. It didn’t feel touristy at all – it was lovely (we had a postprandial walk and were charmed), but we didn’t see any provisions for vacationers – though it is so close to the sea. We had dinner at the Clock House Inn – a 16th century Free House: 21-208k by ozisforme, on Flickr 21-179k by ozisforme, on Flickr We were the only non-locals there – everyone else was called by their names by the host. One couple had their well-behaved border collie sitting beside their table. This was the first time that Mr. Kim tried “And pull one for yourself” in lieu of tipping and it was well received! Very surprised and gratified response – big grin. There are all kinds of trophies for darts and skittle competitions and even a little lending library in one corner. I loved the Pringles machine: 21-182k by ozisforme, on Flickr We started off with: 21-178k by ozisforme, on Flickr Guinness for Mr. Kim and Thatcher’s Gold cider for me. Mr. Kim had shepherd’s pie: 21-183k by ozisforme, on Flickr Really good – gooey cheesy potatoes. His potato-topped pie came with….potatoes. Anyone who has followed me on the dinner thread can imagine how heavenly I found the British propensity for serving double or even triple carbs in one meal! My dinner was fantastic: 21-184k by ozisforme, on Flickr Meltingly tender lamb shank. With a rich, winey gravy. The lamb was so flavorful – unlike anything I’ve tasted in years. Almost gamey. As you can see, though we both got potatoes, they were different. Mine were the chips and his were the new potatoes – but they certainly weren’t steamed. They MIGHT have been roasted, but I suspect they were fried, too. During our walk, I noticed this sign: 21-188k by ozisforme, on Flickr I just loved that this little village’s Women’s Institute was making sushi! I cannot imagine the ladies of my grandmother’s little church in NC even knowing what sushi is! Breakfast was at the hotel – very similar to what we had at Salisbury. No pictures. We made our way to Charmouth to walk along the beach and then to Lyme Regis. Lyme Regis is VERY touristy and crowded, but I loved it all the same. We took the road less traveled a few times and found some lovely gardens and sea views. Since I knew that a cream tea was in our near future, we shared a small lunch from Mulberry Manor: 22-50k1 by ozisforme, on Flickr It is a small bakeshop on the main drag in Lyme Regis. All kinds of ready goodies – including pasties, salads and desserts. Mr. Kim liked these cheese stuffed peppers: 22-51k by ozisforme, on Flickr We also had a really good cheese straw: 22-52k by ozisforme, on Flickr LOADED with cheese and poppy seeds – this was super crisp and flakey. We shared a beef and bleu cheese pasty: 22-53k by ozisforme, on Flickr 22-54k by ozisforme, on Flickr You know, you’d think that this was the kind of thing that should be served piping hot, but it was just barely warmer than room temperature and it was great. Is it common to serve pasties like that? Next up was Beer (the village, not the drink) where my aunt lives. Unfortunately, she happened to be in the States (we didn’t coordinate our trips very well). We met one of her neighbors, who recommended the cream tea at the Captain’s Cottage: captains cottage beer by ozisforme, on Flickr 22-64k1a by ozisforme, on Flickr I was dying to try a crab sandwich, but knew I wouldn’t have room for that and a cream tea and I was determined not to leave Devon without a cream tea! So, tea it was: 22-64k5 by ozisforme, on Flickr 22-64k6 by ozisforme, on Flickr 22-64k7 by ozisforme, on Flickr We were very happy: 22-64m by ozisforme, on Flickr Dinner that night was (I blush) another convenience store sandwich. We were exhausted and on our way to Winchester the next morning and, like I said they were pretty good.

Thanks so much! I've passed your ideas on to Mr. Kim and he is very appreciative. I've made him promise to take pictures and make notes!

I’ve always thought that the eG foodblogs were the very best part of the site. I love that peek into other folks’ homes and lives. I am a natural born culinary voyeur – at the grocery store I enjoy looking at what other people are buying as much as I enjoy choosing my own food. And you are living up to the best in your blog, Kate! Every time I log on to eG, I see something new and exciting and fun and delicious! What a fantastic ambassador you are to Australia! I could literally respond to every post and every picture. What I keep thinking about are the shellfish – the bugs (I want to try bugs), those incredible sapphire blue crabs, the gorgeous head-on prawns. But tonight, what hit me between the eyes were the spanner crabs. I’ve never even HEARD of them! I'm just mesmerized!

percyn – I adore fried chicken on waffles. It is also fantastic on cornbread waffles – nice mixture of salty and sweet. And drizzling with a little black pepper honey ain’t bad, either! If you will make the Juicy Lucys, I’ll bring the bacon jam! dcarch – yes, we are big pork people. We have to wear baggy pants to hide our curly tails . I am also mad about fried oysters and am wondering about making some soon. Last Christmas I miscalculated and bought twice as many oysters as I actually needed for the stuffing and my dad and I had a FEAST! Shelby – we always say that at Halloween. It becomes somewhat less appropriate at Christmas. You really need to make some bacon jam. It will improve anything. Scotty – I cannot for the life of me find kayb’s post where she gave me the recipe, but here is a link to it on my webpage – I’ve credited it to kayb! I just love panzanella – such a perfect summer dish and really great for using up bits of this and that. Elise – your halibut looks and sounds gorgeous! I just went and got my Les Halles off the shelf and added that recipe to my list of ‘to tries’. We ordered pizza the other night. And since we had leftover pizza the next night: While this was a nice combination, I’d have preferred it on a white pizza – I don’t much care for the combination of tomatoes and eggs. We are thinking of a bacon jam and egg breakfast pizza.

Matthew – It may very well have been a frozen pie lid. But if I could purchase puff pastry that got that airy and light, I’d buy it. And it might also have been made with vegetable fat rather than butter – I go out of my way to find puff pastry made with butter and it just tasted like butter-made to me. I can’t be sure of that, of course. The bottom crust was like short pastry – not puff. Shelby – I think that the cowboy things are some sort of BBQ sauce, maybe? To the left are little men wearing sombreros – that is salsa. And in trying to look at my picture and zooming in to try to read the label, I noticed for the first time that the box to the left of the cowboys is obviously supposed to be an outhouse!! I have NO idea what’s in that one. KA – no cream doughnuts – I’m not even sure what they are. Black pudding – stay tuned. Sausage rolls – no, because I’m not a fan of English sausage, but I make them at home all the time. Jay – that trip sounds wonderful. I think that we liked the wandering and surprises and discoveries best of all. Kit – I’ve been homesick for England since we stepped on the train at St. Pancras station. And it was the first time I’d ever been! I’m trying to put together another segment – hoping to post it tonight, but it’s already almost 9pm, so we’ll see. Thank you all for reading and responding. Reliving it is so much fun and I love that it’s appreciated!

Norm – I am too hot to even think about cooking tonight (I had tuna salad for dinner), but I wish I had a plate of that lasagna! It looks fantastic! Jerry – beautiful sear on your duck! And the sauce sounds great. I agree – it would be good with pork chops, too! Well, I finally made bacon jam. Between kayb in the breakfast thread and Jerry’s blog, I’ve been hearing about it for months and decided I couldn’t stand it anymore. It is TRULY fantastic. Thank you for providing the recipe, kayb! I told Mr. Kim that I would have to quit work and stay home and make bacon jam on a regular basis, so we wouldn’t ever run out. Bacon Jam: I made Jake’s bacon wrapped pork loin for dinner the other night: We liked this very much, Jake! The mustard/syrup glaze is wonderful! Along with red cabbage and Rice A Roni (a guilty pleasure in the Shook household): And cheese/chive rolls with BACON JAM: As you can see, I totally cheated and instead of making Jerry's poppers, I used Sister Shubert's rolls. I brushed them with melted butter then sprinkled with chives and Cheddar. Our aperitif: Peach nectar, sparkling wine and Grand Marnier. Very good. Please ignore the cobwebs in the window . We can’t figure out how to get to them to remove them. When we put the window up – they slide up; when we put the top window down, we can’t get to them .

While I would love to go to Ireland, I wouldn't go on this one on a BET. They are already getting on each other's nerves. This trip is to celebrate her 70th birthday and to help her do a little genealogical research. Great, Simon - thank you so much.

Everyone was so wonderful and helpful before our England trip, that I'm hoping to get Mr. Kim a few tips for his upcoming Ireland trip. He'll be traveling with his mother, brother and sister. All of them like most everything - the unpickiest people I know. They like to eat healthily, but a splurge isn't bad, either. I'll give their basic intinerary and if you have some ideas, they would very much appreciate it. I'll give the hotel, too, so that you will know what area they will be in (they will have a car): Friday, 8/5: Galway - Pillo Hotel & Spa Saturday, 8/6: Shannon - Carrygerry Country House Hotel Sunday, 8/7: Dingle - The Lantern Townhouse B&B Monday, 8/8: Waterville, County Kerry - Butler Arms Hotel Tuesday, 8/9: Kilkenny - Kilkenny River Court Hotel Wednesday & Thursday, 8/10 & 8/11: Dublin - Brooks Hotel I'm thinking that they will need all meals - maybe places that put together picnics, if there is such a thing, or good stores to buy such things. Really anything that will help make the trip more enjoyable and tasty! None of them have ever been to Ireland. Thanks so much!

Warm! I just scoop out what I want to use, put it on what I want to use it on, and run it in the toaster or the microwave. Or you can microwave enough to serve in a container. You don't need it really warm, just enought take the chill off and make it pliable. Let me know what you think. I'll be anxious to hear. OMG. Thanks to you and Jerry, I now have to quit work and make bacon jam all the time. I can NEVER be without this stuff. And I just made it with Neuske's - I think that when I finally get some Benton's the roof will blow off my house. I don't know whether to bless you or curse you. I guess I'll bless you and THANK you, dear!

Oh, I agree, Tim! Oxford was lovely and we wished we had budgeted more time there. Other than lunch, our entire time in Oxford was spent on the tour. As good as it was, we really would have liked some wandering time.

gfweb – I like your ‘old school’ breakfast very much. As much as I love bacon, sausage is really my very favorite breakfast meat and those potatoes look perfect. Were they parboiled before frying? Jan – that salmon looks gorgeous and the addition of the hollandaise puts it over the top! percyn – your pizza with the egg gave me a real ‘duh’ moment. I hardly EVER make my own pizza, but we order it all the time. I keep thinking that the next time I make one, I should add an egg, but never thought of putting it on leftover pizza. What a great idea! kayb – since Mr. Kim got into smoking, we almost always have some pulled pork in the freezer. I’m always looking for ways to use it. I’ve put it on cornbread waffles, but never thought of under eggs! Wonderful! deensiebat – those pancakes are just gorgeous! Breakfast this morning was steak and eggs: Leftover steak from last night. Mr. Kim’s eggs were cooked in some of the jalapeno compound butter that he made awhile back. Plus tomatoes and Swiss & onion bread. Mine included a breakfast favorite from my childhood: Tomatoes on toast with a dollop of mayo. I wasn’t much for breakfast as a kid, but if there were good tomatoes, Momma could always tempt me with this. Between kayb and Zeemanb’s blog, I have been DREAMING of bacon jam. So I’ve got kayb’s recipe on the stove right now. Guess I’ll have to throw together some of Jerry’s cheese and herb poppers, too! Important question here: Bacon Jam – served warm or cold?

Panaderia Canadiense – thank you so much – I’ll PM you later this week! Your beef fryup looks great – kind of like an upsidedown shepherd’s pie! I gotta try that! Parmhero – thanks for the demo! We have a gas grill and for the most part we like it a lot and I know that we use it MUCH more often than we ever did charcoal. But I think that there is room for a small charcoal grill - for doing things like those gorgeous burgers. Now that Mr. Kim is smoking, he might not be so resistant to messing about with charcoal! percyn – that crab boil is just summer on a tray! Lovely. Dinner last night was very simple – just salad, steak and sweet potatoes. I’m not sure where we got these – I THINK it was actually Food Lion, oddly enough (they have improved VASTLY in the last year) – but they were nicely marbled: The markings on the steaks are from Food Saver bags. When I’m going to freeze steaks I always season them (Montreal steak seasoning and brown sugar), then ‘suck’ them first. Dinner: Just SLIGHTLY overdone:

So excited for this one, Kate! I've loved your food and writing and humor since you started posting here and I'm just thrilled that you are blogging! The pictures of the fish market are amazing! I'd probably never eat another piece of meat or chicken if I had access to that! Maybe weird of me to notice, with all of the other fantastic stuff but I love how your books are arranged by color!

Thanks for the info about the rape/canola. And we have found Branston Pickle – at our local Kroger, no less! Good thing, too, since my FIL has become addicted also! Thanks, also, for the encouragement. I know that this is taking forever, but LIFE happens and I appreciate so much that you are all interested still! Days 7& 8 Avebury, Stonehenge and Salisbury Stonehenge was a must, of course – one can’t possibly be near it on one’s first trip to England and not go. But I’d ferretted out Avebury in some book and knew that it was a similar, but much more ‘up close and personal’ type of experience. Avebury is a charming little village with a pub – The Red Lion – and not much more, as far as food goes: 20-48k3 by ozisforme, on Flickr We’d been snacking on those lovely tomatoes and strawberries and our stash of candy on the drive down and weren’t really hungry, so we passed, but were tempted by the menu of pub food: ham and eggs, Ploughman’s, various meat pies (I adore meat pies - they are what I always request when I go to visit my parents - even in weather like this). Our hotel that night was the Red Lion in Salisbury. Very near the Cathedral and right in town – convenient for wandering. It had a lovely courtyard where we had drinks that night: 20-106m2 by ozisforme, on Flickr We wandered a little in the Cathedral Close – saving our real touring for the next morning. Finally hungry, we straggled through town looking for something that appealed. The Ox Row Inn looked good: 20-177k by ozisforme, on Flickr But had a sign requesting ‘Proper Attire’ and we were in jeans, so we started to wander on. An older fellow who was at an outside table drinking a pint and having a cigarette said, “Oh, yer dressed just fine. If I can go in, you can.” He said the food was good and that they had ‘real ale’. This is a very important and complicated (to me) designation that we heard over and over. It has to do with the ale/beer being brewed in the traditional way. There is a big ‘real ale’ campaign in Britain (and a similar ‘real beer’ one over here, I’ve learned) that goes along with promoting ‘free houses’ – independent pubs. We followed him in and discovered that he was right – we fit right in and the food and drink were quite good: 20-173k by ozisforme, on Flickr We started with some very good onion rings – tempura-style: 20-174k by ozisforme, on Flickr Light and crackly batter and very sweet onions. Mr. Kim had the fish and chips: 20-176k by ozisforme, on Flickr And I had a GIGANTIC burger with Cheddar and bacon: 20-175k by ozisforme, on Flickr More of that lovely ‘salad garnish’ on each plate. I have to say that, as much as I adore English bacon, I believe that ‘streaky’ bacon goes better on a burger. You need the fatty crunch – otherwise it’s like having a slice of ham on a burger. We did some more strolling, coming across Patisserie Valerie on Butcher Row: 20-178k by ozisforme, on Flickr 20-179k by ozisforme, on Flickr Unfortunately closed by then. But we had planned ahead and bought some goodies at Reeve the Baker: 20-166k by ozisforme, on Flickr I was so mesmerized by all of the offerings that I’d been reading about for years – buns, rolls, lardy cakes, tarts – that it was hard to chose. 20-166m1 by ozisforme, on Flickr On the right is a little treacle tart – my final choice. Sweet and gooey, it reminded me of what my mother used to say about the English – that they loved their afters so much that you could serve them ANYTHING for dinner, as long as they knew something sweet was coming (this was in the bad old days of British cuisine). My stepdad, Ted, would put up with any manner of odd American cooking if he knew Momma had some Bird’s custard to pour over tinned fruit! I thought the tart was similar to a chess pie – only with a deeper, richer flavor and a wonderful short pastry-type crust. The one on the left is Mr. Kim’s choice – Jap Cake a lovely combination of cake (very light) and apricot jam covered with a fluffy, sweet icing. In the back of the picture, you can see a bottle of my beloved Mt. Dew, which I was lucky enough to find all over the place. Since soft drinks are my caffeine of choice, I was thrilled. The Red Lion was our first experience with hotel breakfasts in England and we found them basically the same at all three hotels we stayed at – a cold buffet with cereals/granola, cold cuts and cheeses, juices, fruits, pastries and breads to toast. You could also order a hot breakfast off the menu. By and large, the quality was very good. We started almost every hotel day with this: 21-1k by ozisforme, on Flickr Fruit and yogurt. Or this variation: 21-1k2 by ozisforme, on Flickr Yogurt and granola. The yogurt was excellent, without exception. I found myself craving yogurt, granola and honey every morning. More: 21-1k1 by ozisforme, on Flickr 21-1k3 by ozisforme, on Flickr 21-1k4 by ozisforme, on Flickr Beautiful dining room. We toured the breathtakingly lovely Salisbury Cathedral and hit the road for Dorchester and the coast!

It's funny, but this issue came up tonight. It was 104 with a heat index of 126 today in Richmond. We had two lovely T-bones all thawed and ready in the fridge. And we just couldn't face them. The idea of big hunks of hot protein was NOT appetizing at ALL. So dinner ended up being a couple of scoops of egg salad and tuna salad. And crudités - I couldn't even muster the energy to make a salad! (I did use the toaster oven and make tots, though. We aren't totally uncivilized ).

dcarch – just gorgeous! Mr. Kim would swoon over that beautiful fish. The salt slabs are smart! And it's nice to know that I'm not alone on the no rare duck issue! Hot weather dinner tonight (104 with a heat index of 126): Egg salad, tuna salad, ham and veggies. And TOTS!!: (I only heated up the toaster oven) And a disappointing dessert. Someone at work today told me about a new cupcake shop. Went by and bought 6. Gorgeous cupcakes with really great sounding varieties. I tried two of them tonight – a chocolate buttermilk cake with seven minute frosting and grated coconut and a strawberry limeaid - fresh strawberry cake filled with lime curd and frosted with strawberry buttercream. The chocolate had a funky almost ‘off’ flavor, but the icing was good. The strawberry had absolutely NO strawberry flavor at all and the texture of the cake was gunky and muffiny. Gah. But they were lovely to LOOK at .

CLICK! The cover – with the spike haired guy looking over Archie’s shoulder caught my attention in the line at the grocery store. Then I opened it and saw the trio on the first page (below the cover in the linked page – you can click each one to get a larger picture) – and I had to buy it. They are named “Dude Ferrari”, “Maple May” and “Deanna Paul” and they are all celebrity chefs with the ‘Eats Channel’. So, they aren’t gettin’ paid, I guess . The ‘story’ is that they are having a cafeteria ‘throwdown’. A very funny and completely weird little bit of popular culture. Not exactly a FOOD periodical, but I couldn’t find anywhere else to put it.