Kim Shook

Thanks so much. Mr. Kim is stopping on the way home for candy coating and thank you SO much for that link, Kayakado! It is amazing and I am doing basically what she suggests for the caps – except not the Reeses Cups.

Thank you! I don't have any candy coating, but I do have lots of chocolate - would it be alright to use regular melted chocolate?

Thank you all so much! I have found a recipe for some fruit tarts that I think will save me time and money and be more - from scratch! Like an answer to a prayer, huh? It is a shortbread crust, poked into mini muffin tins and baked, filled with a cream cheese filling and topped with berries/fruit at the last minute. Each batch makes 36, so I'll double it and have plenty, I think. Yes??? I'm going shopping as soon as I get off tonight and then go home and make the shortbread cups and maybe one or two layers for the cake. Whew! Mr. Kim says that since these are folks who don't really cook at all, they probably have no idea what is involved with what they are asking for. So I'm going to be very forgiving -

Mine didn't seem greasy, but the sauce is a little drippy for the same reason: without the bun, it doesn't have anywhere to go.

I actually had one of these today! I, too, like an occasional Big Mac, but since having gastric bypass surgery, I can't even finish half of one. So I thought this might be a good idea for me. They have all the regular Big Mac stuff - one patty, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onion, but no sesame seed bun . It was...ok. I would prefer a Big Mac minus one patty, one slice of cheese and the middle bun slice, but this was a pretty good substitute for a junky treat I've missed.

I need some advice. I have somehow obligated myself to making a giant cake and fruit tarts for 50+ people this Saturday. I offered to ‘bring something’ – figuring that I’d be asked to do a couple of dozen cupcakes, a big salad, etc. I know, I know . But anyway, it’s done and now I need to get BUSY!! It’s a graduation party and the graduate (my SIL) would like something appropriate for a cake decoration. I’ve already told her that I don’t do lettering, so she suggested mortar boards. I am thinking of doing a 3 layer sheet cake with chocolate icing and candy mortar boards placed on icing ‘poufs’ around the top of the cake – maybe one in the center and a few more scattered (artistically ) around. I was thinking that I could use Ghiradelli white chocolate squares for the board and ‘glue’ a tassel made of fruit roll ups to it topped with an M&M for the button. Does this sound good? Does anyone have a better (i.e. EASIER) way to do this? And what would you use to ‘glue’ this all together? As far as the fruit tarts go, I am really going to go Sandra Lee on this – purchased tart shells, painted with melted chocolate, a plop of prepared pudding, a couple of slices of fruit and then brush the whole thing with melted jelly. I am not happy with this, but I just don’t have the time to do the job I’d like to do. My real question here is how far in advance can I do any/all of this (for the tarts - I'm ok on the cake)? Mr. Kim (who’s stepsister this is! ) is having to work all morning on Saturday (new Governor and all), so I am completely alone in this. I do have half a day on Friday off, so I can get a lot done then. The earlier I can do stuff, the better. Thank you so much for your help – I’m feeling distinctly panic-y!

Kim, do you have a link for the burger recipe? I've missed reading that one. As for the salad dressing, if it's an oil, vinegar, herb combination it might taste good as a marinade for some roasted veg. I rub leftover salad dressing on chunks of potatoes, carrots, eggplant, peppers, zucchini, and roast the veg in a hot oven (400-425 F) until the vegs are tender and golden brown. djyee - Here's the recipe for those incomparable burgers!

kayb – thanks for the recipe link! djyee – I’ll let you know when I post the recipe for the burgers – probably tomorrow! That’s a good idea for the salad dressing – it would make a really good chicken marinade! Nick – that salmon is just beautiful! I love seeing such care and effort on a meal! Last night’s dinner was steak with mushroom cream sauce and Boursin potatoes: Both recipes are from friends at Marlene’s Cookskorner. I also did Brussels sprouts sautéed in bacon grease w/ bacon. Wonderful dinner – we LOVED the sauce (I ate mine without the mushrooms) and, as always, those potatoes ROCK! I got a craving tonight just as I was leaving work: Spiced shrimp and cocktail sauce. Crackers and Boursin And the inevitable salad : Mr. Kim’s with the still good paprika dressing and mine with 1000 Island, which, to me, is the only possible dressing with shrimp.

Not tomatoes, but tomato juice - This recipe for Quick Tomato Consomme is better than it has any right to be. It's a Camille Glenn recipe - I love her and always have success with her recipes.

Jmahl – that is one gorgeous pizza! David – what an inspired sauce! I adore stuffed green olives and can imagine how great that was with pork! kayb – lovely pork! I’d love to have the recipe. Dinner last night was a copy of an amazing burger that someone on Marlene’s made. He used the NYT method for the burger (packing the meat only enough to hold it together and cooking with a combination of searing stovetop and then roasting). I don’t think that I’ll ever use another method to cook a burger. They were perfect. Finished with cheese: That cheese is Saga bleu Brie, which was fantastic with the caramelized onions. Plated - on English muffins with bacon and caramelized onions: I cooked ours a little longer than recommended – we like them more med/med well – maybe an additional 3 minutes, but they were a bit pinker than this picture shows: Served with a salad topped with the seemingly never ending supply of my dad’s dressing: I made this dressing for Christmas and, obviously overestimated what I would need. We still have a TON of it, it still tastes great and we love it, so it is our house dressing until it tastes funny .

percyn – lovely pork! I really would love to try doing things sous vide, but just can’t justify the expense when I have so many cooking things that I already don’t use enough! The tart is gorgeous, too! Nick – those amazing looking ravioli are making my third night of roast beef in 4 days look really dull. Prawn – as always, every dish is just a perfect picture of culinary wonder! You are an amazing cook and photographer! powerplantop – I love lamb and lentils together – they are just a great combination. I have a great recipe for lamb and lentil stew that I will have to dig out now! Dinner last night was just leftovers: salad with my dad’s paprika dressing reruns from Monday – hot roast beef sandwiches, mashed potatoes and broccoli.

Oh, yes - the soaking method. My husband uses this method a lot. To get off all kinds of crud - oatmeal, baked on cheese, that pesky egg water after boiling eggs .

rooftop1000 – gorgeous pastrami! I really want one of those sandwiches. Dinner tonight was in front of the still-up Christmas tree. We spent all this past weekend getting Jessica into her new house instead of de-decorating the house, so I decided to enjoy it while it was still there: We had roast beef, mashed potatoes, broccoli with hollandaise, salad and yeast rolls. The beef was just a bottom round that I got on sale at the grocery store - $10 for 3.5 lbs. and I found a recipe for basically roasting it. I would never have tried that with this cut – in the past I would have only used it for braising, but the recipe was from epicurious.com, so I went ahead and tried it and it was wonderful. Before roasting: After: Sliced: The mise for my potatoes: The cheese is some Saga Brie bleu that I had in the fridge. All nice and riced: Done: Salad: Just romaine, radishes, rice noodles, almonds and Craisins w/ bleu cheese dressing. Plated w/out gravy: w/ gravy: The hollandaise was Julia Child’s blender method and tasted fabulous, but was not a sauce – the consistency was more like mayonnaise. These were just some thaw, rise and bake frozen dough that I fixed up:

I got some wonderful food-oriented Christmas gifts this year: I am very excited about this! I cannot wait to try it. That’s the Southern Living 2009 annual, the SL 2009 Christmas book, Gale Gand’s Brunch, Ad Hoc and The Pioneer Woman Cooks (this is by a wonderful blogger that I’ve been reading over the last couple of years and really enjoyed – both the food and the writing) and I also got the Michael Symons book which is already upstairs beside the bed in my ‘to read’ pile. The stuff below are various, self explanatory gadgets – on of the peelers is the kind that shreds/juliennes and I’m very excited about the giant tweezers! I’m very excited about these gifts from Jessica. The Good Housekeeper’s Cookbook was published in 1908, the BH&G in 1951, the Good Time Cookbook in 1973 and the Jello one in 1977 (the year I graduated from high school). A truly amazing gift. The first two have notes in the margins, recipes and articles torn out from newspapers and magazines and the oldest one even has a couple of pages from a German-English bible in between some pages. I love this – my imagination just wanders! Some of those crisscross racks (I really wanted these) and something that is intriguing – a rack made so that you can stack casseroles in the oven – I will either never use it or find it invaluable! And a set of the cutest dessert plates that I’ve ever seen !

percyn – oh, yum! That osso buco looks amazing – so rich and warming and perfect for a January evening! Last night’s dinner was just easy sit-out stuff: Assorted cheeses, beef stick, fruit Baked Brie with apricot preserves and toasted almonds. Augmented with bread and soup from Panera. We were helping our daughter pack for her move to her first home – she’s renting a house with a friend and (finally) moving out after finishing college 2 ½ years ago – woo-hoo!!

robirdstx – thanks for the recipe link. Can’t wait to try it and will watch the salt! Rico – lovely first dinner post! We love Greek food and don’t make it nearly enough!

I haven't had anything worth posting about lately, but y'all are doing such amazing work that I had to comment! dystopiandreamgirl - your buches de noel are just awesome. I think that my favorite is the white chocolate holly leaves - I showed it to Mr. Kim and he was truly impressed! I don't think that I've ever told you that whenever I see your name, my head sees "Dipsomaniadreamgirl"? I always imagine you as the toast of AA. DeliciouslyLekker - your choc chip cookies are beautiful. Are you an obsessive like me and top each cookie with individual chips so they will look prettier? Darienne - I'm sorry that your holiday wasn't what you had hoped for. Your galette is lovely and I hope the new year brings you better times. Richard - your dessert/cake/mousse thing is beyond my vocabulary! What an absolutely perfect, beautiful and deliciously looking thing that is! I would love to have seen a picture of a slice! And your little pastry trio is gorgeous! That mirror shine on the left one is making me all kinds of jealous - I've never been able to temper chocolate successfully and, for some odd reason, Mr. Kim hasn't ever picked up on my hints (amazon wish list and a direct - "I want one" ) to buy a temperer for me! Just lovely! I'm just starting reading your blog and am fascinated - it's beyond anything that I could ever imagine accomplishing, but I'm enjoying the vicariously 'learning'! Robyn - your raspberry tart is lovely. How perfectly your little berries are sunk! Steve - and now I want some cinnamon rolls. Wow! Ruth - that cake is beautiful. I am especially enamored of the chocolate ruffle since I never end up with anything but shards when I try to make ruffles or curls! David - what a lovely story! Now I want to make croissants for Mr. Kim, or him to make them for me, or just to eat some good ones! Carry on, folks - keep reminding me of why I come here, even when the closest I've come to baking is making cinnamon toast at midnight!

robirdstx - ok, that meatloaf looks perfect. I need some of that soon!!! Can you post the recipe, please?

David – that chicken and dumplings looks and sounds amazing . When you have time, I would love to have the recipe. percyn – your surf and turf looks great. After all the lobster you’ve made, I am hungry for some. I’ve never had sunchokes – what is the flavor like? Dinner tonight - salad w/ my dad’s paprika dressing: Rib eyes, tequila-lime shrimp, our friend Michael’s Potato Salad, scalloped tomatoes, Jessica’s lovely roasted potatoes, puff pastry Parmesan puffs:

NYE I just went to bed early with a hot toddy and tried to live through whatever was attempting to do me in. However...I would really like that recipe for 'those meatballs'. Something is pulling me towards them. And truth be told, I have never used my large cooker except for candying fruits. Thanks. Ms Kim Glad to! If you use homemade meatballs, this really is good. I just mix an equal portion of good BBQ sauce (homemade is great, but we also like Montgomery Inn sauce) and apricot jam (some folks use grape jelly, too - but we prefer the apricot). Cook the meatballs (or use a good quality frozen brand). They should be cold or frozen. Add enough of the bbq and preserves to generously coat the meatballs. Toss it all in the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours - until heated through. These are good with light yeast rolls.

lioness – Here'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!

percyn - lobster for breakfast! What a way to start the year! THAT is luxury! Breakfast this morning: fried eggs, leftover ham from yesterday’s dinner and little puff pastry/bacon/cream cheese things that I did for NYE

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: scalloped tomatoes: Plated w/ black eyed peas, collards and cornbread: This is Jessica’s plate: 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 !

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 . 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.

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