Kim Shook

It looks almost like some kind of shank with that big bone off to the right. I like that char! I hope he's feeling better, @CantCookStillTry! Chest infections are absolutely miserable and they can hang on for a long time.

One of Mr. Kim's co-workers asked for advice about her first use of the IP. She tried to cook great northern beans and got some soft and some hard beans. She didn't soak them. The two bean recipes that I've had success with don't require soaking, but I know that some of @JAZ's do. I told her that I thought she probably used too little liquid (2 cups to 1 lb. beans) and that her beans might have been not good quality. Anything else I can tell her? Thank you!

I'm with you and Zagnut candy bars are one of the best American candies! Any mass produced thing that announces that it is cinnamon flavored is almost guaranteed instead to be a cheap fake maple/butterscotch flavor. Is cinnamon THAT expensive?

@blue_dolphin - that is one cool cup! This morning:

Some friends stopped by to meet us for lunch on their way to visit family in Roanoke. They’ll be back this week to stay with us for a few days. We met them at a place we love and forget about all the time. It’s called Tazza Kitchen and I have no idea why we forget about it. Never had even an ordinary meal there – always good. But, for some reason, it always takes Jessica to remind us of it. For the table: Hot goat cheese and marinara dip. Brick oven crusty bread. Mr. Kim and I both the quiche and “simple salad”, which was greens, brick oven roasted cherry tomatoes, crispy shallots, and roasted shallot vinaigrette: Gotta love a place that’s serving quiche again! Jessica and our friends had the Spicy Sausage and black pepper honey brick oven pizza: I tasted the crust and sauce and it was very good. Jessica also got the fries, which were pretty good: On Sunday, we went out in the country to get our pumpkins and stopped at a favorite sub shop for lunch. I got the tuna sub: I got the small (8-inch) and it has made three meals, so far. Jessica got the sausage with grilled peppers and onions: Mr. Kim got the cheese steak: Which was delicious but needed extra cheese and some kind of sauce. We shared an order of their fries: I’m pretty sure that these are the best fries in Richmond. Including the fancy places that do them in duck fat, etc. They are just perfect. Lunch today was an heirloom tomato on white bread with Dukes’: The world’s most perfect sandwich😁.

@CantCookStillTry– Mmmm. Toad in the Hole. Time for that soon! Your gravy looks really good. Do you shape your sausage into little patties like she suggests? I’ve wondered if it is worth the trouble. @Shelby – I want a big fat sandwich right now. And your fries are especially yummy looking this time. So glad you got to have a good visit with your mom❤️! @Duvel – your Speckkuchen is much more delicious looking than the Wiki example! And the Maultaschen that you had looks and sounds incredible. Do you have a recipe that you like for that? @Dejah - lovely food! I've been thinking about you and hoping your husband was better. Please give him my best! All these incredible meals and I’m over here posting leftover cheese dip🙄! Not sure when I’ll get back on track. We’ve got out of town guests coming on Wednesday to stay through Monday and then we have to gear up to get Jessica’s apartment ready to vacate and get her packed and moved in here. I really haven’t the slightest idea what shape my home will be in while she’s here. She has a tendency to spread out her messes. Oh, well. I’ll do my best to start cooking again. On Sunday we celebrated my FIL’s BD with a family covered dish. I made a hot bacon and Gruyere dip. I ended up having the leftovers for dinner with some of a wonderful farmer’s market apple:

You've stirred old memories. I need to find some hard, but flavorful pears. If it appeals read this. And here's my grandmother's recipe.

Trying to get my head around milking a donkey. 🤔

I have an almost identical recipe of my mom's, but with shrimp. I haven't had it in at least 10 years, but I remember loving it. I must sheepishly admit that, made with fresh salmon, I'd probably love your MIL's version, too. I used to love canned salmon, but find it unpleasantly funky lately.

And please let us know, @ElsieD! We'll need to add it to our notes if it works!

Welcome to eGullet, @elizzy! So glad you came back! And it's wonderful to meet someone who knew Steven. Looking forward to your contributions!

@liamsaunt – I would give anything if someone would set that plate of pecan crusted chicken salad in front of me right now. No cooking to show at all these days. I’ve made a few breakfasts, but no dinners at all. Last night Mr. Kim picked up spicy Thai for him and for me dinner from my favorite Chinese restaurant. Orange beef on plain fried rice and shrimp toast: Having the other half tonight. No shrimp toast left, though ☹️.

@BonVivant - sorry to hear about the earthquake and glad you're ok. Even a small one is upsetting, I know. One of my dearest friends (we've been friends since 1975) was in town for a few hours and we had a laugh filled lunch together at a Lebanese bakery that is fairly new to Richmond. No pictures (we were talking non-stop), but we shared a beef shawarma and a half cheese and half za'atar manakish (flat bread). He now lives in LA and says he hasn't had better shawarma there! It was delicious.

Doesn't look like a recall YET, but possible problem with cilantro and/or limes: USA Today

Gorgeous oysters. I've tried again and again to eat them raw. Growing up on the Maryland/Virginia eastern shore I was shamed into it multiple times. When I was a teenager my parents bought a vacation home on Chincoteague Island, famous for their salty oysters. I tried them over and over. I finally gave up and accepted that I just couldn't take the texture. I adore them steamed, fried, grilled, roasted, etc., though!

See if you can find Clark bars - they are made with real chocolate and are FAR superior to Butterfingers.

@blue_dolphin – believe it or not, that ham is from the Food Lion deli and sliced thin by them. The brand name is Hobe and it is very good. No need for soaking – it comes perfectly, but not overly, salty. Being in California, you may not find it in your grocery store delis, but its worth asking about and getting a sample. I love your tribute meals. When I get some time, I’m going to make some, too. This morning: Basically yesterday, with eggs!

@Ann_T - as much as I love hot open faced sandwiches, it's never occurred to me to try pork! Must attend to that soon! Your gravy always looks so delicious. I had two of these this morning: I figure I must have had a half a stick of butter for breakfast. 🥴

I was talking about this one that he did on Sunday:

Friday: Benton’s bacon, pineapple, scrambles, and toast. Sunday breakfast was Stouffer’s creamed chipped beef on Texas toast: We are still getting good heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market, so breakfast yesterday morning was IP eggs and tomatoes on toast with Dukes: I have been eating this breakfast sandwich my entire life. For most of that time, I’ve made them for myself (rather than my mother making them) and I’ve always noticed that smearing the mayo on top of the tomato was a sloppy, uneven job. I am 62 years old and it just this morning occurred to me to spread the mayo on the toast. What a maroon! 😳🙄 This morning: Country ham and egg sliders.

@Duvel – Lovely paella. But were those ginormous shrimp or were there more of them elsewhere and that was just the pretty ones for a picture, because I’d think you’d need more than that to satisfy everyone. Or is that just a gluttonous American talking? 😁 @gulfporter – best wishes to your esposo for an uneventful and full recovery. So glad that you have access to such good healthcare! @Norm Matthews – great looking chicken. Was it spicy? Your Korean-style wings that I make are delicious and I love that they aren’t spicy. @heidih and @Dante – the Chun King mentions made me laugh. When I first met Mr. Kim, his mom invited me to come over for “Chinese Food”. I figured she meant take out or that she was going to make it (I’d already had her sweet and sour pork and it was excellent). She pulled out 2 giant cans of La Choy chicken chow mein. Shudder inducing. A few shreds of meat per giant can, gelatinous sauce, and limp, slimy vegetables. I drank a LOT of tea to get that down that night. 😝 @Ann_T – as always, such beautiful fish and chips. And those cocktail sized bagels with the salmon! So inviting. I’d want to sit all day and talk and nibble! @weinoo – your fried rice is exactly how I’d love mine to look. I wish you’d do a video tutorial on fried rice! @liamsaunt – your garlic butter dinner rolls should be entered into the state fair. They are so perfectly and evenly shaped and cooked! Brava! We are having very plain dinners and meals out these days. Jessica will be moving home at the end of November until she can find a job that will allow her to pay her living expenses. It is difficult work in many ways and I just don’t have the mental or physical energy to plan and cook meals. I’m ok with breakfast, but dinner has really been beyond me. Wednesday we had canned alphabet vegetable soup and Sister Schubert sausage rolls (slightly over-crisped): (Yet another unattractive soup photo – I agree with @liuzhou on that!) One meal that I did take some time with was this one on Thursday. We’ve been trying to test out cooking a tri tip for when we have house guests at the beginning of October. Unfortunately, what we got from Publix this time was actually picanha. I went ahead and prepped it the way I was planning to do the tri tip. We wanted to try a couple of different methods to see which we liked best. Last month Mr. Kim smoked it (actually a tri tip that time). I sous vide it at 129F for 4 hours and then Mr. Kim seared it in a very hot iron skillet over the grill burner. The only rub was Montreal Steak Seasoning: After the sear and sliced: It was fantastic. Perfectly medium-rare, tender, beefy, juicy – all the right things. Served with salad, alfredo fusilli, and green beans. The beans were odd. I’d never seen any that called themselves “Extra Green Green Beans”: But they were indeed extra green: Even after simmering for a couple of hours, they were much more intense green than I would have expected: Tasted good, though. The fusilli was terrible. I cooked it for twice as long as the directions called for and there were still many strands that were tough and seemingly undercooked. Plate: I didn’t really realize how much like roast beef this was going to be. Next time, I think I’ll make some horseradish sauce and/or gravy. Friday night was big sandwiches. I thought about @Shelby, but I’m afraid mine weren’t as good as her smoked turkey ones! Muenster, ham, and salami: with nacho cheese Doritos backing it up. Worked at Jessica’s apartment until 9 and then stumbled into the nearest pizza place. We like that they do slices. Jessica had 2 slices with feta, mushrooms, onions, and sausage: I had the Italian hoagie (ham, provolone, salami, and capicola: And a cheese slice: Mr. Kim had 2 slices of jalapeno and pepperoni:

I'll add my thanks to everyone else's. I love seeing what you make for your guests and Ronnie. And seeing your feline and canine buddies is always icing on the cake!

I haven't been clicking reactions on each post, but I come to this thread a few times a day to read what folks have written. The posts make me cry, but they are also very, very comforting. They embody the essence of our mutual friend and show anyone who didn't know him all the facets of his personality and the things that he did for all of us. I just hope he knew or knows somehow how much we all cared about him, what an important part of eG he was (and will continue to be) and how much we miss him.

I've been crying on and off since finding out on FB last night. He was the sweetest and most generous of people. I was trying to tell Mr. Kim what made David so special. I loved that he was so knowledgeable about fine and elegant foods and still appreciated simple home cooking. He was thrilled when I sent him 30+ year old copies of Taste of Home magazine from my grandmother's home and was proud of the fact that he had had some of his recipes published in the magazine. His service to eG was complete and I don't know that his shoes can be filled here. I will miss his kindness and sense of humor so much.

Hugs!