Kim Shook

Rachel, So glad to hear Chris is feeling better. My MIL suffers from kidney stones and it just takes so much out of her. She just had one blasted last week and is feeling great now! Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. I did say a little thank you this morning for you and this blog! Kim

eeeek!!! But then they taste like......shudder...shudder.... - sweet potatoes...shudder....shudder...shudder.

Someone upthread mentioned southern fried chicken. Living in Indiana, we were stunned and abashed to discover (being card carrying Southerners) some of the best fried chicken we had ever eaten! They have entire restaurants devoted to serving fried chicken - some places out in the country that are only open on weekend nights and have lines out the door. When there would be community parties in our little town these guys would arrive with huge oil drums full of oil that they would fry mountains of chickens in. Have you found this phenomenon, Rachel? In the lower South , fried chicken seems to be mostly home food - cooked at home and taken somewhere perhaps, but mostly home cooking. We never met any Hoosiers who fried their own chickens, but in our little town (pop. 5000) there were 2 restaurants within walking distance that sold stellar fried chicken! Your spoonbread made me drool! Miss Kitty is regalness itself. Your breakfast reminded me that I had one jar of my step-Gramma Jean's pear preserves left on the shelf and I opened it to have with mine! We made it together last fall when I wasn't working and I haven't made any this year yet. It was the first time I made it with her and the weekend was just a gift. Have a lovely day!

In the spirit of the Miracle Whip thread and in honor of those brave souls who admitted liking it, I am making this confession....I love that sweet potato casserole with the marshmallows on top. I know, I know - time to turn in my card. Now I'll go on that list and I'll never be able to get a reservation at any important restaurant again for the rest of my life, but dammit, I love that stuff. Roasted sweet potatoes - mashed, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, maple syrup, brown sugar, marshmallows on top and when they just melt, stir them in and put a few more on top to brown (and sometimes burn - then you scrape them off and start that layer over again). Bourbon syrup served on the side. I know it sounds like a dessert, but I'm Southern folks, and we serve lots of sweet sides. Some of us have also admitted a sneaking liking for congealed salads and green bean casserole (not so much), so I am being brave here. Anyone else?

those things scare me a little.

Chris, I loved this episode. My parents lived in Chicago for a few years in the early 80's and absolutely loved the city. I spent summers there (I was in college) and did a LOT of eating. Greektown was probably our favorite place to just wander into a restaurant and take a chance. We always got a great meal. Saganaki is probably my favorite food on the planet. I must have missed something, though. No lobster this show???

Rachel! I am so, so glad to find you blogging! I was just a leetle down this week - lots to do, no time, numb hands, sore feet and then "what to my wondering eyes should appear" when I take a moment to check out egullet, but Miss Rachel writing her wonderful, evocative prose ! Thank you so much for sharing this week with us. I know that I will be including you and this blog in the thanks that I give on Thursday morning! My grandma’s were Bomo (pronounced Bawmaw – baby pronunciation of Grandma, I think) and Bebo (not sure where that one comes from). The first couldn’t cook a lick, but made delicious Duncan Hines chocolate cakes . The other was a former flapper who had dance cards from the White House in her cedar chest. She gave me Metrical cookies and delivery Chinese when I spent the night at her house and cooked one wondrous meal a year – Christmas Eve. You live in INDY!! We lived in Batesville for a couple of years! Have you ever been to Metamora? It is a little ersatz, but charming on a snowy day when all the tourists are gone – your little couple from the Feast of the Hunter's Moon would fit right in. Blog on, ma’am – we are all breathless with anticipation!

We just started carrying these little fellows in the store today. They are called buddha hands, but I think they look like chicken feet. Apparently you use the zest for flavoring, but as they are $10 a piece, I will have to pass on that . Kim

I like the combo of green and orange and purple. Mainly green and purple with the orange as accent. Pears, green apples, some gourds (not the real warty ones, they skeeve me out a little - I don't like to be reminded of skin eruptions while I'm eating ), eggplants and mini pumpkins. Around this time of year, you can sometimes find a gorgeous hydrangea that is a deep dusky olive green and purple with an almost bronze tinge to the edges - beautiful with the green and purple fruits and vegetables. Kim

Chris, we watched the show tonight with a special interest. I am that rarest of creatures - a District native. I was born in DC and raised in Northern VA. My mom was here visiting from NC. We all loved the show. I remember eating at Ben's during high school - just around the corner from there is the Florida Ave. Grill - great breakfasts - you can even get the half smokes instead of sausage/bacon! When we go up next (we now live in Richmond), we plan on stopping by Julia's and the Cantina - Mr. Kim wants one of those drinks! My mom noticed something that I hadn't before - you are a lefty! All three of us watching (momma, Mr. Kim and I) are lefties, too! My mom said that next time you are in the area, you have to venture into Arlington and go to Mario's on Wilson Blvd. for a ham, steak and cheese sub - the best sub in the area (don't try the pizza, though - you have to be fed it in utero, like I was, to appreciate it). The crab cake looked good, although you seemed to have given it short shrift next to that lobster roll ! Loved the look on your face when you bit into the roll!

Can I freeze a peanut butter based soup? This is the recipe. Any special considerations.? Kim

Yeah. That's what I meant to say instead of the babbling found in my above post.

I haven't seen much this season - not terribly interesting what I've caught. But I saw the end of the TGIF show tonight. WTF? Fridays? Top Chef? I hate this freaking show. It is so stupid. The judges, the contestants, the challenges - the whole deal is so stupid.

It really depends on how she's feeling. I couldn't eat anything heavy at all during my pregnancy, but had girlfriends who ate entire pizzas at one sitting. Let us know what you come up with. Lucky girl - having a baby and a meal made by you!! Kim

Damn. I missed the show! We forgot it was on because we were watching election results (we still don't have a Senator in VA this am, I could have watched Chris). The Food Network page just lists last night and o'dark thirty this morning for the NY show. Atlanta was on a lot more than that. Chris, do you know if it is going to be repeated more than it is listed??? Crap.

I want to try to steal an idea from a snack mix that we tried at Costco. It was glazed pecan halves, dried cranberries, candied orange peel and black pepper ! It was so incredibly good! I need to go to get one of those peel thingies that strips off large strips of citrus peel. I was also thinking of a box of assorted candied peels. But then what do I do with all the fruit I don't use for the candies??? Any ideas?

There exists an expression, in several languages that goes something like this: "Hunger is the best cook." I've never gotten around to figuring out if this is true, but I heard that in French, there is an expression that goes something like this: "A sauce is the best cook." Does anyone know if this is true or not? ← I found this, Grub.

I am having such fun reading this thread. I am not doing much cooking lately and reading this thread and the others like it, drooling over all the wonderful pictures and descriptions is such a great vicarious pleasure. Thank you all so much! Kim

Thanks, shaloop! I will try this method soon. But it is really, really delicious as is! Question: do you still want me to use AP flour? or back to cake flour? Kim

Well, as regards the cream cheese pound cake from shaloop, I sliced off the ugly top, flipped it over, and now have the best pound cake I have yet to make ever. (Albeit, in three pieces ). Thanks, again, shaloop! Kim

Here is one of the recipes that is featured today. Am I crazy or is something missing from the ingredients? All I can see are the ingredients for the raspberry filling - I can't see the ingredients for the cake or the frosting - am I blind or what?

Chris, Mr. Kim (Mike) wants to know something about the filming of the show. We've noticed there is an audience at the judging phase of the show, but he says that he hasn't seen them during the cooking phase. Are they always there during the entire filming? Thanks, Kim.

I was very interested in this at first. Even changed it to my homepage. But I haven't found it very useful. The search function bites.

shaloop - Well, that could have been my problem, but I doubt it. I am so freaking aggravated with myself ! I seem to be able to make pretty, but not tasty or ugly, but tasty pound cakes - but not pretty and tasty. I had the same problem with your pound cake that I did with the million dollar pound cake. It rose up with a gorgeous, perfectly cracked golden crown. When it cooled, the crown was empty and just came off in big crunchy, yummy pieces . I also managed to break the entire f-ing thing into 3 pieces taking it out of the pan. The pan is one of those tube pans where the bottom of the pan and the center part comes out of the outside, like this: tube pan. I did fine taking it out of the outer part of the pan and broke it when I tried to remove it from the bottom/core. This has nothing to do with the recipe, just my clumsiness. On a positive note, my vanilla cupcakes and my coconut cupcakes (daughter's service club is purchasing for a Mad Hatter Tea Party) turned out great.

Well, I tried the recipe for Old Dominion Pound Cake and was not impressed. The texture was pretty good, but 5 different people all said that the flavor was very bland. I didn't forget to put in the vanilla or lemon juice, so that wasn't it. Today I am going to make Cream Cheese Pound Cake. It's shaloop's recipe, so that bodes well! I want a really tight, tight crumb - like a Sara Lee or grocery store cake, but with good, rich, homemade flavor. I still would like some info on how to make my recipe (when I finally find the one) into a chocolate pound cake and also if I can make it into layers and cupcakes. Anyone with any experience with that?