Kim Shook

butter, 10x, milk, vanilla

Can anyone read about the Christmas feast at Mole's house in The Wind in the Willows and not want to belly up to the table with all the little caroling mice and Ratty and Mole?? There is a whole genre of mystery/food books also. Unfortunately, most of the ones that I have read are not terribly well written. On the up side, I have gotten some pretty good recipes from them !

I have some buttercream in my fridge and am wondering how long it is good for. Also - do I just need to let it sit out and whip it up a little bit to spreading consistancy or does it need something added to it? Ta!

Neither one of my grandmothers could cook. My paternal grandmother mostly didn’t try and had no interest. She was totally wild and told great stories about her youth, but if you wanted a cooky in her house you generally got a Metrecal cooky. Anyone remember those? Metrecal was an early version of Slimfast. Bebo’s fridge never had anything in it but gin, a pint of milk (for coffee), olives, cocktail onions and a lemon. I loved spending the night because she would tell amazing tales about Washington DC in the twenties and thirties, order out for Chinese and (even at age 70) be up for a midnight run for subs at Mario's. Bebo made one dinner a year - Christmas night and it was delicious, but anyt other time, you were served frozen, canned glop! My maternal grandmother cooked every day and was, if possible, worse than my other grandmother. She was a second generation Italian American and her tomato sauce was: tomato paste watered down with…water . Pot roast was a chuck roast with a few carrots and potatoes tossed in the pan plus a couple cups of water, covered with foil and baked. The only spice she had in her house EVER was a shaker of powdery pepper. Bomo used to roll her eyes at the cooking that my mom and my aunt did (both very accomplished cooks) and say that she didn’t know how they tasted the food through all the spices (it is certainly possible to over season food, they, however, do not). All meats were incinerated. No onions were ever used. She didn’t bake much and usually kept her cooky jar full of these weird store bought coconut flavored cookies that looked extruded with little grooves on the top – tasteless and dry and about $1/hundred. One time when I was visiting her, she had to go into the hospital and I was trying to cook dinner for my grandfather. The only wine I could find was Manechevitz Concord grape (we are not Jewish – she just liked the taste ). God rest their souls, they were not at home in the kitchen, but I miss them both and would give anything for a midnight run to Mario’s with Bebo or bite of Bomo’s Duncan Hines Devil’s food cake (the best thing she ever cooked) .

I am enjoying this so much, Lori! I love the input from Alyssa and Mr. Lori and the pictures. Do you still have foods that your bodies can't manage? With me its rice and steak. I can eat a hamburger and any kind of pasta, but one bite of steak is all I can manage and not even a bite of rice. We have something similar to BB's - across the river from us - you have inspired me, next day off, I'm off on a short trip!

That sounds interesting. Thanks for posting the info, Jeff. Now if I can only get the 'remind me' button to work. I am notorious for missing just the shows I want to watch and zoning out to junk!

Lori, I am enjoying your blog. I also had a gastric bypass. Mine was a couple of years ago. I am VERY interested in seeing your meals for that reason. You seem to be eating 'normally' ! Have a great week. And just to round out the cherry info, I am paying between $7 and $10 per pound for bing and raniers.

Oooooh, Henry. I am so having one of those for dinner tommorow. Today Mr. Kim got the first of the Hanover tomatoes and tonight we went a bought white bread & Nueskes Applewood smoked bacon. There is Miracle Whip in the fridge and lettuce in the crisper. That has been the plan since he found the tomatoes this am. I will show him your photo and we'll be adding the egg for sure!

That is actually me. I linked to my webpage where I had posted that recipe. But I think you are right. I am not going to worry about it, since everything else was great.

Thanks! I will double check my oven temperature. I do have an oven thermometer in there, but haven't checked it in awhile because...well, just being in there assures me of a correct temperature, right ?

I baked a pound cake tonight from this recipe. Perfect texture and crumb and I think the taste is wonderful (I can't be sure because I was a bit rattled and forgot to add the extracts, but that is another story ). It rose up really high in the pan - just over the top. When it cooled in the pan for a few minutes, the crown fell and I ended up with a nice high crispy crust that was totally empty. Can anyone look at the recipe and see where it might be possible to go wrong? I followed the recipe exactly. Thanks!!

Obviously, I was joking, but what you said makes a lot of sense, Pam. How great would it be to have someone turn up at your door in July and say, "I was thinking of you and made you something wonderful" ? Love in action! I might try this. HMMMM.

Chicken oysters! Most people don't even know what they are, I find! So we sneak the little carcass out to the kitchen after the meal and Stink (daughter) and I have a nibble.

Even good/experienced cooks do this sometimes. My dad loves my Sponge Monkey Candy and my mom called the other day to say that he had made it and it hadn't worked. Upon questioning her, I discovered that they don't have a candy thermometer, so they tried to use the drop in cold water technique (I know serious candy makers who couldn't judge by this method) and they poured it into a 1/2 sheet pan rather than the (specified) 13x9 inch pan. When you finish cooking this stuff, you get this big oozy cloud that falls/pours into the cooling pan. It's like 'The Blob' and will spread out until it is either stopped (by the 'walls' of the pan) or it cools. So they ended up with a really thin, chewy sponge. God love 'em. I told her to do it right and THEN call me.

I am so confused, Foodie . I know that US/Australia weather is opposite, but are our holidays opposite, too? It's only June in America and our next holiday is Independence day. To make up for my teasing, I actually do have an idea. I make this really good and easy Sponge Candy. My (English) stepdad likes it when I dip it in melted Cadbury chocolate, because then it tastes like a Crunchie (or a Violet Crumble). I also think that a selection of fruit curds with some short pastry tart shells would be a great gift. Happy Holidays!

I use this rub and this sauce and I make really awesome ribs, everyone says. But I always have the rub around and when we want ribs that night and it's already midday, I will use the rub and Montgomery Inn Sauce.

The chicken is absolutely gorgeous, Ah Leung! I would really like to try this. A question, though. Could you possibly make this with even smaller chickens - like game hens? My wok is small and I think those would be the perfect size.

Abra, I love "too personal" because that is just exactly my thought, but I could never have put it that well! Those heads are cool and scary. Around my non-food friends, I would have to be very nonchalant about them (Kim: "All animals have heads, nothing gross about that" ), but here, with y'all, I admit they freak me out just a little ).

Well, we have tasted the bread and it turned out perfectly - just the same as always! I was so concerned about having to stop and start over and over again because of the dough climbing out of the bowl, but I obviously am a novice baker and from what everyone has said, that shouldn't make a lot of difference anyway. The KA has worked perfectly in the past to make this bread and I have strength problems in my hands and arms - if I had to knead by hand it just wouldn't be possible, so this particular recipe is perfect for me! Thanks so much for all the info. If I ever start baking more seriously, I will probably search out a better mixer. As SB says, the KA is great for what it does and for regular kitchen use, I love it and can't imagine needing anything else.

I have made this bread a few times and had great success. Tonight, in my Kitchen Aid (regular sized one, not the big boy), the dough kept climbing the sides and popping up over the top. I had to keep stopping the mixer and stuffing the dough end back into the bowl. I kneaded it in the machine for an additional couple of minutes and it 'felt' ok when I took it out to rise. Do you think that my loaf is a loss? Why would this happen this time and not ever before? I am making it for my mother-in-law to show her that I can actually make bread (she will give me the recipe for her famous yeast rolls if I can). Is she hexing me ? Or am I hexing myself?? Seriously, can anyone explain this? Thanks!

I am a properly indoctrinated Southern girl, so, even though I was only 23 years old when we got married, I registered for china and sterling. I still adore it and have added to it over the years. We chose a classic Haviland pattern for the china and have been able to add pieces that go with, but aren't exactly the same pattern from ebay, antique stores, etc. I tell my daughter that she will never be sorry for chosing good china and silver.

You know, I've never really bought the concept that being a genius gives one the right to be an asshole. I've had it 'explained' to me a million times (spent some time in the theatre world ) and my response was a shrug. I just don't think it is necessary, justifiable or excusable. I won't be watching this because it offends me on one level and, more importantly it bores me on another.

Ok, yes, it's melting as I type. I guess my real question is this: is my candy defective (i.e.: did it get too hot or something)? Surely the wafer isn't supposed to stick to the candy, right? It is there just to prevent the candy disks from sticking together, right? Shouldn't it just pop off the disk? The wafer (good name since it lacks the exact same taste as communion wafers lack ) doesn't add anything to the candy, as a matter of fact, as I said above - it dilutes the intensity of the black sesame.

I bought some yummy Yen Nhung black sesame candy. It comes in little disks separated by the same size/shape disks of this stuff. Said stuff is off-white, crunchy, styrofoam-y, edible and tasteless. It is also basically impossible to totally remove from the candy disks. I have tried scraping, cutting, etc. I still have some stuck to the candy. Is my candy defective?? I'd rather not eat the stuff - it dilutes the wonderful sesame flavor. I looked on the Asian candy thread and found mentions of sesame candy, but not of my particular problem.

I'm with Dean on Thrashers! I've been going to OC for almost 50 years and whether we are there for 2 days or a month, we eat Thrashers every single day. No kidding. You are on the eastern shore of MD. Don't fight it. Eat whats good - beach pizza, Thrashers, warm caramel corn, frozen custard, steamed crabs. I am envying you so much. Wish we could get there this summer!!