Kim Shook

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 !

nakji - what absolute delectable looking shortbread ! The drifts of salt across the top are beautiful! I cannot imagine what it took to take that to work to SHARE! You get major points for that!

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!

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: Croutons for salad: 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: White Chocolate Gumdrop Fudge: 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: 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: 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!

I've done Marlene's cream roasted potatoes and they are some of the best potatoes I've EVER tasted!

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: scrambled eggs w/ ham and cheese and some pears ! 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: BBQ sauce, Daddies sauce, Heinz 57 (Mr. Kim’s favorite ) and horseradish sauce Teeny-tiny little steamed potatoes and béarnaise: Crudités & Dips: A baguette and some wonderful cheddar rolls that I found at Whole Foods: The table and a plate: The Nutella crepes:

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 ! 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 !

I like the magazine a lot. My dad gives me a subscription every year and I make a lot of things from it. It's especially good for weeknight meals and their advice and techniques seem sound.

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!

Thank you! It is an extremely easy cake that everyone loves. Here's the recipe. Hope that helps.

Like the telephone game, huh? Fun! For a BLT, I sometimes switch out tomatoes for fried green tomatoes and make my mayo with a little bacon fat.

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 ! MiFi – Those pork chops?? Just…wow ! 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: 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: 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): Cornbread-Pecan stuffing: slkinsey’s Brussels Sprouts au Gratin: Marlene’s Cream Roasted Potatoes: 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: Seriously, there are sweet potatoes loaded with butter, cinnamon and maple syrup under all those toasty mini-marshmallows ! Orange-Cranberry Sauce: Gravy: Rolls: Heart of Dixie Pecan Pie:

deensiebat – the kolache is beautiful and look absolutely delicious. And that coffee cake is a incredible – I can TASTE it! Blether – beautiful bread! Thanksgiving day breakfast: Eggs, sage sausage and chocolate croissants from Trader Joes.

Thanks for the info on freezing/thawing frosted cakes - I've printed it out to put with my cake recipes! This week I made a Margarita Pound Cake for a United Way auction for Mr. Kim’s office. It went for $22 :

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?

Jeff – well, then, I have nothing further to offer . 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: Detail: Chocolate Cake with Fudgy Buttercream: Detail: 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: 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: Close up: Cheddar Pecan Cheese Straws: Half of the Bleu Cheese Shortbread with apricot preserves: Close up: Butter Mints in sorority colors: 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?

I wouldn't bother with Parker's in Wilson, but if you go to Short Sugar's in Reidsville NC and have a chopped pork with their amazing, singular sauce, you'll be glad you did. Keep in mind that lots of BBQ places (including Short Sugar's), especially the small town places are closed on Sundays.

Randi, I'm sorry for all of this. I'm quite sure that you did a good job and that it was appreciated by some and not by others. The problem with the boss was insurmountable once she decided that she didn't like/want you. Some things aren't fixable. I work every day with the same population that you were serving. Some of those folks just won't be pleased or satisfied, no matter what. After working with seniors for 2 years, I've decided that the next person who talks about teenagers being surly or entitled or ill mannered needs to work with the elderly for a few weeks. I know with your intelligence, energy and talent that better things are coming for you!

From the publisher: A remarkable portrait of American food before World War II, presented by the New York Times-bestselling author of Cod and Salt. Award-winning New York Times-bestselling author Mark Kurlansky takes us back to the food and eating habits of a younger America: Before the national highway system brought the country closer together; before chain restaurants imposed uniformity and low quality; and before the Frigidaire meant frozen food in mass quantities, the nation's food was seasonal, regional, and traditional. I am listening to this now and finding it absolutely fascinating. Is anyone else reading this book?

Blether – I think that your cheesecake looks delicious! I’d love a piece right now! I’m STILL devoting all of my evening time to the catering job, so dinner last night was EASY: Bacon, egg and cheese grilled sandwiches and canned bean with bacon soup ! The bacon was the always delectable Benton’s, though, so we didn’t suffer too much !

We have an 18 qt. Nesco and absolutely love it. We do turkeys, ribs, ham and huge amounts of chili, stew, etc. Everything turns out moist and wonderful - none of that slow cooker tastelessness even though I've heard people say that it is basically a giant slow cooker. You are never going to get crisp, brown poultry skin on it, though. We don't care about that anymore. It frees up the oven for everything else on holidays and I've never cooked a more moist, flavorful turkey. It does cook things faster than the directions indicate, though - check things early.

MattyC – lovely brioche. I’m up late tonight and wish I had the energy to make those. How wonderful they would taste with some sweet butter or my Tiptree strawberry preserves! chocoera – just utterly gorgeous! Jeff – do you chill your crust after rolling and before filling? That’s supposed to help with shrinkage. Just some bragging from me – daughter Jessica made her wonderful apple pie: This one was maybe her best ever. Perfectly cooked apples, not too juicy, not too dry. She really is the pie baker in this family!

Blether – I checked and we do have a St. Andrew society here. I’m saving the site so that I can watch for the dinner! Thank you! Mark – that paella is beautiful. I wonder if I could do something similar with orzo (I can’t tolerate rice since having a gastric bypass ). We’re still sorta working down the freezer, but other stuff, too. Saturday was some rib eyes from the freezer, cheese potatoes, a Costco demi baguette (also from the freezer) and slaw: The steaks were fantastic. We’d put the Montreal steak seasoning/brown sugar rub we always use on them before freezing (I seem to remember that they were intended for a dinner with my in laws that got cancelled for some reason) and Mr. Kim grilled them perfectly: Last night I took some sliced eye of round roast that I had in the freezer and made some rich gravy with some beef stock that I had in there and just simmered the slices in the gravy for a couple of hours. Some elderly potatoes from the cabinet, applesauce from the apples we picked a few weeks ago and another of the frozen baguettes: I am one tired puppy. I am doing desserts/nibbles for a 100 person alumni ‘gala’ for my daughter’s college sorority next Saturday. I’m doing a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, coconut cake, pecan cheese straws, bleu cheese shortbread with apricot preserves, buttermints in the sorority colors and spicy glazed peanut clusters. I frosted the chocolate cake tonight and it’s in the freezer getting solid so that I can wrap it. The coconut cake is in the freezer sans frosting, since I am using 7 minute frosting and will do that last thing on Saturday. All 200 mints are spread out drying on my dining room table. I’ll flip them over tomorrow night and wrap them up Wednesday night. The cheese straws are in the freezer and I’m going to try to get at least some of the bleu cheese shortbreads baked tonight before I snatch a couple of hours of sleep. The peanut clusters will have to wait until Wednesday night because tomorrow we are going to Charlottesville to see Jimmy Buffett. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I’ll take pictures on Saturday when everything is done and post them in the desserts thread.

Dan - it's never too early! I'm already planning Christmas! And I've got the cranberry sauce and gravy in the freezer, too! I don't usually host Thanksgiving - Christmas eve is our holiday to have everyone at our house, but I decided to do a small one this year - just the three of us, my FIL and his wife and my mother and dad (eG's Ted Fairhead). I'm planning on turkey, pecan cornbread stuffing, Marlene's cream roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes (with marshmallows, I'm not ashamed to say - what I say is sweet potatoes without marshmallows and brown sugar taste like...sweet potatoes - ick! ), orange cranberry sauce, slkinsey's brussels sprouts au gratin, some kind of breadstuff and pecan pie with bourbon whipped cream. Donna - that dessert sounds wonderful! And as far as a do-ahead potato dish, we love twice baked potatoes - with good cheese, chives, sour cream, butter and a little cream cheese. These are a little dowdy, but delicious and everyone always scarfs them down and they freeze really well. You just thaw and heat.

I am testing some cakes tonight and want to try freezing them decorated, as I've been advised that I can do. Now I need some specifics. I assume that I freeze them for some time uncovered and them cover them somehow. Do I wrap them in plastic, or will that mess up the frozen frosting? Do I just put them in a box covered with plastic over (but not touching) the frosting? FYI - I am using a cream cheese frosting and a chocolate frosting that is made with chocolate, butter, sweetened condensed milk and corn syrup. Thanks so much!