Kim Shook

I did hear that - don't know the exact reference, but I got the idea . I asked my husband if I had heard it right !

Thanks so much for the answers to my question! I will try adding more liquid! It is very possible that she accidentally left the liquid out. She apparently never used recipes, just did things from out of her head and only wrote them down when requested by someone else, when I do that I can easily miss a step.

Thank you all so much. I am copying all of the comments and printing them out to put in my cookbook in the front of the vegetable section! I WILL make good potatoes!!! (My baked, fried and mashed are fabulous, though ).

Snerk! I confess. I voted for Gus. He, at least, knows more about food than poor Reggie (who I would enjoy knowing, I think). I really thought Andy was the best, though and thought he would make it farther than clueless Carissa . I told Mr. Kim that I bet Andy got a culinary job through this show, which is what he really wanted. During his bio on the show he said that he came to NY to attend culinary school and work, but that his wife had a baby and so he had to get a 'real' job. I really hope that he gets something great - he seemed to be really knowledgable and someone I would like to work with.

Because I was cooking for lots of people, I cooked two pans of the recipe. I did cover the 2nd one and baked for an additional 20 - 30 minutes - that worked for me! And there was plenty of liquid - both pans still had liquid in the bottom when finished cooking.

I seem to be au gratin and scalloped potato challenged. Every. single. time. I try to make one of these dishes, I end up with half raw/half cooked crunchy potatoes!! I follow the directions exactly. I promise. Easter dinner is a good example. I made these: Garlic Potatoes au Gratin exactly as directed: thin sliced raw potatoes (I used a mandolin), 325 degrees for 75 minutes. The recipe didn't specify, so I assumed uncovered. At the end of the 75 minutes - semi-raw, crunchy potatoes. I ended up having to microwave them for about 15 minutes to get them done in time for dinner. What is this ??? Does anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions? This recipe was so good that I refuse to give it up!

OOOHH! I second this one - sweet potato chips with pork sounds like an instant classic to me!!

I did take a picture, but I am not digital yet - I will have to wait until I finish this roll, have it developed, get a picture CD and figure out how to post to egullet !

Well, I made the lamb jus and used it to make gravy for Easter dinner. Worked great. It made a really rich, tasty gravy that stood up well to the lamb, but didn't overpower it! I am dying to make that tarte tatin, Marlene - I have to wait until Mr. Kim will be home to do it, because I can't turn the pan over by myself. I am newly impaired and keep starting to do things and suddenly remember that I can't anymore ! It looked wonderful!

I really don't know that answer to that. The cream of coconut is like sweetened condensed milk - very sweet and thick. Coconut milk is less sweet and thin, isn't it? I would think that you could substitute, but how or if it would change the taste/texture, I don't know. Maybe someone else could answer this question. Is there a specific reason that you would want to use the milk instead, or is it just what you happen to have??

Yep, that's it EXACTLY, Chris - the crumb was finer than pound cake, but not so...what? Moist, dense, heavy??

Do you know Drake's Yankee Doodles?? They were available in the DC metro area when I was growing up ('60's and '70's) and I just loved them . I live in Richmond, VA now and you used to be able to get them at Kroger's and the Wonder Bread stores, but no more . I have this shameful little love of them and would like to make them at home since I can't find them anywhere and refuse to pay the exorbitant shipping charges to buy them online. I know that I can make the ‘cream’ filling, but what’s got me stumped is the cake. Is it German chocolate?? It’s not just chocolate, I know that. I can’t find it on any of the copycat-type websites. Please help me if you have any insight!! Thanks so much!

I made my very best ever coconut cake for Easter dinner yesterday. It is a recipe from epicurious.com that I made a few changes to and it was the hit of Easter dinner (that and the Gouda au gratin potatoes). The cake was incredibly moist and rich. I split the three layers (much easier to do than I imagined, by the way) and filled with lemon curd (I'll make my own next time), trimmed the cake on the sides, frosted, lined up bunny peeps on the side, dusted with coconut and topped with a little chocolate bunny. It was beautiful and delicious - I was so proud of myself, I felt a little ridiculous, actually ! Here's a link to the recipe: Coconut Layer Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

Nina, what a treasure! How I wish I had something like that from the cooking side of my family! I am compiling something like that, though mine is on the internet, not handwritten - I imagine that our great-grands won't be able to recognize actual handwriting and that even the internet will seem quaint ! I do have a few handwritten recipes from a famously good cook great grandmother and have tried one that didn't work either. So, I don't have an answer for you, but, if it is ok to do this (let me know if it isn't and I'll delete), I'll piggyback on you to try to get a solution, too! This dried apple cake is supposed to be a moist, rich, dense 19th century type cake. Instead it came out like a giant, thick cooky - almost impossible to cut and VERY, VERY chewy. The taste was excellent. According to the two people still alive who tasted this cake when she made it, the flavor was spot on, but the texture much too heavy. Any ideas?? Ma's Dried Apple Cake Source of Recipe My Great Grandmother Easterwood Recipe Introduction (first paragraph written previously) I haven’t made this yet – just got it from my grandmother, but even if NO one likes it, I will still leave it in. Historical recipes don’t have to be tried and true! This is in her own words, but I will add notes when I make it. NOTE: Well, I made it and something is definitely wrong. The flavor is great, but it cooks up like a big, chewy cooky. Very hard to cut. Both Grandma Jean and Momma had tasted this when Ma made it and said that the taste was good, but the texture when she made it was moist and dense, but not hard and chewy. And I don’t know how the hell you are supposed to beat baking soda into dried apples??? There is obviously too much flour in it. I will try it again using ½ the flour. I cooked it in a tube pan, which Grandma Jean says she thinks Ma did. List of Ingredients 2 c. sugar 1 c. butter 2 ½ c. dried apples 3 eggs well beaten 1 c. chopped nuts 1 pkg. Raisins 4 c. flour 4 t. baking soda 1 t. nutmeg 1 t. cinnamon Recipe Cream butter and sugar. Add apples after beating soda into them. Add other ingredients. Bake 1 ½ hours at 300 degrees.

I have never understood how this place stays in business, even in places that don't have REAL sub shops (like all over the South). I think 7-11 has the same quality subs as Subway. Luckily, Richmond, VA has Jersey Mike's now, which aren't perfect, but so much better than Subway! When ever I pass a Subway, I want to go in and ask the patrons if they know that there is a Jersey Mike's just down the street. Lunch is awful, dinner unimaginiable and breakfast (yep, some of them have breakfast) is truly a disgusting nightmare of a meal.

Someone gave me some of this starter and I made the bread with it and it was wonderful. The starter itself doesn't have eggs in it; it has flour, milk, sugar and yeast, though! I'll link you to my directions for the bread for when you are given the starter and for the starter for when you'd like to start your own. This is really worth doing. It makes a very moist quick bread and you can vary it however you like.

Abra is the BEST. Those are great ideas! Sounds like a perfect and easy and delicious Easter/Spring menu! The only thing that I would add is some really good yeast rolls from a local bakery (or you can cheat and use the frozen SISTER SCHUBERT rolls - they are really, really good!).

Samasutra, that looks wonderful. I have printed the recipe out to try. I think my daughter will like it, she LOVES red onions. This is my own version of a recipe that I found in Gourmet or Bon Appetit: Onion Garlic Soup. It's made with both roasted garlic and sauteed garlic, sweet onions, chicken and beef stock and its baked for 2 hours. Kind of different, but very, very rich and satisfying.

I know this might be too late, but for anyone else that is perusing the boards in search of Wmsburg restaurants, I would recommend Le Yaca. It is on Rt. 60, about 1/2 mi. from the entrance to Busch Gardens in a cute little shopping center that includes a tea shop (they actually serve tea), a wine/gourmet shop, some nice little boutiques and a great wool shop. Le Yaca is French, but think country French. Very relaxed and casual. I have only been for lunch and it is very reasonably priced and has very good food. We have had the mushroom soup, the salad, the snails, the crab crepes and the roasted pork loin with stuffed cabbage, boudin blanc and apples. Everything was delicious!

What Laurel said. Seriously - I agree with everything - it sounds odd, but loose clothing can be very important! I was sick until they cut the cord, so I completely sympathize with you. Mr. Kim used to bring me saltines and coke in bed in the mornings and sometimes that helped. I hope that yours passes soon, but if it doesn't, talk to your doctor. Losing a little weight in the beginning isn't a problem, but you don't want to continue to lose a lot! Good luck and let us know how things are going!!

Good point. Yet, the judges saw his mention of the niece as a positive; praising him for making it and criticizing him for not mentioning her more often. Meanwhile, out here in tv land, we don't give a flying f*ck about his niece in the least. It just goes to show the serious disconnect between what the "experts" at Food Network believe the audience wants and what the audience actually wants. Meaningless mentions of unknown family members falls under the category of pandering, something that FTV seems to do quite well. Frankly, I don't see the value in any of these contestants' unique attributes. Even Guy, who seems plenty likable, leaves me at a loss. What exactly does he bring to the table that we cannot find elsewhere? His manic energy? His spikey, bleached white hair? Ok, perhaps his restaurant experience could be a useful point of separation. But wait, the judges more or less criticized him for being too "pro" in his most recent demo. Go figure. =R= ← Ron, this is almost word for word what I said to my husband after watching the last episode. What the judges tell them to do is consistently the opposite of what I would like to have in a host of a food show. They tell them not to use specialized language - please DO, and then explain it so that I actually LEARN something. The judges said not to refer to the 'set', that viewers want to believe that the host is in their own home - no, no I don't care where the hell they are - I don't have some built up fantasy about some food tv host!!! I would really like to watch a PRO - someone who is an expert. If I took a class in tax preparation, I would hope that the instructor was a professional tax accountant, not just some guy who was good at balancing his checkbook and had lots of personality. Why does the Food Network not get this????

I am enjoying this season even more than last season. One comment - watching Bourdain sit on the side of the road in Sicily, bitching and moaning while someone ELSE changes the flat tire??? Not a lot of sympathy for you, bud.

I made the lamb jus yesterday and am going to use it today to make gravy for my Easter lamb. I posted on the cooking board about wanting to make a rich gravy for my lamb and that seemed to be the consensus. I have some leftover red wine jus in the freezer that I can use also, if I think I need it. For Valentine's day, I made the skirt steak and I took pictures of the entire process. If I can ever figure out how, I am going to post the photos. I printed out the directions and still can't make it work ! Going to get Mr. Kim to look at them for me. Wish me luck on my gravy, y'all!

First of all, let me say thank you ALL for your responses. They have all been so thoughtful and thorough and truly appreciated. I am processing all the info you've given me now and will have to decide what to do in the next few weeks. I am still recovering and haven't been released to lift anything yet, so I am still a ways off from having to decide which direction to go in. Thanks again!!

Ok, I am almost recovered from my surgery and thinking about going out to look for a job . I am so very sick of offices, have no interest in 'selling' and keep looking at people waiting tables in good restaurants thinking that it looks like a cool job. Am I crazy? Thats the first question. The other question, more important, I think ('cause if I AM crazy and I hated it, I could always just quit) is this: am I too old - would anyone hire me? I am 46 years old, female and I look about that. I am a bit overweight still (5'5, 175 lb.). All of my work history has been business oriented. The only restaurant experience I've had was working at a Denny's 20 years ago out of desperation when my daughter was a baby. So, do you think anyone would hire me - NOT at Denny's or Waffle House - or even Applebee's - I mean at a independant, good restaurant - or am I 20 years too late? Thanks, all!