Kim Shook

For Super Bowl parties, we try to serve some things that represent the teams playing (i.e. - did BBQ for Carolina last time) so I have been racking my brain trying to come up with some Pittsburgh eats (we will have a pot of coffee on hand to represent Seattle - we are rooting for the Steelers ). Help, please! I have no menu at all yet (except that I am going to try to make some Buffalo Wing Wontons with this creamy buffalo dip I make) so any help is welcome!! Thanks!

Just baked a batch of these: Lemon Cream Cupcakes Very, very good!!

Thanks, everyone. You know, we have a fairly large Hispanic population here, I think I will try one of the Latino Markets!!! The Bouchon thread is here: Bouchon Thread

Ok, the Bouchon thread has inspired me and I want to make the skirt steak. I am planning on making it for Valentine's Day. Mr. Kim loves steak (I can only eat a bite or two - gastric bypass surgery). I have asked the butcher at my grocery store if he can get me skirt steak, a calves foot and veal bones. They have veal bones all the time and he thinks that he can probably get me a foot, but they only special order skirt steaks in 40 lb. amounts ! We told him that we could take up to 10 lb. and what he is going to try to do is pair us up with some other people who want it too. (We live in Richmond, VA and the store is Ukrops - they have amazing customer service). My question is: if they simply cannot get me the skirt steak, is there another (more available) cut that would work the same way??? Thank you so much!

Welcome, Shaya - this is a great place. I am fairly new to posting myself (I lurked for at least 2 years, I think). But this is a great place to be. I have made a bit of a pest of myself asking for help, and everyone has been so kind and accomodating!

I actually wasn't referring to their 'antics'! I am sure that they were encouraged to act like that - all the different personalities draw in an audience - especially ones who wouldn't necessarily be interested in cakes. I understand that. My problem with Duff is that he just doesn't seem to bring much more than his antics to the competitions. I am sure that his cakes are wonderful - IN HIS SHOP. But his creations for the shows have been substandard. I don't think it shows much respect for what he's been asked to do or to his fellow contestants. I would NEVER EVER want to compete against Collette (I WOULD, however, love to watch her forever )!! I wouldn't want to compete against a monkey with a pastry bag ! I am the egulleteer who is always freaking out when I end up with holes in my cupcakes or runny frosting and comes here to beg help! I have enormous respect for the pros and for the incredibly gifted folks who have posted recipes and photos here for us to drool over. I aspire to be an amateur !

Or you could frost them and no one will be the wiser. ← Bingo! That's exactly what I am going to do!

I am making brownie cupcakes. They have a filling of peanut butter chips (a little batter, 1 T. of chips, more batter, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes). They came out of the oven all high domed, crackley topped and beautiful. I go back in 20 minutes later and there is this freaking SINK HOLE in the middle of each brownie - as big as a tablespoon!! Any ideas what has caused this? The cat and dog assure me that they are innocent . They taste wonderful, but look a little odd and they are supposed to be for a party this weekend. I guess I could fill the craters with M&Ms. Sigh.

Utz 'Special Dark' pretzels. I don't know what I am going to do if they ever quit making these. We used to gorge on the extra salty splits that the in laws would bring us back from semi-annual trips to Penn. Dutch-land and the last bag they brought is still on a shelf in the pantry. They taste positively insipid after the Special Darks.

I just ordered this. Baker's Edge Pan. I think it is pretty impressive that it made the King Arthur catalog. I will report back as soon as I get it and try it out.

I was really looking forward to this episode, but was disappointed - I thought it was boring and the only really 'wow' cake was the matador. I enjoyed hearing the judges talk together during the judging - I think that was new. I agree that a longer planning time would have been better - I think this show could actually be a couple of hours long - or even a 'mini series' kind of thing. The cakes on the shows where the theme is not a mystery have been MUCH better cakes. I am really tired of the former welder guy from Baltimore (Charm City Bakery, I think). I think the last time he was the one who 'boasted' that he doesn't plan ahead - he just goes for it. I think it shows.

JUST got finished putting all my cookbooks back on shelves after Christmas (I am one of those looney Martha wanabes who has so many Christmas decorations that I have to actually pack up my regular stuff so I can put it all out for the holidays ). They are all over the freakin' place. I have a totally cool island in my kitchen that my step-dad built for me - the base is made up of 3 bookshelves with adjustable shelves. That is completely full. The bookshelf in the living room has 2 shelves devoted to food and there are more in the tv cabinet in our bedroom (these are ones I haven't read yet). I have 182 cookbooks, 31 books about food, wine, cooking, etc. and 3 FEET of magazines. In putting them back and reacquainting myself with the books, I have realized some deficiencies - no Elizabeth David, no second edition of Mastering the Art of French cooking - so I put those on my wishlist. I am especially proud of my complete 16 volume set of 'Family Circle Illustrated Library of Cooking' - which I discovered (to my delight) is the source of many of the photos from the Gallery of Regretable Food. MIL was tossing them and I managed to rescue them .

Yup. They all think I'm crazy. And I don't go to nearly the lengths that others here at egullet do. Some of y'all make me feel a little inadequate . I don’t think I am even terribly particular. I love to eat and cook. I don’t mind a few shortcuts. When I am cooking for ‘just us’, I don’t really go all out and I have a shameful affection for buffets and congealed salads . But when I entertain, I tend to make most everything from scratch or seek out really good quality products (i.e. – bread). Most of our friends and family (except for my two dads (regular & step) and Mr. Kim’s mom) are the kind who, if they are cooking for a large group, buy ready made stuff at Costco or those supermarket ‘trays’. At restaurants, they are always surprised when I order something that I haven’t ever had before – they can’t imagine ordering something that I might not like. I figure, what’s the worst that can happen? If I don’t like it, I won’t eat it; if I do, I have discovered something new! Sometimes their attitude makes me laugh, but I confess, sometimes it really pisses me off!

I saw an ad on tv for this thing: Pasta Cooker Ya think it really works?? If so, I think it would be a pretty great product. If all I had to do was add boiling water from a tea kettle, I would probably make pasta more often. Apparently the lid functions as a drain - so no big ass pot or colander to wash. The website says that it will be available soon - but I saw an ad for one available now. Has anyone tried this thing??

I do this. I started a couple of years ago. I keep a list of menus that I serve to company and also holidays. I also put in special meals in local restaurants and meals eaten on trips. If I have matchbook covers/business cards from the place, I put those in, too. Its a nice little scrapbook kind of thing. My current one is small (5 x 7 inches, probably), but my next one is going to be bigger, so that I can get more on one page and I usually print out my menu for special occasion dinners on nice paper, so I'll be able to put those in there, too.

Must preface my answer by saying that I can't eat much chocolate at all since I have had a gastric bypass and any more than a couple of bites of it will make me ill. I am also drawn mostly to milk chocolate when I am simply eating it. It's kind of hard to educate your palate when you can only take a bite or two ! That being said - my favorite eating chocolate is English Dairy Milk. I love the creamy gentleness of the flavor. I hate any waxiness whatsoever in chocolate and I find many other milk chocolates to have that waxiness.

These are great. I made them for the first time last year and they were gone before Christmas and I had to make again. They are one of the most popular things I make - everyone loves them! Go figure!

Make a simple sauce by roasting, skinning and chopping jalapenos and then heating them in some heavy cream. Make thin, crispy corn cakes, put the crabcake on top, top with the cream (open face crab sammich!). Serve with fresh succotash and a microgreen salad with a really tangy lemon based dressing. Wow. I am hungry now!

Oh, well. I have a new, revised menu. Can't figure out why, but daughter made some requests to change the food. Here's the new menu: Crab Meltaways Sliders Mini Tacos Tortilla Chips with Guacamole, Salsa & Queso Dip Liptauer Cheese Spread with Pumpernickel Cocktail Bread Red Pepper Jelly Cheesecake with Crackers Crudités Bleu Cheese & Caramelized Shallot Dip Caesar Dip Asian Style Dip Skewered Fruit Cinnamon Pecans Assorted Cupcakes Still should be good, and I am making the sliders,guac and Queso dip (not buying from Costco), but I was really looking forward to see what I could do with those Deconstructed Spring Rolls . Some other time, I guess. No chance of complaints of 'too fancy' now ! Crab meltaways & mini tacos - sob.

I am the exact opposit of almost everyone I know. My mom is a great cook, but she made sort of 'upscale' (for the 60's & 70's - when I grew up) food. Pastas with light sauces, roasted meats, sautes, salad with every dinner, fish, etc. Love all of that still, but what did I grow up to adore??? Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, long cooked greens and green beans, corn bread, casseroles, meat loaf, pot roast. Momma only made pot roast after she tasted mine !

More importantly, what will we serve them on/in?!? ←

Nope, couldn't do it. I am a natural born blabber and a terrible liar. I am the kind of person who confesses to using store bought mayonnaisse! I always assume that everything I eat in everyone else's house is from scratch, though and have embarrassed a few people by asking for their recipe !

I have never, ever had a better sandwich than at Short Sugar's in Reidsville, NC. Short Sugar's I taste bbq everywhere that it is available and everytime I go to Short Sugar's, I am afraid it won't be good anymore. But it is always better than anywhere else I have ever had it. And the sauce is truly unique and amazing. Not eastern or western. Thin and dark and present without being overwhelming. I buy it a gallon at a time when I go and seal it in mason jars to put over the inferior bbq we have available in Richmond.

Pass the coffee and light my cigarette. I, too, am here for the TA (tablewareaholic anonymous) meeting. I have filled my kitchen cabinets, china cabinet, TWO sideboards, hall coat closet and part of one attic with tableware, appliances, linens, etc. When I went to NYC this summer, my friend took me to one of those stores that sells old china from train, hotels, clubs, etc. and I nearly lost my mind. The only thing that held me back was that I was traveling back to VA on the train. I have talked of nothing else since then but going back with the station wagon to make a haul (Mr. Kim is terrified). If we ever win the lottery, my home o' dreams will come with the biggest, coolest butler's pantry anyone has ever seen AND it will be have to hold TWICE as much as I currently have because I don't see any end in sight for my acquisitiveness !

Yay! I am so glad to see so many people here that find teaching manners to children to be important! I have seen on so many other sites discussions about manners where people decided that it was snobby or something to adhere to 'someone elses rules'. But, of course, these same people were the first to criticize their fellow Americans for not observing other cultures 'rules' when outside of the US. I have never understood that. Why is etiquette important only when it is 'foreign'?? I don't think that teaching manners is an either/or thing. I have a 22 year old daughter who has beautiful manners (encompassing all that implies) and is tolerant and kind and thoughtful. I can't imagine teaching/modeling one without the other. It's kind of like the old works/faith argument. I believe one is incomplete without the other.