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Kim Shook

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Posts posted by Kim Shook

  1. lionessHere's the bread machine brioche recipe. Hope you like it! Was the “made or bought” question for me? If so, made or bought what?

    judiu – yep, that’s them. Except I made them with puff pasty this time – the flavor is better and puff pastry is a lot easier to handle than those whomp biscuit Crescent things!

    percyn – thank you, sir! Your breakfasts always look wonderful, so that is a truly appreciated compliment!

  2. Beautiful meals everyone!

    Our New Year’s dinner was a carbon copy of what I make every year! As a matter of fact, I just went and looked and it’s identical to what I posted last year – the only difference is that this year I did cornbread and last year I did corn muffins!

    Ham slice w/ plum preserves and whole grain mustard:

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    scalloped tomatoes:

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    Plated w/ black eyed peas, collards and cornbread:

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    This is Jessica’s plate:

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    Garlic and ginger rice noodles with some of the shrimp that I made for NYE. She is not a fan of the traditional New Year’s day foods. See the little bits on the edge of her plate looking like some high end restaurant garnish? That’s her portion of each of the foods that we ate – which I insist she have for good luck :laugh: !

  3. Wow! Everything sounds so elegant and delicious, I’m embarrassed to post mine! We did what we always do - play canasta and eat '70s 'party food' with another couple. We've done this since our kids were all small and babysitters expensive and now we are too old and lazy and boring to change. We've tried going out a few times, but really didn't have that much fun. She makes crab meltaways, artichoke dip, Knorr spinach dip, pigs in a blanket, etc. I actually like all that stuff once a year. They usually request that I make ‘those meatballs’ – meatballs in a slow cooker w/ BBQ sauce and apricot preserves and ‘Taco Dip’ – salsa and Velveeta with ground pork and beef :laugh: . No one said anything about them this year, so I ‘forgot’ to make them. Instead I did Tequila/Lime Shrimp, Deviled eggs and little puff pastry roll ups with bacon, cream cheese, shallots and poppy seeds.

  4. Well, I finished it and really liked it a lot. All of the information was fascinating and I sure wish that we still used public money to promote and research the unique cultures that still exist and may not for long in our country.

    Was anyone a little jarred by the abrupt ending? The introduction was so interesting that I expected something similar to wrap up the book and it just....stopped.

    Kim, That did bother me. It seems to be a recurring theme on the Amazon comments as well. Kurlansky did such a great job in the intros, and the pieces he picked were so interesting, that the end did seem abrupt. I'm probably also going to read this book, America Eats!. The author, Pat Willard, went to many of the places the WPA writers also visited and tried to find out if the same foods were available today. I'm hoping that it wraps up the project a bit more.

    I also have a secret, niggling little voice that makes me want to try and find the missing Missouri recipes that were to be saved for a separate cookbook. You know, when I have a lot of extra time to go searching through the MO Library/Historical Society! :raz:

    Oooh! That sounds like a book I would love. Thanks for linking it - I just reserved it at my library!

  5. djyee – that duck looks so lovely and delicious!

    Prawn – as always, your food is awe-inspiring and beautiful. The ostrich burger, the sweet and sour pork, the gorgeous pigeon!

    David – love the calvados chicken – thanks for posting the recipe, too!

    Jeff – OMG – that perfect roast beast :wub: !

    Dinner with my parents on Sunday:

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    green salad w/ mango, cukes and lime vinaigrette

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    Marlene’s balsamic glazed pork chops – everyone loved these, Marlene!

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    Marlene’s glazed carrots. Incredible – even I liked these and I am NOT a cooked carrot fan!

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    Cornbread

  6. Bruce – we love that stilton and I’ve never thought to have it for breakfast, but how lovely it would be crumbled on a crusty baguette!

    percyn – gorgeous eggs and I really want some of that hash!

    A random breakfast that I made last week when Mr. Kim and I were both off work:

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    toast, grapefruit and almost soft boiled eggs – I have them nearly right after working on them forever!

  7. DeliciouslyLekker – what a lovely meal! Everything looks delicious!

    Baron – I’m just awed with that meal. The ham is amazing and even the garnishes are lovely.

    Well, we ended up with 33 for dinner on Christmas Eve, instead of the expected (and cooked for) 50, so I have lots and lots of leftovers.

    Mr. Kim’s Beer ‘Cooler’:

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    Turkey and Ham:

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    My version of Paula Deen's Oyster Dressing:

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    Sour Cream Cheese Potatoes:

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    Sweet Potatoes with Bourbon Syrup:

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    My grandmother’s fruit salad, Orange cranberry sauce, Relish Tray w/ pickles, olives, celery & Rachel’s ‘Paminna” cheese:

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    Mixed green w/ romaine, frisée, Bibb, spinach & sectioned oranges – My Daddy's

    Paprika dressing and Marlene's Bleu cheese dressing and HM croutons:

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    I somehow missed getting a picture of the dessert spread, but I had:

    Lemon chess tarts

    Decorated Sugar Cookies:

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    These are some cookies that I made that I was very excited about, but probably won’t bother with again. These were made with sugar cookies, royal icing, assorted sprinkles and some gorgeous edible wafer paper that I ordered. A big, fat pain in the butt. I am just not very good at piping and you needed to be perfect. On many of them, the icing didn’t ever truly harden. They took forever to dry during the various steps. And, on top of everything, the most impressive part of the cookies was something that I didn’t have anything to do with – the design of the paper. I get a lot more pleasure out of doing my regular cut out sugar cookies and decorating them. I was so wrapped up in these that I didn’t even decorate many regular cookies and just left them to Jessica and Mr. Kim.

    Peanut Butter Cookies w/ & w/out Hershey Kisses:

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    I had a good idea – I sprinkled some of them with fleur de sel. Really fantastic – who doesn’t like salted peanuts?

    Sponge Candy plain and dipped in Cadbury chocolate:

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    These were a happy accident, so that’s what we named them:

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    I made them from the shards left from breaking up the sponge candy and the leftover chocolate that I dipped some of the sponge into. I just mixed it all together and rolled them into balls. Wow. I will be making these every Christmas from now on!

    Aunt San’s Fudge – plain, creamy milk chocolate fudge

    Reeses Cup Fudge – a layer of peanut butter fudge w/ a topping of chocolate fudge

    Cherry Almond Dark Chocolate Fudge

    Iced Almonds

    Peanut Brittle, Plain and Chocolate Covered

    pretzel pecan turtles

    White Chocolate Toasted Almond Fudge

    White Chocolate Gumdrop Fudge

    Christmas Breakfast:

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    ET bagels and cream cheese, mini quiche Lorraine, sausage rolls, Whack-a-roll Orange Danish rolls (I don’t think Jessie ate even one this year, but they are just traditional)

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    Mr. Kim’s mom’s Candy Cane and leftover fruit salad from Christmas Eve dinner.

  8. Well, I finished it and really liked it a lot. All of the information was fascinating and I sure wish that we still used public money to promote and research the unique cultures that still exist and may not for long in our country.

    Was anyone a little jarred by the abrupt ending? The introduction was so interesting that I expected something similar to wrap up the book and it just....stopped.

  9. Rhonda - I think your pralines are lovely! I have that cigar box on my worktable - it was my granddaddy's and I loved the artwork and him and the smell of his cigars, so I snitched it when he passed. Are you packing the pralines in it, or do you just love the artwork too?

    emmalish - I, too, am not a fan of gritty, hard fudge. That is the traditional fudge of Mr. Kim's family and the first time that our daughter tasted it (at age 4, having been raised on my family's smooth, creamy fudge), she exclaimed, "Momma, there's something wrong with this fudge!" I shushed her and said, "Yes, but they like it that way." Yours looks delicious - perfect texture and deeply chocolate! I've made that mistake myself with the wrong size pan. I've finally learned that I need to indicate which pot to use in my recipe - it has saved a lot of heartache over the years! Thanks for the link to the book - I've just added it to my wishlist :rolleyes: !

  10. Yesterday's meal was

    Fresh Chincotaegue Oysters

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    Oooooooh, Chincoteague oysters! How I miss them for my stuffing at Christmas. When I was in high school, we had a place there and always went for Thanksgiving - oyster stew while we were there and took some back to freeze for Christmas! :wub:

  11. psantucc – your torrone is just perfect – what recipe are you using? I love it and haven’t ever made it – as a matter of fact I just bought some today at the specialty candy store we went to today.

    I’m getting a VERY late start this year, but here’s what I’ve done so far (sweet and savory):

    Sausage rolls and mini quiches for Christmas morning:

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    Croutons for salad:

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    These were the best croutons I’ve ever made. I used a mixture of butter and olive oil instead of just oil and added garlic and grated Locatelli cheese.

    Pecan Pretzel Turtles:

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    White Chocolate Gumdrop Fudge:

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    Isn’t it pretty? Doesn’t it look luscious? Blah! It was awful – tooth-achingly sweet! I’m hoping that the children will like it, because we sure didn’t!

    White Chocolate Toasted Almond Fudge:

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    This was not much better, but it has possibilities. I adore Good Humor Toasted Almond Bars and was hoping for a similar flavor, but it wasn’t almond-y enough or toasty enough. But I might work with it – chop the almonds up really fine and deeply toast them.

    Dark Chocolate Fudge w/ Almonds and Dried Cherries:

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    Much better! This is Mr. Kim’s favorite fudge and when I took a bit to work for a holiday lunch, I had to print out 4 copies of the recipe!

    Now that the house and tree are decorated, I’ll be doing some more cooking tomorrow!

  12. djyee100 – that roast pork shoulder is just gorgeous – worthy of a showcase dinner!

    jnash85 – your ravioli is lovely. That happens to me a LOT with prosciutto and it ticks me off, considering how expensive it is.

    Haven’t been cooking much at all – here’s a sample of my recent meal prep:

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    scrambled eggs w/ ham and cheese and some pears :blush: !

    The only real dinner we’ve had lately was our tree trimming dinner last Sunday. We always have fondue – beef and usually chocolate, though this year Jessica wanted Nutella crepes instead.

    Beef and sauces:

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    BBQ sauce, Daddies sauce, Heinz 57 (Mr. Kim’s favorite :rolleyes: ) and horseradish sauce

    Teeny-tiny little steamed potatoes and béarnaise:

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    Crudités & Dips:

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    A baguette and some wonderful cheddar rolls that I found at Whole Foods:

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    The table and a plate:

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    The Nutella crepes:

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  13. We had two different flatbread pizzas this week - the mushroom & cheese and the ham & caramelized onion. Both were very good - but the ham was the best. And we were VERY happy to see the chocolate covered peppermint Joe-Joes back. Mr. Kim bought 8 boxes :shock::laugh: ! I was, however, very sad to learn that they don't sell their all butter frozen puff pastry anymore. It was so much better than Pepperidge Farm and I will not pay the insane WF price for it. So it's back to Pep Farm, I guess :angry: !

  14. Thank you! To be honest, I wasn't expecting a box, and haven't used on in forever, but I'm suddenly nostalgic for Funfetti :laugh: And I love the idea of a pretzel crust. Can't wait to try it with brownies!

    Oh, dear, I'm an idiot! I directed you to a completely wrong recipe - I sent you to my MIL's Margarita cake instead of MY Daquiri Cake - here is the correct link! I'm sorry!

  15. Prawn – gorgeous meals and I was especially drawn to the tonkatsu (one of my favorites). And the hot pot dinner was incredibly impressive!

    robirdstx – perfect potatoes!

    djyee100 – everything you posted – the shrimp, the soup and the brownies looked wonderful. Thanks for posting the link to the soup – it looks so good that I might just go old school and actually put pen to paper to get that recipe :wink: !

    MiFi – Those pork chops?? Just…wow :wub: ! I must stop buying grocery store pork and go a little longer distance to the butcher shop!

    Dinner the other night was pan sautéed chicken breasts, French fries, green beans and a whole grain baguette – all freezer/pantry food:

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    Our Thanksgiving dinner was quiet and small and simple – exactly what I wanted. Only 6 of us and I really controlled my natural inclination to excess!

    My pallid turkey:

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    This is what our turkeys always look like – it’s because of cooking it in the Nesco roaster. No browning, but the trade-off is the most moist, flavorful, delicious turkey I’ve ever made (even the leftovers are moist):

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    Cornbread-Pecan stuffing:

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    slkinsey’s Brussels Sprouts au Gratin:

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    Marlene’s Cream Roasted Potatoes:

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    Unfortunately, they didn’t get browned and crispy - I think that I crowded them in the pan. They still tasted divine, though.

    Candied Sweet Potatoes:

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    Seriously, there are sweet potatoes loaded with butter, cinnamon and maple syrup under all those toasty mini-marshmallows :raz: !

    Orange-Cranberry Sauce:

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    Gravy:

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    Rolls:

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    Heart of Dixie Pecan Pie:

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  16. What a lot of work! You did a great job. Did you freeze the cake unwrapped? It should be wrapped after it's frozen. Then with the cover on, placed overnight in the fridge or a cool place (right now my trunk would work :))Then let it sit at room temp for about an hour before removing the wrappings.

    Thank you! I did freeze the cake unwrapped and then wrapped once the frosting was frozen. But I unwrapped it and defrosted at room temperature. That was my mistake, obviously. What I'm wondering about is how my frosting won't get messed up if I defrost with the plastic wrap still on it. Won't it pull it away/mess it up?

  17. Jeff – well, then, I have nothing further to offer :wink: .

    As I mentioned in the dinner thread, I had a job catering desserts and nibbles for 100 for my daughter’s sorority. It was all delivered last night. The menu was:

    Coconut Cake w/ Strawberry Filling and Fluffy White Frosting:

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    Detail:

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    Chocolate Cake with Fudgy Buttercream:

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    Detail:

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    The cake was the CI German Chocolate cake with a frosting that I concocted from combining chocolate buttercream and Abigail Johnson Dodge’s Fudgy Frosting. The buttercream was too stiff and the Fudgy Frosting too loose, but together they piped beautifully and tasted lovely. The decorations are just Snowcaps candies on top of frosting rosettes. The only problem was this:

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    My frosting sweated! There were these little beads all over the entire cake. I froze the frosted cake and thawed it in the morning and a couple of hours after I set it out, I discovered this. I tried to blot, but that didn’t do any good. After it set out for a few hours, they had diminished somewhat, but were still very evident. So I took some clear sprinkles that I had – very large grains – and drifted them all over the top of the cake. It camouflaged it just fine, so crisis averted, but I’d like to know what I did wrong because freezing a fully decorated cake is a wonderful timesaver and I’d like to be able to do it again.

    Half of the Spicy Glazed Peanut Clusters:

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    Close up:

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    Cheddar Pecan Cheese Straws:

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    Half of the Bleu Cheese Shortbread with apricot preserves:

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    Close up:

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    Butter Mints in sorority colors:

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    It was an exhausting experience – one I don’t think I’d want to try again so close to the holidays and while working full time – but a really fun one, too. Jessica said that everyone loved all the food. She was supposed to get a picture of the cut cake, but didn’t.

    After we got everything set up Mr. Kim took me to Millie's Diner - a favorite local place for a celebration dinner. With everything – this catering job, work, going to NC to visit/help sick relatives and the holidays coming up – I haven’t been cooking much. We’ve been having quick food – sandwiches, breakfast, canned soup, take out – and I was in need of something real and good and well made. This really fit the bill. On topic, our dessert was their version of a Kit Kat - incredible little sticks of a firm chocolate mousse-like cream and a crust layer of darker chocolate with tiny crunchy bits. I really would love to know how they make this! I know that Michel Ricard does this dessert at Central in Washington, but haven’t had it there and don’t know if it’s the same thing. Does anyone have a recipe for this?

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