Kim Shook

Gorgeous stuff, folks! Sometimes I am just in awe when I come to this thread! A coworker ordered a dozen cupcakes and a cake for a baby shower at her church today. To make things easier, last weekend I made the cupcakes and the cake layers and froze them (best laid plans). Yesterday I thawed them and set to frosting and decorating. She wanted yellow cupcakes with white icing and sprinkles. She wanted the cake to be chocolate with marshmallow filling and white icing decorated with the mom’s color choice – mainly bright red, orange and yellow. I used canned frosting for everything since I have yet to find a reliable, tasty frosting recipe . For the cupcakes I used my go to yellow cake recipe that I found online – it was recommended by oli here at eG. They worked out just fine: I am madly in love with my new extra-large decorating tip and the billowy poufs that it produces. The cake was a bite more problematical, not to mention ultimately exhausting. I used my Chocolate Bar Cupcake recipe – one of the easiest and best chocolate cakes I make. It was the marshmallow filling that did me in. Here is the cake with just the filling – not frosted yet: Just after I took this picture, the layers began to slide. Marshmallow Fluff OOZES. I guess I knew this somewhere in my head, but unfortunately the knowledge came to the fore a little late. I wasted a long time trying to edge it back and driving skewers through the layers. I finally faced the fact that it just wasn’t going to work (though I decided that Fluff will make an awesome cupcake filler – so not a totally wasted experiment). Mr. Kim went off to the store for more cake makings (I forgot to mention that this particular cake recipe makes only a 2 layer cake and I wanted 3 – so to get one cake, I made this recipe FOUR times). While he was gone, I made this: Mistake Cake (see Jessica’s Turtle birthday cake back in January). I just sliced up the cake and smooshed it a bit and topped it with melted icing. One will go to my MIL’s for a contribution to Easter dessert and the rest was distributed to the neighbors. The next cake worked much better with regular buttercream between the layers: Crumb coat: The decorated cake: I used the sprinkles in the colors that she wanted and piped the baby’s name in blue (as requested). I am terrible at piping letters, but I TOLD my coworker that and she just said to do my best. I tried my hand at two color piping for the first time with the puffs on top of the cake and the edging at the bottom: I like the effect. The decorations around the sides are just bright Twizzlers on skewers with Dots candies at the top and bottom: They are too long, I think, but I like them a lot and I think they add a little circus or maybe Merry Go Round feeling. A bit of whimsy.Crumb coat: The decorated cake: I used the sprinkles in the colors that she wanted and piped the baby’s name in blue (as requested). I am terrible at piping letters, but I TOLD my coworker that and she just said to do my best. I tried my hand at two color piping for the first time with the puffs on top of the cake and the edging at the bottom: I like the effect. The decorations around the sides are just bright Twizzlers on skewers with Dots candies at the top and bottom: They are too long, I think, but I like them a lot and I think they add a little circus or maybe Merry Go Round feeling. A bit of whimsy.

This is my go-to coconut cake recipe. It is the best I've ever made and almost the best I've ever tasted. Some years I use lemon curd between the layers, other times I just use icing. This year my daughter Jessica wanted to host Easter lunch in her new apartment and requested a cheesecake of some sort. I found an interesting recipe in Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook for a layered cheesecake that I'm going to make with a few adjustments. It is a layer of lemon cheesecake, a layer of lemon curd (I'm using Key lime extract in the cheesecake layer and Key lime curd) and a layer of spongecake all frosted with stablized whipped cream and coconut.

Honestly, I'm not sure. I certainly couldn't afford the books, but I'm not sure that I'd buy them if I could. It interests me as an observer and eater, but not so much as a cook, I guess. Mr. Kim got me one of those mini kits for Christmas - you can make about 5 things - and I haven't set aside the time to experiment with it yet. A lot of it just seems 'fiddly' and I'm not much for fiddly. That's not to say that I wouldn't LOVE watching someone else fiddle with it and I'm really enjoying the thread.

percyn – lovely burgers – nice to see a little ‘egg porn’ over here at Dinner ! Ann – gorgeous chicken! What a beautiful crust. Avaserfi – bravo on those beautiful tortillas! Dinner tonight was PopsicleToze’s Steak and Gravy from her fantastic foodblog in March. Also collard greens and Sister Shubert rolls: This was incredibly simple and so good. I didn’t put in enough onions, though.

Simon - Mr. Kim and I will be in Paris May 25th - 27th, so I am very interested in the recommendations that you get. So far the plan is to do our wanderings with Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris in hand and delve into it when we get hungry ! Mr. Kim is coming to Ireland in August with his mother and brother and sister, so I may be asking for advice from you! Daisy - Thanks! I'll use your list in my research!

Wow - I am really out of the cultural loop, I guess. I kept trying to figure out if any of those could have been faked possibly. Amazing!

Lovely breakfasts everyone! I’m a sucker for those yolk shots, too, and Soba, your poached eggs are perfection! Yesterday’s breakfast: Breakfast pockets made with ‘whomp biscuits’, sausage, eggs and hash browns. I haven’t made these for years. It comes from an old ‘Taste of Home’ recipe that I customized. I used to make them for brunches because you could make the filling ahead of time and even put the pocket together and refrigerate an hour or so ahead of time. I’ve even made 3-biters out of regular biscuits. They still taste awfully good and with a combination of careful microwaving and toaster oven toasting, they even heat up as good leftovers.

Country – nope, not homemade – just store bought flour tortillas. RRO – thank you for the directions and for the giggle! Gorgeous salad, by the way!

Dejah – I’m getting lots of good recommendations for England over on those boards. We’re going to Devon, too and I’m hoping to find a really good cream tea place. I remember those canned pies – I think that my grandmother used to bring them over from England for my dad. Dakki – thanks for posting that recipe. It sounds wonderful and I love that I can do it in a slow cooker! Dcarch – you are welcome anytime – only – would you do the plating? I’d swoon to have my food look as lovely as yours does! And that chicken dish sounds amazing. toolprincess – thanks for the Dover sole recommendation – I’ve added it to my list! RRO – luscious looking siu mai! Those are some of my favorite things. I’ve never made them, though. Could you provide general proportions? Pretty please? Dinner tonight was more tacos: Shrimp like last night and: Chicken from a rotisserie chicken we got at Costco. The bones and scraps are in the slow cooker making stock (I remembered this time!). Mr. Kim also had kale:

robirdstx – thank you so much for finding the risotto recipe and bringing it to my attention. I found the issue of Bon Appetit, but couldn’t find the risotto recipe, so I didn’t buy it! I’m so pleased! roundrollingobject – I DID, however, find the Leek Flower Sauce at our Asian grocery and can’t wait to find a million things to do with it! Your pancakes are gorgeous and sound delicious! I don’t know that I’d be ready for them for breakfast (referencing the Cultural Standards of Breakfast thread) - but I’d love them for dinner!

Ann – Mr. Kim looks over my shoulder often here and ALWAYS notices your pictures. He would like to know if Moe would like a breakfast buddy. pastameshugana – hope you are all better now! Your breakfast looks lovely and I agree Gruyere and tomatoes have a special affinity! Katie – that risotto sounds fantastic. Alas, it isn’t on epicurious.com yet, so I just put Bon Appetit on my shopping list. I have to make that dish! rarerollingobject – ok, I just added Leek Flower Sauce to my shopping list, too! Breakfast this morning: Fried eggs, sausage and frozen croissant. I get these croissant from The Fresh Market – they are much better than any ‘fresh’ ones that I can get from a store and don’t have to be thawed – just baked from frozen.

Corinna – thanks for the advice re: cheese to use with the lobster mac and cheese. I’ve printed out your notes and added them to the recipe in my ‘to try’ file. Dakki – I had to Google Cochinita pibil and it sounds and looks delicious! What combination of citrus do you use? Make sure to let us know when you’ve posted the recipe – I’d really like to make it. rarerollingobject – Your salad sounds delicious, but those lentil eyes do look a bit sinister . Soba – I really love the idea of broccoli pesto! Prawn – your Dover sole looks so amazingly good. I pray that I can find a restaurant that will do it justice when we come to England next month! Dejah – the steak and kidney pie looks fantastic – great browning on the pastry, too! My stepdad used to make it when I was a kid and I wouldn’t even try it – because of the kidneys, of course. Sigh. I would try it in a second now and he never makes it anymore! Dinner last night was shrimp tacos (I’ve been craving them for weeks): Made with Salt & Pepper Fried Shrimp, homemade Pico de Gallo and the same wonderful sauce that robirdstx had on her catfish tacos recently - mayo, drained yogurt, lime juice and pickled jalapeno brine. Delicious! The shrimp were darker than they look in the picture and very crisp. Served with black beans and corn: With salsa, cumin and Ancho chile powder.

This has been a wonderful trip! Thank you so much for being so generous with your time and sharing your days with us. I'm sorry that your lamb and vegetables didn't turn out like you wished. Lamb shanks can be tricky little boogers. My mom used to dust them with flour, S & P and pop them in the oven to roast and they were delicious. Must have been different lamb back then (1970's) because I ended up with lamb jerky the last time I tried that! I loved the kitty peeking into the fridge, too. We once had to keep a bungee cord on our fridge because we had a cat who learned to open the door and help himself to what looked good. Once while I was on a trip, poor Mr. Kim forgot the cord and came home to an open fridge door with a clay pot on the floor and chicken bones strewn about the house. I hope none of your friends learn that trick!

Dejah – the stew looks fantastic and I love your beautiful tureen (AND the story behind it). Bruce – that beef sounds truly succulent! MiFi – I’ve never been a huge fan of beef salads, but that meat looks so incredibly tender that I know I’d love it – especially with the bleu cheese. toolprincess – no need to apologize for Rice-a-Roni! I had microwave Uncle Ben’s tonight! Bring on the pictures! Shelby – was the theme of the week in your house ooey gooey? Every single dish looks incredibly delicious and wonderful! Corinna – that picture of the lobster mac and cheese sent me over the edge. I’ve been interested in that dish since I first heard about it (c’mon…lobster, pasta, CHEESE sauce – what could be wrong with THAT?), but your photo made me hie myself to Google to find the recipe! Wow. I still had all the makings for it, so we had Marlene’s Beef Stroganoff again tonight (plus the inevitable salad) – this time with rice: I let it simmer for longer tonight and it was darker. Very, very good – I didn’t mind at all eating it twice in 4 days (not my favorite thing usually). The rice was one of those Uncle Ben’s microwave bag things – Whole Grain Medley, with brown rice and red and black quinoa. We really liked this.

I do this fairly often - I have a toaster oven that sits right beside the sink and I usually have it turned on. I just stack the plates on top and they are warm in a couple of minutes.

Going to grocery stores is an important travel activity for me. And to get to know a place, check out the pre-packaged and junk food as cultural research (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). I do this exact same thing! Drug stores, too! We are off to a first time trip to England and Paris next month and I can't wait to see the stores!

These are one of my favorite candies - I eat them a lot! They do have a small tunnel of PB in them still, but I don't think that it is a much as there used to be when I was younger. If they are kind of cold and you can almost break them apart longways, you can see the tiny bit of PB.

Cass – that is some wonderful looking sushi – that it is your first attempt is amazing! Soba – gorgeous pasta and mushrooms. Mr. Kim loves mushrooms and while I don’t, I appreciate the beauty! I need to try this one for him! rarerollingobject – what a beautiful crust on the chicken! And I love the idea of tomato/ginger chutney. Ann – those clams look so lovely. Steamed shellfish with lots of bread for sopping is one of my favorite meals. Pre-dinner snack last night: Lesley Stowe Raincoast Crisps fig and olive crackers, honey from a friend’s hive and goat cheese. Bite: These crackers were maybe a little TOO rustic on their own, but the combination of them with the cheese and honey was fantastic! Dinner was Marlene’s Beef Stroganoff, green beans w/ Italian dressing and some good sourdough rolls from The Fresh Market: This was so good and so simple to make and I appreciated the lack of fungus ! This is my new favorite stroganoff recipe!

I am thoroughly enjoying your blog, Evan! And your wonderful, large kitchen!

Corinna – glad to know I wasn’t the only one with layering problems with the coffee cake. I didn’t think that the filling tasted too sweet (I thought it was balanced by the cake layers), but felt that the topping had a bit too many chocolate chips for my taste. Next time, I’ll probably eyeball it and use less. rarerollingobject – Mr. Kim would adore those zucchini fritters! He’s the chilehead in the family. I am decidedly NOT, but I will be stealing the halloumi idea! Yesterday’s breakfast: Scrambled eggs w/ chives, sausage and English muffins with my favorite Little Scarlet strawberry preserves.

dcarch – that crunchy pork skin is just amazing – I could make an entire meal of just THAT! And the Aebleskivers are lovely! Dinner last night was a cheese plate with crackers and French bread: Clockwise from 12 o’clock: Cowgirl Creamery Buckaroo, Drunken Goat and Robiola. Whole Foods has a section with small bits and pieces of cheese. This is a great way of trying out new cheeses and it makes a great 2 person cheese plate. Ham, turkey, radishes with sea salt and assorted pickles and olives: And Brunswick stew: Not homemade, but a locally produced brand that is almost as good as mine!

janeer – what kind of icing is that on your angel food cake? It is so beautiful and glossy! ET – oh, you should definitely try angel food cake – it’s very easy to make and the perfect spring/summer dessert with all the good berries coming in soon. Here’s a slice of that angel food cake: Nice looking crumb, I thought. Good flavor and texture. Served with warm caramel sauce.

Oh, the cathedral is definite! Really the main reason that we are going to Winchester. We will be going to the cathedral Tuesday morning (the 24th) - are there any good places nearby for breakfast?

Thanks for the clothing advice. He's thinking chinos and a button up shirt with a sweater, if it's chilly. That sounds alright?

Thanks so much! So maybe dinner at The Chesil Rectory and drinks at Wyckeham and/or the Black Boy?