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Kim Shook

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Posts posted by Kim Shook

  1. 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:

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    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:

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    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:

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    21-208k by ozisforme, on Flickr

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    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:

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    21-182k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    We started off with:

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    21-178k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Guinness for Mr. Kim and Thatcher’s Gold cider for me.

    Mr. Kim had shepherd’s pie:

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    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:

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    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:

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    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:

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    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:

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    22-51k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    We also had a really good cheese straw:

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    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:

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    22-53k by ozisforme, on Flickr

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    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:

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    captains cottage beer by ozisforme, on Flickr

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    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:

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    22-64k5 by ozisforme, on Flickr

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    We were very happy:

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    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.

  2. 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!

  3. 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 :laugh: . 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:laugh::laugh::laugh: 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:

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    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.

  4. 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!

  5. 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:

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    I made Jake’s bacon wrapped pork loin for dinner the other night:

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    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):

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    And cheese/chive rolls with BACON JAM:

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    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:

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    Peach nectar, sparkling wine and Grand Marnier. Very good. Please ignore the cobwebs in the window :blush: . 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 :angry: .

  6. I wish I could help, and I hope they all have a great time, but I need to know why the heck YOU aren't going????

    :laugh::laugh::laugh: 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.

    There are a lot of places on that list that I know nothing about, but I'll certainly be able to come up with some Dublin recommendations. Much like Arnie, I'll be back!

    Great, Simon - thank you so much.

  7. 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!

  8. 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?

    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! :laugh:

  9. Interesting seeing England from an outsiders perspective. Shame you couldn't sample more of Oxford..!

    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.

  10. 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:

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    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:

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    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?

  11. 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:

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    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:

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    Just SLIGHTLY overdone:

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  12. 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!

  13. 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:

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    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:

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    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:

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    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:

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    20-173k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    We started with some very good onion rings – tempura-style:

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    20-174k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Light and crackly batter and very sweet onions.

    Mr. Kim had the fish and chips:

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    And I had a GIGANTIC burger with Cheddar and bacon:

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    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:

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    Unfortunately closed by then. But we had planned ahead and bought some goodies at Reeve the Baker:

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    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.

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    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:

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    Fruit and yogurt. Or this variation:

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    Yogurt and granola. The yogurt was excellent, without exception. I found myself craving yogurt, granola and honey every morning. More:

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    Beautiful dining room.

    We toured the breathtakingly lovely Salisbury Cathedral and hit the road for Dorchester and the coast!

  14. 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 :laugh: ).

  15. 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):

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    Egg salad, tuna salad, ham and veggies.

    And TOTS!!:

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    (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 :rolleyes: .

  16. 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 :rolleyes: . 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.

  17. Jerry – Crazy week here – I’ve been reading along, but not commenting, so I’ll hurry and post now before the thread closes! Your writing didn’t disappoint at all – I was laughing and getting hungry and THINKING the whole time I read. I’ve loved every bit of this and am so glad that you blogged and folks got a chance to see what you can do (both the food and the writing).

    Mr. Kim and Jessica are STILL talking about the coffee that you brought. He’s been lurking and reading and was really surprised that you use a popcorn popper to roast your coffee. I may be in trouble here.

    I cannot wait until I can build up a little leave time at work (or maybe quit completely – hope, hope) and we can come out to KC. Will you please make us some sous vide fried chicken (with some grits and Meredith’s perfectly gorgeous Key lime pie) and take us to Jim’s??? That place is SO ‘us’!

    "El Comedor" looks astounding – that pick your own pork is just genius!

    More bacon jam. Good lord, I gotta make this stuff. I had to laugh at your refutation of the idea that bacon has jumped the shark. Vicious vegan-spread rumors.

    Loved the pasta trio at Lidia’s! Why doesn’t Richmond have places like that? I need to move. Every time I follow an eG foodblog, I wonder that same thing.

    Red-X is what I WISH Wal-mart was! What a fantastic place. I’d shop there all the time. And the dioramas?? I wanna see those on our trip, too.

    Very honored by the mention of myself – and you describe the ‘country mouse’ syndrome very well! ‘Apologetic’ is the perfect word.

    How lucky you are to have a place like the Rieger. The charcuterie plate just knocked me over. Since our NOLA trip, I’ve dreamed of pork rillettes! And Gnocchi à la Parisienne is one of my favorite dishes and dead easy to make. Definitely try at home! But the scallops and sweetbreads just had me banging my head on the table. With our two mini-tummies, we could have shared that and fought over the last of that gorgeous sauce with dueling hunks of bread!

    I would vote for a second week of blogging, too, but I like you too much to kill you. But…Meredith would probably move home then, wouldn’t she? Hmmm……

  18. Panaderia Canadiense – thanks for the cheese information – I really want to learn to do bagels and I think we’d love that combination!

    Parmhero – how did you cook your megaburgers? I love that crunchy crustiness that seems to go all around the burger!

    Shelby – I saw that show, too and your pizza pot pie looks GREAT! How did you do it? Mr. Kim would love that. And I went right to that pie recipe link and printed it out. I’m making that soon!

    Dakki – thanks for the answer about the tortillas. I’ll try that next time we have meat tacos (the shrimp ones didn’t lend themselves to that method).

    Genkinaonna – great idea for the duck stock – I ended up with a TON of it and I think when the weather finally gets below HADES level (104 today, with a heat index of 126!!!), I’ll try the soup! Thank you.

    Soba – the shrimp dish is just gorgeous and looks so perfect for the weather!

    Carro- atyoursenses.com - so funny that you should mention “Janssons F”estelse". I had never heard of it before, but just had it on our England trip and now here. I really liked it a lot, but I don’t think that that version had anchovies – I wish it had!

    Scotty – monkey bread :wub: !!!

    Robirdstx – little bitty bites of lamb on the bone. Nom nom nom!!

    Last night I got an urge for shrimp tacos, so:

    med_gallery_3331_114_265708.jpg

    Jumbos with a combination of rice flour, cornmeal and Creole seasoning.

    med_gallery_3331_114_192099.jpg

    Tomatoes, fried corn and – well, shrimp tostadas actually, because I’m not too good at the whole folding and frying thing. I topped them with a slaw that was tossed with a rice wine vinegar, mayo and lime juice dressing. Really good.

    Close up:

    med_gallery_3331_114_97175.jpg

  19. kayb – thanks – I’ll try all cornmeal next time.

    Elise – that casserole sounds wonderful. I’m a big fan of casseroles, but almost never use fish. I need to try that.

    RRO – that soup sounds marvelous! I’ve roasted tomatoes, but never smoked them – I’ll have to get Mr. Kim right on that.

    Soba – gorgeous gnocchi! I keep seeing your gnocchi and am determined to make it soon.

    Panaderia Canadiense – Those bagels are incredible looking! What kind of cheese? And I LOVE fries dipped in mayo – especially if it’s homemade mayo!

    Dakki – gorgeous tacos! Are those corn tortillas? Are they fried, or what? They look crisp, but flexible, if that makes any sense.

    Dinner tonight started with the traditional Shook Salad:

    med_gallery_3331_114_157889.jpg

    :rolleyes:

    Pan roasted duck breast with blueberry/balsamic sauce, fried corn and roasted potatoes:

    med_gallery_3331_114_245483.jpg

    We really liked this sauce a lot. The balsamic cut the sweetness of the blueberries and it went really well with the duck. I’m sure that the duck was overcooked for a lot of people, but rare poultry is just revolting to me. I literally cannot get it down. It’s like trying to swallow a wad of wet paper towel. I just keep chewing and chewing and it doesn't seem to get any smaller and I cannot manage to send it on its way! The corn was some we had bought last Sunday in MD and, while still good, was not good enough to eat plain – so fried in butter with a little salt, pepper and sugar it came alive again. It was so nice to get busy in the kitchen again. The duck breast was from the freezer – I’d needed leg quarters awhile ago and couldn’t find them without buying a whole duck. So I had the breasts and a bunch of scraps in the freezer. I roasted the scraps today and will let them simmer in the slow cooker all day tomorrow. I’m hoping to get some fat, as well as some good stock. Then I just have to figure out what to do with a couple of quarts of duck stock.

    Dessert was homemade fudgsicles:

    med_gallery_3331_172_221698.jpg

    Emily_R made these and posted them on the desserts thread a few days ago. This was Smittenkitchen’s version of a Matt Armendariz recipe. Really good. I made it with milk chocolate, since that’s what I had and with Splenda so Mr. Kim could eat them.

  20. Emily – I made the fudgsicles!!!

    med_gallery_3331_172_221698.jpg

    They were SO good! I only had milk chocolate chips, so I used them and I also made them with Splenda, so Mr. Kim could share! And, yes, next time I’ll be doubling the recipe!

    RWood – luscious looking cake! I love the idea of pouring the syrup over top!

    ET – Adorable nectarine decorations! And what a great picture!

  21. Days 4-6 Oxford & the Cotswolds

    Tuesday, May 17th

    This was the morning that we left London. Mr. Kim went out to get breakfast while I organized things at the flat. He came home with this:

    5944846609_9d33601b48.jpg

    17-1k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Be still my heart – a full English!! (Except for the mushrooms and grilled tomato, which was fine by me!). I have ‘issues’ with English sausage (I prefer all meat versions of sausage and will have my cereal in a bowl, thank you very much), but even THAT was welcome to this crazy Anglophile! The bacon was fab, of course and the eggs perfect again! Mr. Kim has this prejudice against those beans, though. Having an English stepdad (some of you probably remember Ted Fairhead who used to post here) beans on toast was a regular breakfast item for me growing up and we always used Heinz vegetarian beans to approximate English baked beans. Mr. Kim believes that if there is no pork in beans, they are not fit to eat (I can see his point, but still like beans on toast myself).

    So it was off to Paddington Station again for us. This time, we took the train (as opposed to the Tube) back out to Heathrow to pick up our car. Mr. Kim was the driver and I (and the blessed GPS – Jeeves, by name) the navigator. As you can imagine, hilarity ensued for the following eight days. Since it has nothing to do with food (except we did eat in the car a couple of times), I’ll spare you all the car stories. Suffice to say, we never got irretrievably lost, hit anyone or anything, or got a moving violation (MOVING violation – ‘nuff said about that). We arrived in Oxford, shaking bags of terrorized jelly some time later. I had chosen the Turf Tavern for lunch. I can’t even remember where I heard about it (it wasn’t here), but when I looked at pictures online and saw the menu, I thought it sounded like a place we would like. It is also VERY hard to find – down crooked alleys and around multiple corners. I am so glad that I noticed that mention, where ever it was because it was EXACTLY the kind of food and place we were longing for.

    The place is charm itself – quaint and OLD with a friendly staff and great outdoor seating:

    5944846629_805d3e8b69.jpg

    17-5k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    We started with a pint of something dark (sorry) for Mr. Kim and a half of cider for me:

    5945403280_72ef0a895a.jpg

    17-6k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Cider became my drink of choice in England. I’m not a beer/ale drinker, but I love cider, so I was in heaven. Mr. Kim IS a beer/ale drinker, so he was in heaven too. Nice, that.

    Mr. Kim had a cheeseburger with Shropshire bleu, chips and some soppy cole slaw:

    5944859933_50e26e3dae.jpg

    17-6kkkkk by ozisforme, on Flickr

    We had slaw a few times in England and I have to say that it is the one thing that we didn’t find that they do better than the US. It was, without exception, overly wet for us. I like creamy slaw, but this was just too much. But the burger was great and the cheese was fantastic!

    I had another wonderful meal (you’re going to get tired of hearing that) – Beef & Abbot Ale pie with chive mashed potatoes and braised red cabbage:

    5944846645_9c8eff6147.jpg

    17-6k6 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    With lashings of really good gravy.

    Look at that pastry:

    5944846717_f84fe6961a.jpg

    17-6k7 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    We had a wonderful tour of Oxford – we wished that we had more time to wander on our own, but were glad of the knowledgeable tour guide, who took us places and pointed out things that we never would have seen otherwise. The dining hall at Keble College:

    5945403250_b9d520f035.jpg

    17-27m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    How could food NOT taste good in such a setting? Even this stuff:

    5945403354_fcd276c322.jpg

    17-41k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    What do you suppose Florida Chicken is?

    We left Oxford, sorry to not have more time, but very excited about finally getting to the Cotswolds! Onrushpam gets a HUGE thank you from us for suggesting a website for rentals in England. It was through that website that we found the 400 year old Grade II listed cottage that was to be our home for the next three nights. Green Court:

    5945403378_4a2f061dc1.jpg

    18-6k6 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    It was everything I wanted – old, charming, in a village and it even had a kitchen:

    5944846763_6e79ed9072.jpg

    18-8k2 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    We were too tired to try to ferret out somewhere to eat, so we just went to the nearest place that we could find on a map. It was called The Ragged Cot and was just beautiful:

    5944846779_6ca59c61fc.jpg

    the_ragged_cot by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Originally a 17th century coach house, it is now a gorgeous upscale inn and restaurant with gardens and lovely outdoor seating, a snug and a sign proclaims that it welcomes dogs and wellies. The people were friendly and welcoming. So why were we so underwhelmed? I’m not sure that it wasn’t my own fault. The food was upscale and I just don’t think that that was what I really wanted for my first meal in the Cotswolds. We should have probably just gone to the pub down the High Street from Green Court.

    We started with homemade bread and marinated olives:

    5945403532_5fe7a04dce.jpg

    17-95m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Mr. Kim also had the cream of wild mushroom soup:

    5944846801_1f2f8f65cd.jpg

    17-96m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    He said that the mushroom flavor wasn’t really very apparent.

    My main was New Season Lamb Cutlets, Wilted Wild Garlic, Janssen Temptation (a layered potato dish) and Marjoram Relish:

    5944846833_6887725a21.jpg

    17-100m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    The Janssen Temptation was very good – a TAD undercooked, but delicious. But all that liquid at the bottom? That is a big pool of pure melted butter. It kind of sapped the flavor of the lamb.

    Mr. Kim’s main was Honey Cured Pork Chops, Vichy Carrots and Warm Potato Salad:

    5945403482_0f331121e7.jpg

    17-99m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    The pork was excellent – tender and juicy and VERY porky.

    No dessert – we were exhausted and already thinking about curling up under the fat, ploufy duvet at the cottage.

    Wednesday, May 18th

    Our hostess had stocked the kitchen with bread, butter, tea, milk and basic condiments. I’ve already mentioned how much better we found the ‘ordinary’ food to be in England. The bread is a good example. It was just regular plastic bagged supermarket bread (I later found the same brand in a Tesco) – but the taste and texture and even the size was world’s away from Wonder! I actually had a hard time getting it in the toaster!

    Our first stop was a Tesco supermarket in Stroud. On my blog, I had to explain WHY I would take the time to go to a supermarket while on vacation. It’s nice that I don’t have to do that here! I do love going to markets in new places and seeing all the things that are different and unusual and they are great places to find gifts to take home. But this was the first thing we saw when we walked in the door:

    5944846939_7a0d3333b0.jpg

    18-8mm by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Sigh

    We were very excited about the Crunchie and Flake ice cream, though:

    5944846865_a9681f663f.jpg

    18-8m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    5945403624_7b8ae8d5e4.jpg

    18-8m3 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    And, of course, the odd crisp flavors:

    5945403672_3a3dec8057.jpg

    18-9mm by ozisforme, on Flickr

    And THIS was interesting:

    5944846981_9d41db48bc.jpg

    18-9m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    We bought some bits and pieces and a few gifts (Mars bars, McVittie’s biscuits in a commemorative Royal Wedding tin) and loaded up on our favorite English candies – Flakes, Crunchies, Maltesers, etc.

    Lunch was in Painswick, an impossibly charming Cotswold town – my favorite place in England. We ate at the pub – the Royal Oak Inn:

    5945403580_039277dce8.jpg

    18-40k7c by ozisforme, on Flickr

    The owner, Keith Ayres (who I don’t think is the chef) is a bit of a wise guy – they serve a dish called Puppy Dog Pie that has caused some controversy. He even put up missing dog signs around town. Lunch started with an unusual (and gratis) appetizer:

    5944846921_d3f8a2e332.jpg

    18-40k8 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    That is a delicious blackberry sundae. The server asked if we would like it since she’d made too many. Well, it might have been in the wrong order, but I’d never turn down fresh blackberries!

    For lunch we shared a local cheese plate:

    5944846999_fed257e030.jpg

    18-40m3 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Stinking bishop washed with pear juice, also with nettle rind, local stilton, Hereford hop cheese (with hop rind), baguette, butter and quince paste. The chef (or Mr. Ayres – if they aren’t the same person – sorry) brought it out and patiently named and explained the cheeses to us. He also told us something that I’ve never heard before – he said that the quince paste was to be used as a ‘palate cleanser’ – not to be eaten with the cheese. I’ve never heard that and always just piled a sliver of paste on top of my bread and cheese. Who’s right? The cheeses were just gorgeous – the stinking bishop was our favorite.

    We debated trying to find somewhere to eat dinner, but I was ACHING to use that kitchen – even in a small way, so we had dinner from the bits and pieces that we’d purchased that day (mostly at Tesco).

    That BACON:

    5945403700_6d51abf298.jpg

    18-107k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    5945403812_20f5c0888e.jpg

    19-1m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Bread and cheese:

    5945448436_ff25cc448b.jpg

    19-2m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    The cheese was Stilton and Laurels Farm Red Leister. We love anything stinky, so the Stilton was our favorite.

    Cox apples and strawberries:

    5944847093_09e3f27d91.jpg

    19-3m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Some gorgeous little tomatoes:

    5945403796_216dced8b6.jpg

    19-4m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    I had the best BLT (minus the L) I’d ever eaten:

    5945403874_aa35a80053.jpg

    19-4m2 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Dessert was dark chocolate shortbread and a raisin scone:

    5945403734_0549125059.jpg

    19-1k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Thursday, May 19th

    Breakfast the next morning was bacon butties with the rest of that incomparable bacon:

    5945403816_86e0394516.jpg

    19-2k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    And some really good clementine juice that I wish I could find at home:

    5945403856_88f2108fa8.jpg

    19-3k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    We drove to Chipping Camden and I drooled over the windows:

    5945403828_32344f40b5.jpg

    19-15k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Gorgeous town and not too crowded.

    Does anyone know what this is:

    5944847311_9589533ced.jpg

    19-45k1d by ozisforme, on Flickr

    There were fields of it all over the Cotswolds. Obviously cultivated. My MIL thought maybe Canola?

    We drove to Upper Slaughter and walked the public footpath the mile to Lower Slaughter. Two more amazingly picturesque villages – places that, as an American, I hardly believed existed. We had lunch at beside the River Eye at The River Café:

    5944847391_c76baa5671.jpg

    19-56k3 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    A really lovely place to relax and eat and the locals were good company:

    5944847439_133f967401.jpg

    19-56k7 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    The place is a combination gift shop, ice cream parlour, restaurant and museum. Other than the two manor house hotels, it seems to be the only commercial place in the village. And that’s the way the locals want it apparently. The owner, a jazz singer from London is not a popular fellow in Lower Slaughter, it seems. Be that as it may, we had a simple but good lunch here. And were serenaded by lovely 1940’s music (my favorite era). Mr. Kim fell in love with two things at the River Café. One was this fantastic ginger beer:

    5945403894_56b54187cc.jpg

    19-53m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    The other was my sandwich:

    5944847361_5173631309.jpg

    19-56k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Cheddar cheese and pickle. He did the whole “where have you been all my life” with that combination. That lovely salad is called a ‘salad garnish’ in England. Everywhere we went that modest phrase appeared on menus and we got these really good side salads.

    Mr. Kim’s sandwich:

    5945403920_0650cf744a.jpg

    19-55m by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Roast beef and horseradish. A little dry, but tasty.

    We got to Bourton-on-the-Water a little late in the day for any real sightseeing, but I managed to find an open cookware shop and did my own brand of sightseeing. I wanted every tea towel I saw (I LOVE English tea towels), but managed to only buy a new tea tray. I needed a new one and do you know how hard it is to find a tea tray in the US? They had DOZENS – mine is pink and has cupcakes on it. Naturally.

    We also stopped in a little mini-mart here (we had become addicted to Crunchie Biscuits and were hoping to restock) and found THIS:

    5944847483_73244ebb80.jpg

    19-167k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    WTF????

    We had dinner in Cirencester at the Black Horse. During our trip, we really tried to eat at ‘Free Houses’ as much as possible. The Black Horse is part of the Marston’s chain. But it is not exactly like eating in a Red Lobster. There were still the pub regulars – like the old guy who nursed his pint all night and read the newspaper. And the food was pretty good – my meal was certainly better than any chain I’ve eaten in in the States:

    5945404110_c2a9e4316e.jpg

    19-179k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Pork and Hereford Cider Hot Pot – pork slow cooked in Hereford cider and sage sauce with caramelized Braeburn apples, Chantenay carrots and new potatoes. The bread was awfully good, too.

    Mr. Kim’s meal:

    5944847593_7e287e6fac.jpg

    19-180k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Sirloin steak, half a grilled tomato, peas and chips. The less said about that hard clot of a ‘tomato’, the better – but the chips were great and the steak was pretty good.

    Friday, May 20th

    This was the morning that we left the Cotswolds, so we packed up, bid a fond farewell to our little cottage and went to Cirencester to find breakfast. Our wonderful and reliable GPS (named ‘Jeeves’ by us) found CAKE (or maybe The Cake House – I can’t remember):

    5945404220_a758c9f4e9.jpg

    20-1k5 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Breakfast was teacakes:

    5945404194_989b7f613b.jpg

    20-1k6 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    And yet more bacon butties:

    5944847689_c5c7578221.jpg

    20-1k7 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Terribly reluctant to leave, we did a little window shopping. Lick the Spoon – a chocolate shop:

    5945404128_9f94ea7150.jpg

    19-168k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    5945404142_a407b21b5c.jpg

    19-169k by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Sadly, closed at that hour of the morning.

    A butcher shop:

    5945404244_24e2763cd1.jpg

    20-1k8 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Pasties!!:

    5944847609_56c09fdd04.jpg

    20-1k9 by ozisforme, on Flickr

    Farewell, Cotswolds…On to Avebury, Stonehenge and Salisbury!

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