Kim Shook

I obviously can't speak for Kim, but as a weight loss surgery patient I know this subject comes up a LOT (and I tend to cook/eat out quite a bit....and not always the healtiest choices). The things you really cannot skimp on are your daily vitamins/supplements and getting enough protein in your diet. From my experience, as long as the fatty foods are "solid"...proteins, etc., there really isn't too much of a risk of overeating (I don't know how many times my eyes have been bigger than my stomach and I've thrown away 3/4 of a sandwich I thought I could finish). Your stomach is about the size of a large egg, and proteins digest slower, giving you a sensation of satiety that lasts for quite a while. However, when you get into your fattier carbs or what are often referred to as "slider" foods like mashed potatoes, gravies, chips, sauces, various starches, etc., they go through your new stomach really quickly and can eventually lead to weight gain because you don't stay full. There are some built-in safety measures even for that though.....the biggest one being "dumping syndrome". When you take in too much sugar or fat at one time, it can basically give you the sensation of having the worst hangover of your entire life hit you in about thirty seconds......it SUCKS. Due to the reconfiguration, the fat/sugar dumps straight into your system all at once and makes you sick. So you learn your lesson quickly with that......at least I did the first time I put way too much mayo into a tuna salad. Anyway, sorry to threadjack or speak for Kim, and I'm not sure that even really answers any questions. I guess the bottom line is you are always conscious of calories, amounts, etc., but it's easy to "splurge" one day and make up for it the next. AND you have built-in safety measures that keep you from going TOO crazy. The common misconception is that gastric bypass is the magic pill, which it is not....it's just a tool, because plenty of people have gone the surgery route and still gained a ton of weight. From looking at Kim's breakfasts/lunches, she's really sticking to the plan as far as amounts go. And this is only a guess, but I'd say this week for her is out of the ordinary due to the blog. The one advantage I have is living alone now......I can't imagine still having to cook for others! ← What he said. Seriously, thank you, Jerry - you put it very well. (I asked Rachel to ghost write my blog - If she'd only said yes, I would have already written this clear, informative response !)

For some reason the add key isn't doing it's thing making the mulitiple quotes work, so I'm just going to space them out - sorry: Here's the link

This was waiting for us when we got home from work: This was a surprise to me - Mr. Kim ordered this. We've had the bacon before, it's from Benton's Hams in Madisonville, TN. It is intensely fragrant. You could smell it through the box. I'm sure that everything in the whole town is permeated with that smoke! We are thinking of going to Costco for Campari tomatoes and having BLT's for lunch one day this weekend. Of course, I've made those before, but I'm not sure I would have a husband on Monday if I don't cook some of this stuff! DINNER LAST NIGHT: A couple of little snacks to tide us over: I found this stuff at our local Asian market, Tan A. I have NO idea why this was in an Asian market. It's made in CT and has not one Asian word on it. But it was pretty and girly and I had to buy it. It's kind of like Kettle Korn. Jessica found these leftovers in the fridge and heated them up: They are crab meltaways from Mr. Kim's poker party on Friday. I made Dana's Boursin Potatoes, which were amazing - I definitely overserved myself on this one. You can find the recipe on Cooks Korner - that's Marlene's website. One thing, though - I misread the recipe and added 2 c. of heavy cream rather than the 1 c. the recipe calls for and as you can see, it turned out perfectly. I must have been using especially spongy potatoes. Potato mise: potatoes, s&p, parsley, boursin & heavy cream Slicing: These are my tradional treats after peeling potatoes: It's the end of the potatoes that don't get sliced. I have always loved raw potatoes - Momma used to peel and slice potatoes the night before and put them in the fridge for dinner the next day. Sometimes by the time she got home from work, there would only be 10 left. I'd eaten my serving raw! I can only eat a little bit now without them hurting my tummy, but I still indulge! Before topping and bakings: With topping: Baked: Bite: I could eat: I also made two Giada de Laurentiis' recipes. The first was Caramelized Pancetta & Fennel salad. Salad Mise: fennel, pancetta, garlic, brown sugar, olive oil, s&p and salad greens Dressing mise: red wine vinegar, lemon juice, honey, s&p and olive oil The fennel, pancetta, garlic, brown sugar, olive oil and s&p after roasting: Making the vinaigrette: There always seems to be a cabinet door open in my kitchen - I live with little dents all over my head. Finished salad: This was wonderful. I will caramalize the fennel mixture even longer last time - that was amazing! The other Giada recipe that I did was her Chicken Saltimbocca. Chicken mise: Chicken breasts, s&p, proscuitto, spinach, olive oil, Parmesan, chicken broth and lemon juice. Otis likes cheese: Pounding the breasticles: Rather than a mallet, I find that a small iron skillet does best at this job. Topped with the proscuitto, spinach and cheese: Browned and simmering: Sauced, plated and a section: This was fine. I'd eat it again, but I'm not sure I'd bother making it again. I found a CI recipe for Chicken Saltimbocca that I'd like to try and I think I'll do that next time. I found some lovely local oyster mushrooms the other day and just did a simple saute in some clarified butter with a little salt and pepper: Mr. Kim and Jessica actually fought over them. I am not a mushroom fan, but in the I always try at least a bite of new things, so I tried them. They were the most mushroomy mushrooms I ever tasted, so I guess that's why mushroom lovers love them, but they gave me that familiar fungal shiver and I let Mr. Kim and Jess have them! We also had some bread - just a Three Seed demi with poppy, sesame & fennel seeds from Panera. We have a new one on the way home. It's not the best bread in the world, but we like it and it's miles from what the grocery stores near us have: Mr. K very sweetly took down a bunch of the glasswear and took pictures, so I'll post them later along with some random thoughts!

He's on his way!

Well, I beat my Monday time by 8 minutes - here's tonight's dinner time: I am wiped out! I will post tonight's dinner and more fun stuff tomorrow, I promise! But I gotta go sleepy-byes now ! But first - I need to tell you all how nice this week is, in spite of how tired I am and how crazy this week is! I am loving the interaction with everyone and the caring and interest that everyone is showing me. (sniff, sniff, I feel like Sally Field ). Smoochies to everybody!

ok, which exact one are you talking about? Did you see the picture that I took of the first thing that I thought he was talking about? Was it that one? Thank you, ma'am! The fat free stuff is really good. Not too 'lite', if you know what I mean. I won't sell it, but how about if I come and help you paint one ? Rachel wants to paint one, too! I could do a road trip! I noticed you up late last night, my fellow night owl and told Mr. Kim and Jessica that I often noticed your name when I was moonlight surfing and how old-fashionably companionable it felt in the dark quietness. I went and reacquainted myself with your kitchen - it does look a lot like mine! But I couldn't catch a good view of your floor, so mine still holds the title ! I will try to sweet talk Mr. Kim into getting down the glass stuff later in the blog. I don't mind taking the pictures, I just didn't know people would be really interested! And thanks for the compliment on my before picture - that was exactly how that dress felt! Today’s breakfast: Wednesdays are the day that I work in one office in the morning and another office 5 1/2 miles away in the afternoon. I usually stop somewhere and get something fast since lunch + travel time is still only 45 minutes. I figured that since I was blogging, I'd stop someplace I hadn't been before. It's on a very busy main road. I am embarrassed to say that in 5 1/2 miles (actually 11 miles, since I looked on both sides of the road), I couldn't find one fast food place that I hadn't been. So I said the heck with it and decided to stop somewhere I had been and have something I hadn't ever had. I went to KFC and had one of their new toasted wraps: It was fine. Just what you would expect. It was only $1.29 and very small - so it was perfect for me. It's nice - lots of fast food restaurants are serving mini sandwiches now - I guess most people would get 2 or 3 of them, plus sides. But one is just right for me. How I wish Little Tavern still existed. For those whose childhoods weren't blessed with them, they were a chain of hamburger joints that existed in the Baltimore/Washington area years ago. Tiny little shops, selling hamburgers by the bag. You could buy one or a dozen and I remember stopping after being out late at night in Georgetown for a bagful for the car. They were like sliders and in my memory, at least, delicious! I think that there might still be one or two open in Baltimore. Hmmmm. We haven't been to Baltimore in awhile. Might be time for a road trip soon! Anyway, I just munched the little chicken wrap (hee - I always think that sounds like a hen in a pashmina), spent a little quality time with dear little Father Brown and enjoyed the sunshine. It was 35 degrees last night, is 69 right now and will be 80 before the weekend. You know a doctor’s office is a dangerous place to work, what with rogue bacteria, germs, viruses and things like this: It was some kind of pie/cookie hybrid that a drug rep brought by. It was really, really good! It's 7pm and I still have to make dinner - see y'all in a little bit!

Alright, I give. Even though I own a gourmet store, I have no idea what the gadget is that is sitting in the lavender/purple vase with the orange flower, resting on the meat tenderizer. It looks like what would come out if a robot had sex with a lobster. What is it? ← ← Rob, I am falling off my chair! It's an ice cream scoop! You squeeze the handles together to scoop and release to release. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow. Goodnight!

Not at all. I would be honored that an engineer would steal an organizational idea from me!! My pig was white, I think – or beige. He got icky down near all the spills and dog food dishes and such and I painted him pink. It’s just the angle that flummoxed you. Here it is: It’s a serrated edge pie cutter/server with a blade shield. Ding Ding Ding!!! We have a winner. My favorite new online obsession and Noms are even on topic! Thanks for the link – I hadn’t seen that one yet! It isn't prohibited, exactly...except by my stomach which, um, rebels and forceably....ah....rejects it. Thanks, Bruce! Tell Mrs. C that more pug shots are coming - tomorrow will be a cooking night and he'll be around ! Oh, Miss Rachel! I wish you wuz here, too ! I wish we wuz all here. I'll PM you some shots of the stuff on the rail - I'll send Mr. Kim up the ladder with the camera next week! It's mostly depression glass and stuff left to me by Bomo (my maternal grandmother). I actually use it a lot to serve on. Breakfast today was a low fat piece of string cheese and some apple (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz): Lunch was leftover from yesterday – some Greek salad and a 1/4 of a club sandwich and more apple: Dinner was at a restaurant called Six Burner: This place has gotten mixed reviews in the past, but the latest reviews have improved a lot. We started with a bottle Chateau de Lascaux 2005 Coteaux du Languedoc - no idea what any of that means, but it tasted good and went well with everything that we had: Mr. Kim started with Sea Urchin Custard, pepper broth and anchoy toast(are ‘anchoy’ and ‘anchovy’ interchangeable? I hadn’t ever seen ‘anchoy’ before, but I just googled it and found lots of references for both including one from Daniel Rogov): This was really interesting – very subtle and almost sweet tasting. I started with the foie gras torchon, rhubarb strawberry compote and grilled bread: The foie gras was wonderful – very silky and smooth and the compote and sauce was perfect with it. The dish would have been ruined by the bread if I had eaten it, though. It was way beyond grilled to burned. Mr. Kim’s entrée was rockfish, mascarpone polenta, braised endive, pickled apple, and truffle oil: We love rockfish and this was very well cooked! I didn’t care for the truffle oil, but the polenta was lovely. My entrée was crabcakes, grits, spicy cabbage slaw and a mustard vinaigrette: This was a mixed success. The crabcakes were great. In my opinion crabcakes are great or bad. They either have sweet, rich crabmeat or skunky, stringy crabmeat. They either have an imperceptible amount of filler or more filling than crab. They either have almost nothing but crab in them or they are crapped up with peppers. So there’s no middle ground. (I am very feisty when it comes to crabcakes ). These were great. The grits were very good, as was the slaw. But we felt like the flavor and the balance of the meal was sacrificed to the plating. The grits would have looked boring without the slaw, but the slaw made them cold. The grits and crab paired well. The slaw and crab paired well, but the slaw and grits didn’t go together at all. We shared dessert. It was caramelized banana and tapioca pudding, banana cake and pecan brittle: I thought that the luciousness of bananas and brittle sounded wonderful together. And I haven’t had tapioca in many, many years and perhaps it wasn’t as skeevy as I remembered. Bananas and brittle are wonderful together. The brittle was dark and amazing and one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. However….tapioca is still as skeevy as ever. Little bouncy balls of nothing. What is the point of that except to make something that should be smooth and creamy, anything but??? <shudder> Bottom line, it was a good, but not great meal. In the middle of the meal I started wondering what our favorite restaurant in the Outer Banks would do with the same menu - not a good sign, I'm thinking. Off to bed now. I had almost 2 glasses of wine and am very sllleeeeepyy……………zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I love all versions of Anne. Walter breaks my heart every time I read the books! Anne and Diana's feast for the visiting author is a classic. Is that the meal where both of them and Marilla all sugar the peas? I do remember those Alcotts! Also - in Little Men, did anyone else covet the mini cookstove that Amy's daughter received? I was pretty proud of my julienne - here's all three of them - parsnip, apple and pear: I remember those little cartons and they don't seem to make them anymore! I was actually looking for one this weekend for a retro congealed salad that I'm making in place of fruit salad for the weekend (jello counts for fruit below the Mason-Dixon line, right ?) Those Family Circle cookbooks are a hoot. I think that they are the ones that Lileks uses in the Gallery of Regrettable Food. They belonged to my MIL and I was so excited to get them! And your savory bread pudding recipe sounds wonderful - we love fennel; I'll be using it later this week! lucylou's bread pudding was just amazing. The only sweetness was from the caramelized onions, so it was really savory. I have had them in restaurants, but none as good as this one was! Thank you and Randi for the advice about the spinach - I'll put that in my notes when I type up the recipe and try that next time. I'm sorry for what I call my 'cadaver hands'! Everyone is wondering about my gloves and I meant to tell you about it before now and just forgot. I wear gloves almost all the time when I am cooking, cleaning, etc. I am not some phobic, Michael Jackson, mask wearing wacko. I've always had extremely dry hands and when I was working at the store it got really awful - cracked, actively bleeding fingers - just agonizing, plus folks didn't like me bleeding on their food. My doctor prescribed Kerodex cream and the gloves at work. It was like magic. My hands cleared up in a few days and I started wearing them at home, too. I've really gotten used to them - I've caught myself mid-meal still wearing them ! I'm hoping that the restaurants that we are going to this week will cover this and I am going to try to get up early enough to get to the farmer's market, too! Since my focus this first blog is on 'new to me' recipes, I won't be cooking my old standbys which are pretty regional - fried chicken, long cooked vegetables, biscuits - but I am making a congealed salad this weekend and if that's not regional, I don't know what is ! artisan02 - I do cook alot from Simple Fare - it is a wonderful cookbook and I think I found it years ago at a discount bookstore. My go to Pot Roast recipe is from this book. Doddie & Randi - I'm glad you like my shoe spreaders! Aren't they girlie? I love girlie stuff (as anyone could guess from my pink striped powder room)! I think they were a gift from my MIL and FIL. Rob - I adore my ceramic knives. I have the big one, a little paring knife and a peeler. They are all awesome. Mr. Kim gave me the set for Christmas - really because they have pink handles and I am all about pink - he really didn't know anything about them. Serendipitously, they are wonderful and my favorite knives. I have hand strength issues and they are so light and easy to use. I only use my Henckels now when the job is rough or could conceivably shatter the ceramics. And Dejah - re: the knives - I believe that they only have to be sharpened every few years - maybe someone else knows for sure? Sony - nice to 'see' you again! Be sure to PM me if you ever find your are going to have a couple of hours in Richmond! Otis eats little packets of Pedigree wet food topped with some Pedigree crunchies. Plus whatever hits the floor! I said the other day that my next pug was going to be named Roomba! He is a passionate omnivore and would eat until he popped, if we let him. We almost never feed him people food because of his puggy tendency towards...um...rude noises. He is sweet, but not bright and sees the entire outdoors as a giant smorgasbord - grass, twigs, snow, squirrel corn, etc. - all have an irresistable draw for him! zeemanb - I have just recently discovered your blog and am getting caught up reading it from the beginning! It's really great fun! We are definitely siblings under the skin - love of food, urban neighborhoods, politics, ethics, surgery, etc. I'm glad I found you! I know exactly what you mean about the doggy bags. I always want to explain why I didn't eat much in restaurants and am afraid the chef will be offended at my lack of appetite. Plus, I am still not exactly a small person, so when I say, "I have a small appetite.", I'm always sure they are thinking, "Yeah, sure you do"! I did the showing everyone how small my meals were, too. That will pass. What hasn't passed yet is when I'm folding laundry and see how small my underwear is! For everyone who wants the recipes for the things I'm making, I'll be posting them (properly credited, of course) on my webpage (link is below my name) as soon as I have the time. How about the promised explanation of my drinks and a house tour? In one of the shots of my island there were a row of 2 lt. drinks on the floor. These are "my drinks". When you have a gastric bypass, you are not supposed to drink sugary, carbonated drinks. Most diet drinks are still fizzy. And, believe me, when you drink one, you know it. That foam just crawls right up your esophogus and is nasty. I know some bypass patients who have worked at getting back on carbonated drinks, but I figure, why bother going through the surgery if I'm going to find ways to break the rules. My stomach capasity will increase naturally anyway, why add any other ways for weight to creep up on me? So after I had the surgery, I was drinking just water or tea. That got tired really fast. I am not a coffee drinker at all, so I used to get my caffeine from diet coke. Someone suggested drinking flat diet soda. None of the dark ones appealed to me, but Mt. Dew and the lighter drinks are less carbonated anyway. I tried different things and found that Kroger's house brand version of diet Mt. Dew was something that I liked. I used to just let it go flat, but that takes forever, so I started just bringing it to a boil, cooling it and putting it back in the bottle. I love this stuff and always have it on hand. Let's take a food related tour around my house. Here's the kitchen. Pantry/laundry area: Inside the belly of the pantry beast: Moving around the room: Counter Shots. Keep in mind that other than the island, this is all of my counter space. My newest toy - it's a very large toaster/convection oven. I love it dearly, but it takes up a lot of space - that's about a foot of usable space in front of it: The corner - cracker jar, Otis' NomNomNom (does anyone get this reference?) tin, the coffee bean suck machine (as opposed to the plastic bag suck machine which lives in the island and which I haven't used in months), the coffee maker/grinder and the beginning of the utensil forest (in one of the Oz books there actually is a village named Utensia in the middle of a forest and the inhabitants are kitchen untensils - lots of good food in Oz books, too - eeeek, another one of my mad, passionate collections I am confessing to): The Utensil Forest: The narrow little place between the stove and the fridge where lives the olive oil, garlic, sugar bowl, S&P, etc. - the stuff I need right at my elbow: Notice the instant coffee - does anyone else at eG admit to having any of this stuff around? Mr. Kim and Jessica use this when they are in a rush and only need one cup - I don't drink coffee so it doesn't reflect on me! Also - notice my bacon salt - percyn recommended this stuff and I keep it by the stove so I'll remember to use it since it's new. Here's the fridge - as you can see, we stick everything in the house on it. I really like a cleaned off refrigerator, but it just doesn't happen! That shot is an outside manifestation of the chaos within. The fridge: The freezer: This is what happens when you open the freezer: This is my freezer list - it is supposed to be an up to date list of everything in the freezer. It is usually current for about 3 days after I completely rehaul it: We call this Banshee's cabinet. Called that because it's where our late lamented kitty used to eat her meals so that Otis couldn't get it. It was an old cruddy thing that Momma and Ted found in the garage when they moved. I painted it and it holds all my food storage stuff. A good shot of the world's ugliest floor is also included for your viewing pleasure: Food Storage cabinets: The pasta/rice storage cabinet and the oh-so-up-to-date list of contents: Other stuff: (see the Penzey's bottles at the bottom? We just got a Penzey's - will try to fit a visit in on the weekend!) Spices: That's it for the kitchen; now let's visit the rest of the house. In the dining room I have dishes stored in the china cabinet, like normal people: But if you look closely, I also have a shelf that runs around 3 walls of my dining room that holds more dishes and serving pieces and pitchers (my wonderful FIL made this for me for my birthday one year). There is also more stuff in the sideboard. This is my coat closet. We took the coats out so you can see it's real purpose: Ok, now I feel really trashy. Also in the living room is a small sideboard: It's also full. Notice the teeny tiny little cake stand on top! Isn't it girlie ?? And just to show the full extent of my shame, if you lift the skirts of my side tables like Can-Can dancers: Actually, that wasn't the full extent of my shame, because in the attic there are big, giant things (juicer, canning equipment, bread maker, etc.), but you're not seeing that - we have to go in there with a flashlight and the camera wouldn't work! Whew! Well, no cooking for me tonight. We are going out to dinner - I'll be back later with a report!

Ted - the pork and apples look wonderful. Please add to my list of stuff I'd love you to cook for me ! eldereno - Hi to my slightly north neighbor! The Nigella dish looks wonderful. I was also inspired by that thread. Someone (maybe Maggie) said that eGullet supplies a great bunch of test cooks whose expertise we can draw on - she's right, I will probably try that dish now that I see how nicely it turned out for you! MiFi - I also want to know about your long roasted lamb! monavano - Ramps! I just discovered them last year and hope I can find them again this year. I really like the idea of the crepes! Were the ramps in the batter or just inside the rolled crepes? Chris - I love fish sticks! They are one of my guilty pleasures! They feel like a treat to me because we rarely had them growing up, but Mr. Kim grew up Catholic and had them almost every Friday of his childhood and detests them so I almost never serve them! Dr. J - I second what heidih said - that steak sandwich was amazing looking and the photography was beautiful! If you want to see what I'm eating this week, come on over to the Food Traditions & Culture forum - I'm blogging!

Smithy, that store doesn't just not sell alcohol on Sundays - they don't sell anything on Sundays - they aren't open at all. And they don't sell alcohol at any time ! I do love rice, but since the surgery it is one of the few foods that I can't eat at all and I miss it so much. I miss all kinds of rice and I don't think there is any kind (other than Minute) that I don't like! Ok – time for the dinner report. While I was putting things together we had some goodies that we bought this weekend at our favorite Richmond hippy crunchy store – Elwood Thompson: It’s rosemary crisp bread and two different kinds of chevre – Hot Pepper and Chives & Garlic from ‘Goats R Us’ – a goat farm in Blackstone, VA –about an hour from here. Dinner was an all eGullet affair. I made David Ross’ Apple, Pear and Parsnip Salad w/ Toasted Walnuts, Bleu Cheese and Apple Cider Vinaigrette, our own Kendra Bailey Morris’ Chicken Divine and lucylou’s French Onion Bread Pudding. Mise for the vinaigrette: Mise and prep for the salad: that’s some Point Reyes Blue – one of our favorites Finished Salad: Mise and prep for the chicken: Finished dish: Mise and prep for the bread pudding: flipping the onions: Finished dish: Otis ate much earlier than we did: My plate: Each dish was a big success – everything tasted wonderful and was easy to do. The bread pudding was particularly swoony. The next time I make it, I’ll do it with a roast so I have some gravy to spoon over top! I think it would be especially fantastic with lamb! The only problem with the chicken was that it had a flood of water in the bottom of the pan: but it didn’t taste watery at all ! Well, I’ve posted my first dinner on my first blog and it is 11:59pm . Mr. Kim insisted that I post the following picture, which he took as I served dinner: I really hope this isn’t too much information. I tend to run on when I talk and it seems that have the same tendency when I write and post pictures.

Thank you to Shelby, Priscilla and the divine Miss Maggie for making me feel positively loving towards my powder room ! This cracked me right up! And you named two of my favorite authors ever! I only recently met Betsy and Tacy but I've loved Anne-with-an-E and Heidi(didn't you always want to try goats milk and goats milk cheese when you read Heidi?) since before I could read - my mom read them aloud to me. I think that those books inspired some great bedtime snacks! I'll post everything up to dinner now and post the rest in a little bit - I am so late tonight! To my fellow bloggers - how in the hell did you manage to serve dinner before midnight when you were blogging ? You were warned – here’s my exciting breakfast: Oikos Organic 0% fat Greek yogurt w/ rosemary honey. Lunch was much better than usual. It was from a locally owned restaurant instead of the Olive Garden, the ersatz deli or pizza. Joe’s Inn provided: Greek Salad Club Sandwiches Chicken Kabobs Rice <sigh> Brownies & Pecan Bars My plate. I ate half of everything here and a bite each of the desserts (they were only meh). Stopped on the way home for some fresh things I needed. I ate this on the way so that I wouldn't be tempted by Dunkin' Doughnuts (do you know they have Buttercrunch doughnuts - they only doughnut I would spurn a hot KK for...sometimes...maybe ): Ukrops is a local grocery store that has really had a stranglehold on Richmond for years. They sell no alcohol and are closed on Sunday. They support a lot of community activities in the area, but insist on things being done their way. No other store has been able to keep much of a presence until Kroger – they really managed to break into Richmond and have done very well. We now have Kroger, Food Lion, Walmart, Costco, Sams, The Fresh Market, Tom Leonards and we are getting a Whole Foods and Trader Joes – but Kroger was the thin edge. Ukrops used to be fantastic – incredible customer service and great meats and produce. They have really been going downhill for the last couple of years (I heard this a lot working at the Fresh Market) and I don’t go much anymore, but it was on my way home. This is the Militant Old People Ukrops: (I won’t bother on inside shots – it’s just a regular grocery store.) Only grumpy old people seem to shop there. They seem to think that younger people should go to other locations. They come in and fold up their walkers and put them in the carts and go at it. I have been personally prodded in the back the walker legs that stick out. I hope I am that feisty when I get old. I am not a particularly feisty person, but it's one of my dreams !

Well, we certainly live, laugh, cry and gather in it ! We usually have 40-50 for Christmas dinner and this Easter with just 4 of us felt, honestly, a little lonely! And it has plenty of irregularities - like the family room used to be the garage and was made over by the original owner! I can drink a little alcohol. I really have to watch it with anything carbonated - my pre-surgery favorite cocktail was a vodka tonic and now I can sip one all night long. I am the world's cheapest drunk. One full drink and I am fully buzzed and two and I'm dancing with sailors! Mr. Kim says its like partying with a 4 year old - drunk-sick-asleep all within 10 minutes ! Sweetie - I wondered if someone was going to notice those! I should have known it would be you! Among my mariad of collections is my children's and vintage teen lit collection. The editions don't have to be old, but the text does. I don't hold with modern Nancy's flitting around in some sportscar instead of a 'roadster' . I can't imagine anything nicer than finding one of my eG buds curled up with one of my cookbooks ! Welcome and congratulations - 90lbs. in 3 months is awesome! I hope you are feeling good. Any questions you have, please ask away - I'll be glad to answer them. And once the blog is over, please feel free to PM me with anything anytime! Also - I hope you'll comment more from now on - this is a great place, with wonderful people and to get involved and feel a part of things, you just have to dive in! I love my cookbooks and have a hard time giving them up, even when I don't cook a thing from them. I use the old standbys like Joy of Cooking and Fannie Farmer and that sort for basic information rather than recipes. For recipes, I go to Heritage of Southern cooking and Simple Fare a lot. I especially love my Southern Living Annuals - I hardly am ever disappointed by them - you have to choose well with them, because there are lots of shortcut (in a bad way) recipes, but there is also lots of good, solid Southern cooking. When I get a cookbook or a magazine, before it goes in the bookshelves, I look through it and decide which recipes I would like to try. I write it down on a piece of paper that gets taped inside the front cover. Then, when I'm browsing, I can look just at the front to see what I liked. When I've tried the recipe and thought it worth saving - it goes in my online cookbook - you can access that from the link under my name. I also print out each recipe, so I've got it down on actual paper (did I explain that I'm nearly 49 and don't trust all this technology stuff? ) and keep those in binders in the island: I don't have some great cross-referencing system. Sometimes when I am looking for inspiration, I'll look in a magazine for the current month (but often for a long past year), or I'll just grab a magazine or book that doesn't have many recipes in it and just 'cook through'! I am at the office right now and will be on my way home in a few minutes. I'll try to post my breakfast and lunch pictures then, before starting dinner!

Thank you all for the wonderful welcome! And for the compliments - hearing I'm a 'hottie' is music to these almost 49 year old ears! Mr. Kim is a treasure. He supports me in (almost) everything I try to achieve (he wouldn't go for chickens or bees when we lived in a more rural area ) and is willing to be my prep partner, dishwasher, editor and photographer this week - not to mention the object of my culinary endeavors at table 1 Chez Shook this week. Good or bad, he still eats it and when I am tired of it (I always make too much and hate leftovers), he takes it all to work and eats it for lunch every day! Sandy, I do love reading. I don't even have a particular genre that I stick to. I am all over the place, but my two favorites are mysteries (of the 'cozy' variety) and culinary and when they merge: BLISS! My favorite mysteries are the Agatha Christie types that take place in small villages - they are always having scones and strawberries and tea sandwiches. I have always been an Anglophile (Ted Fairhead - who posts here is my stepdad and is English - so that helped) and can remember as a kid absolutely craving tea sandwiches and trying to make my own without really knowing what I was doing. We are going to England in 2010 and I want afternoon tea every day ! I have the I Hate to Cook Book somewhere around, but not the second one. Even though I love to cook, I loved her whole casual, cooking is a choice attidude. Because if she could choose NOT to cook, I could choose TO cook. As with a lot of issues, it's all about having a choice - not making one choice better than the other. Being such a throwback, I always felt a little embarrassed by my passion for domestic things - so you can imagine my joy when cooking became cool ! I was suddenly involved in something with cache! Back in college, when I baked my own bread, people thought I was some sort of hippie leftover (of course, being in acting school didn't help with that perception!). It's funny, but my mom, who is a born business woman always felt guilty for working and I always felt guilty for not being a real career woman and giving my daughter a role model! If you come back to Richmond, please let me know - I'd love to meet you and talk! Randi is right - this is my first blog, but I've done a couple of regional reports - NYC and DC. Practice! Chris - I cannot believe that you are here bright and early after your herculian task in your blog last week. I expect to be comatose next Monday morning! Ted - He was probably under my feet and therefore invisible until I tripped. Yes, that dern door is open again. Until I started taking so many pictures in my kitchen, I didn't realize that happened so much! This is what Ted's talking about: Charming, huh? Yep, we have a 'powder room' directly off our kitchen. Yet another thing that I hate about this room . Dr. Teeth - there will definitely be pug pictures. He spends his life in hope in the kitchen, so there will be at least a couple. I might even manage to get an action shot of him eating !

Yes, it’s me – I’m amazed at how quickly I was ‘outed’; I’m awful at guessing! The title is a bit of a misnomer. I am not a housewife, but wish I was. I always say that I was born in the wrong decade. My ultimate dream is to stay home and cook and take care of my home and family. Circumstances haven't allowed that very much in my life, but I still love doing all that stuff! Mr. Kim promises that I can retire in 3 years (but he's been saying that for at least 5 years....hmmm). We live in Richmond, VA with our daughter, Jessica who is back home after graduating from college last spring. The first teaser picture was of our summer house. I kid, I kid - it's the state capitol. I cannot believe that I have to follow Chris. I feel especially grotty and slobby when I look at the pictures of his beautiful, bright, CLEAN kitchen. The things that normally show in my house aren't as clean and tidy as the stuff that normally doesn't in his! Please know that while I am messy and my floor might be questionable, I keep all surfaces and objects clean. I promise. I've decided that my 'angle' for this blog is going to be new stuff. I am an incorrigible recipe/cookbook collector (hence, my second teaser picture). I have them stashed all over my house. Here are some in the island that Ted Fairhead made: In the last picture is also our ‘bar’, some storage and ‘my’ drinks (more anon regarding that). I have a file drawer in the family room full of recipes that I’ve torn out from magazines and printed out from the internet: Here’s a shelf and a half in the living room: Upstairs in our bedroom, I have cookbooks under the TV: and beside the bed: Oh, crap, there’s some more: So for this week (at least for dinners) I will only cook new recipes that I have collected – some from my fellow eGulleteers. If we eat out, it will be at new restaurants I have wanted to try. In my files I have a 'Richmond restaurants to try' file stuffed full of newspaper/magazine articles and print outs of internet suggestions. I'll tell you right now that, except for the weekend, breakfast will be boring. I am not a breakfast fan, so you're going to see a banana and a Special K bar or yogurt most days. I love breakfast food anytime of the day and if I can have it an hour or so after getting up, I do. But that doesn't happen on work days. Lunch is more varied. Sometimes I have leftovers and since I work in a doctor's office, we have drug company reps that sometimes bring us lunch. This week we are supposed to have lunch brought on Monday, but that’s all so far. I only have 30 minutes, so eating out doesn't happen very often. One thing that you should know about me (some already know) is that I had a gastric bypass in 2003. I lost about 100 lbs. My before and afters: Before: After: In the before picture, I am the large flowered object on the left (amazing amounts of self delusion were going on that day), my daughter is in the middle (she also had a gastric bypass and lost even more than I did) and my momma (Ted Fairhead's wife) is on the right. Ideally, I would like to lose another 40 lbs. and I am trying to lose another 20 right now. I am told that if my insurance company would just approve the skin removal, that would be 20 lbs. right there (which just skeeves me right out to even think about - the idea of 20 lbs. of SKIN <shudder>). I would never, ever recommend the operation to anyone else - that is a completely personal decision, but I haven't ever regretted doing it for one minute. I weighed almost 270 lbs. and was getting fatter every day. I had tried every diet in the world and couldn't seem to get a handle on my food intake. I was on diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol meds. Except for cholesterol, all of that is gone now. Because I eat less now, there is a chance that I won’t get all the nutrients in my food, so I take a lot of supplements. Here is my daily dose: from left to right – flaxseed oil, multi-vitamin, calcium, vitamin E, vitamins A&D, low dose aspirin, Nexium and Lipitor. The Nexium is for acid – a common consequence of a little stomach and the Lipitor for cholesterol. My blood chemistry tests are always good now. I walk for exercise and feel good. I am 48 years old (49 in July), so I won’t ever be toned and buff, but I look good for my age and my former weight. Flab is ok - I just cover it up and Mr. Kim is a kind man! I eat so much less now that it is just unimaginable to think about the amounts of food that I used to consume. I can eat most any kind of food that I want - as long as I watch portions. There are only two things that really bother me - I can only eat a bite of steak or rice. Some days my tummy is fine. Other days, nothing seems to 'sit' well. Or something gets stuck in the little exit from my stomach. Bad days (which are not very frequent - once every few weeks) I live on cheese, pretzels and Tic Tacs (they settle my stomach without being overly sweet). I hate my kitchen. Square footage-wise it seems pretty good, but I have terrible cabinet and counter space. The pantry is one of those pantry/laundry room things. The top shelves are almost impossible for me to get stuff down from even with a ladder. Thank goodness Mr. Kim is 6' tall! Ted Fairhead made me the island when we moved into the house: It adds much welcome storage, counter space, an eating place, etc. He does nice work, huh? Since I have such crappy storage space, we have stuff all over the house: Living room closet, attic, even under table skirts. It's insane - I try to keep a list on the computer of what is where, but I still lose stuff. I’ll post those pictures later. Richmond has a pretty active food scene and some very good restaurants. We live out in the 'burbs - Glen Allen if anyone knows the area. My favorite area in Richmond is actually in town - the old neighborhoods known as the Fan, the Museum District and Carytown. You can read about them here. It is where VA Commonwealth University is located and where I lived while I was in college and right after we got married. It has a cool city feeling without being too raw-ly urban - very diverse as far as age, ethnicity and even economics. It was always our intent to move back there after Jessica graduated from high school, but they priced us right out of the market! So I live in suburbia and shop, eat and walk the city when I can. I'll probably get down there during the weekend and both the restaurants that we plan on going to this week are there, too. So here I am - I am so nervous and scared that I will disappoint/bore y'all! Everyone who has ever done a blog, will, I'm sure recognize those fears! If anyone has any questions, please ask! My favorite blogs are the ones that are like conversations! Mr. Kim’s two cents: So, if Mrs. Mike is nervous and scared just writing about her food this week, imagine MY trepidation as I look ahead to trying to keep up with her this week. You should just TRY being the only person in the house WITHOUT a gastric bypass when Kim starts working her kitchen magic. I mean, someone has to eat what she can’t. So I wage a constant battle not to eat myself into a fleshy imitation of a Macy’s balloon. Okay, battle may be too strong a word – I don’t resist Kim’s culinary wiles too vigorously. I am glad to be along for the ride this week, and based on the menu and Kim’s likely portion sizes, I look forward to a new wardrobe by the time she’s through blogging. Do they even MAKE grown up clothes in Size Husky?

Wait, wait!! Aren't you going to post pictures of the finished pork?? I need to see that bbq, Chris - please!

I am just slack jawed with astonishment. I'm just going to go to bed now . Chris, this is so much freaking fun!!

David - that lamb is just lovely - I love lamb, but can't seem to find any with much flavor. Gotta get some from my wonderful butcher lady that I visited today! From Belmont Butchery, I got some of their fantastic house-smoked brisket: Look at the gorgeous red ring ! This is just a great place - they do a lot of charcuterie in house and are involved in the Richmond slow food movement. We then went to our local hippy dippy natural/organic foods grocery and got the makings for the rest of the meal: I made some slaw with savoy cabbage, which I hadn't used before and made some of Marlene's crispy smashed potatoes (our new favorite way of having potatoes). I also got some 'Billy Bread' a great local crusty bread.

David - here is the recipe. It's from Cuisine at Home magazine and the sauce is just amazingly easy and really complex. Next time, I think I'll double it and pour only half on the pork when it goes in the oven and save the rest to pass at the table, there wasn't quite enough for all the pork. Thanks for the kinds words. I, too, love tropical fruit and grill it a lot!

monavano - that Bucheron, Serrano Ham and Date Tart looks amazing. I can get Bucheron and I'll be making that! Thank you!! A couple of nights ago I made asian pork tenderloin (another Cuisine at Home recipe - I am trying to slowly cook through issues to get rid of the magazines that are threatening to smother us ), grilled pineapple (I've been craving this since I saw David use it in a fantastic dessert on the 'Sweets' thread - though, my grill marks aren't as pretty as yours, David ) and stir fried bean sprouts: Tonight Mr. Kim is hosting a poker party and so I am snacking on what I made for them - buffalo chicken dip and crab meltaways (so tacky, but everyone scarfs them up!).

Please can I get some recommendations for hip, very good restaurants for my single, late 40's, hip brother in law with good taste? It's his birthday month and we want to send him a gift card. He likes all kinds of food - quality and someplace fairly cool is what is important. I'd love to earn cool SIL points! Thanks so much!

Chris - this has been a crazy week and I've been stealing minutes from my work days and chores to dive into your blog all week! Thank you so much for blogging. I am so enjoying your narrative and gorgeous photos. Thanks, also for the shots of the outside of the places you are visiting - I am a architecture fan and always love pics of the 'nabe!

Lindsay Ann - Here's the recipe. You do use frozen ravioli (you can use meat or cheese stuffed), but you do all the breading and frying yourself, so they are Semi-homemade, I guess . It's a Cuisine at Home recipe. The pretzels were the grilled cheese ones. They were wonderful! I woke up the other morning thinking of them and wondering if I had time to make one before I had to get to work! Thank goodness for my counter top convection oven !

Dr. J - I love crab rangoon. It gets bad press, but I confess to a deep love of gooey, crabby fried stuff! And yours looks so good! Chris - love the idea of tilapia with grapefruit! Inspired choice and it looks lovely! Sabrosita - your gnudi or gnocchi look terrific - I don't care what they are called ! mizducky - ooooohh, BBQ (cue Homer voice)! I have some in the freezer from my most recent NC run and a gallon of sauce that I preserved in qt. jars - time to do some thawing!!! I haven't been cooking a lot lately, but here are a couple of recent dinners: pot roast soup, made with leftovers from the pot roast that I made a few days ago: It was great, as usual, but I wish I'd seen Pierogi's post about pot roast hash in the Recipes that Rock thread before I made it. I would have so tried that recipe!!! Also - Bean sprout spinach salad (odd name, good salad), pecan chicken casserole, butter beans and Irish freckle bread (another odd name, but good, sweet and dense bread): Oh, and some dessert: chocolate poundcake with Italian meringue buttercream (my first attempt at that) - really good and easy!!

Just beautiful stuff, everyone! Renka - the Strawberry Mousse Cake is just lovely! It's a celebration of spring! AmritaBala - your macarons are just gorgeous! I love the little decorations on them! David - the Toasted Coconut Cake with the grilled pineapple really, really attracts me - one of my favorite flavor combinations! Rob - happy birthday!!! You are just getting better and better with each new creation. I am so impressed and happy for you! Mette - no apologizing! The cupcakes are adorable, as is your sous chef! I love that proud/greedy little smile! I really love the colors and the smoothness of your frosting! What are the little pearl-like decorations on the ones closest to the camera? Are they just dragees? Well, here's my contribution - less along the lines of Renka and them and more along the lines of Mette ('cept I'm not FOUR !!): It's a recipe by Warren Brown of CakeLove. From Cuisine at Home magazine. Chocolate Pound cake w/ Italian Meringue Buttercream. I was very proud of my Italian buttercream - this was my first try and it turned out beautiful. I'll be making this stuff often!