Kim Shook

Post church lunch at a new place in Ashland VA called Mallory’s Kitchen. We were the only people in the whole place, so I don’t know how long it’s going to last. That’s too bad because the food was wonderful. I had the pork chop sandwich and the mac n cheese: Mr. Kim had a cheese steak and fries:

Can I sneak in a cake mix dessert? Goodie for coffee hour at church this morning - spice/banana mini cupcakes with banana chips: This is the one started from a cake mix. Very popular among the Episcopalians, though. Of course, we aren't known for discerning palates except where scotch is concerned 😁. Chocolate Toffee Bars: These were the most popular thing there, I think.

CSO!!!

Did you shuck the corn before or after cooking?

I'm the carb queen and even I'm wondering at the pasta and potato meals! Reminds me of some of our meals in England! 😄

@Margaret Pilgrim – bravo on the crepe! I haven’t tried to make it yet. But I should since I always think the filling is skimpy. @Shelby – is that your cook, then fry fried chicken? I have those directions in my pile of recipes under my kitchen island. I’m determined I’m going to do that soon. And I love your bowl that the fruit salad is in. I don’t have that one😉. I’m now craving Ronnie’s ribs and your macaroni salad, too! @Jonathan – delicious looking and sounding dumplings. I prefer them fried, too! I thought I had resolved my spaghetti and meat sauce craving and then I see @Ann_T's and @Norm Matthews'! My house smelled great on Wednesday, but this wasn’t for us: A HS friend of Mr. Kim’s is hosting a day out for some young South American au pairs and wanted to give them a real American meal. So, he donated BBQ and sauce. Instead, for dinner that night, we had some leftover steak from dinner out at Lonestar the night before: I steamed it in the CSO and fried up some onions: I also used some of Jessica’s leftover Rotel cheese dip and made steak and cheese sandwiches with a leftover baked potato (so huge it served us 3 times!) and corn: Along with salad: When we delivered the BBQ to Mr. Kim’s friend, she invited us to dinner and served perfectly ordinary salad that tasted better than any salad I remember having. Nothing exotic and it was topped with Ken’s Lite Caesar. What made it special is that they have the most beautiful and amazing private garden I’ve ever seen. They are growing everything from tomatoes, cukes, asparagus, peppers, potatoes, etc., etc. – to some very lush looking weed! I couldn’t believe how much stuff they managed to fit into a quarter of an acre. They even had fruit trees. I wish I’d taken pictures. She sent us home with this: My MIL will be getting the green bells and the eggplant. Mr. Kim and Jessica will eat the yellow pepper. Dinner last night was hot dogs again (we had leftover chili) with corn, kraut, and sliced tomatoes (Hanovers – a local tomato - from Publix):

Jessica is pet sitting this week in a cool neighborhood across town. I went over to visit her on Thursday to have lunch and get some kitty/puppy love. We got lunch at a new-to-us take out place owned and run by a NOLA Vietnamese family. Jessica’s chicken banh mi, fries, and egg roll: This was basically a pulled chicken sandwich with some carrots and cucumbers – no pickled stuff. The fries were good, but the egg roll was a standard food service kind – most likely frozen. I had the wings, fried rice, and slaw: They were out of the regular BBQ sauce for the wings, so I got the “Sticky Garlic” sauce. The wings and the sauce were very good, but I would have preferred for them to be tossed together rather than the sauce being served on the side. The fried rice was utterly forgettable, but the slaw was great. Dessert was beignets: Not good. Just greasy, heavy gut-bombs☹️. Friday: Lidl croissant with Costco cranberry chicken salad.

Between @David Ross' huckleberry pancakes and @Ann_T's blueberry ones that’s what were having for dinner tonight. And @Ann_T, that is the yummiest looking meatball sandwich I’ve ever seen. This morning:

So, when Mr. Kim was stocking up the food stores last year, he bought a few bags of these lentils: NOTHING on the bag says what kind/color they are. I think they are green because the directions on the bag call for simmering 15-20 minutes with no soaking. We have way too many lentils (I confess that I've probably used a total of 4 pounds of lentils in the entirety of our 39 year marriage) and I want to use these up. I'd like to sub them in for the called for French green lentils (such as le Puy) in this Ina Garten recipe. The recipe calls for the lentils to be simmered for an hour. But other recipes that I've researched only call for the French lentils to be cooked for 15-20 minutes, like my unidentified lentils. 😱🤪 I guess my question is: if I shorten the recipe-specified cooking time to 15-20 minutes (adding the lentils and kielbasa at the same time????) will all the flavors meld properly? Thank you so much!

@David Ross - those pancakes are gorgeous! Between your fabulous looking ones and the crappy one that Mr. Kim got on Sunday, I believe I need to make pancakes soon! Please explain whipped mascarpone butter! This morning was a toasted Lidl croissant with bacon and IP eggs:

Yay! I've missed this thread and YOU!!! I think that looks pretty good (I'm a fool for anything covered in gravy) especially those potatoes!

This morning was English muffins topped with cheese (melted for @rotuts 😉), ham, and egg:

@Margaret Pilgrim – as much as I love English muffins, I know I’d adore that potatoes version of a Benedict! @Shelby – thanks re: the cucumber dressing. I’ve made note and will try it soon. They just look so refreshing when you show them. Those fries look like a life goal to me, and I’d give an awful lot to have access to Silver Queen corn. We had almost nothing but that growing up because we went to Chincoteague Island VA every weekend and bought all of our corn at MD stands as we passed through the state. Dinner the other night at a new Mexican place around the corner. Mr. Kim had is usual Mexican restaurant litmus test – Enchiladas Supreme – beef, chicken, bean, cheese: He was happy with them. I got a chicken tamal and a beef burrito: Everything was fine – the sauce was very good. I’m no tamale expert, but the masa layer seemed a little too thick: Last night was soup made from the braised (IP) beef and noodles I made the other day, purchased slaw, and a rustic baguette from Lidl:

@liuzhou – I usually love smoked fish and would like to try those sprats! Went to our favorite pharmacy lunch counter for post-church breakfast on Sunday. Mr. Kim’s: The eggs were perfect, and the country ham was great, but the pancake was very gummy☹️. Mine: This was exactly what I wanted and so good. This morning: Ham slice, IP eggs, purchased Belgian waffles.

Like @David Ross, I'm not letting the season dictate my taste buds. Last night was braised beef (via IP) on egg noodles with a salad: I also made what I call "1970s Mom Garlic Bread". A loaf of grocery store "Italian" bread, sliced partway through and slathered with garlic/parsley butter and wrapped tightly in foil before being baked. As a kid in the 70s, I didn't know one mom that didn't make their garlic bread this way:

Tray of cookies that I'm taking to a post-funeral reception today: PB Blossoms, Ginger Chewies with Sugar Babies, and Jacques Torres’ Chocolate Chips.

Thanks, folks! I knew that my food always turned out fine doing it the way I was doing it (except for my pasta disaster), but thought I'd check!

This may be a dumb question. I was wandering around over at Chowhound and someone's question gave me pause. If I am using the IP to pressure cook and the "Keep Warm" light is on and the timer goes off, does the natural release NOT happen until the unit is turned off? Or does "Keep Warm" and Natural Release happen simultaneously? I never have given it the least thought and I'm not sure now if I usually pressure cook with the "Keep Warm" light on or not. When the timer goes off, I don't touch the IP - I just wait the amount of time indicated for "natural release" and then pop the vent button to finish the release. Am I totally screwing up?

Yep - that's what I've seen on menus that offer the Vietnamese words on their menus. I've seen them on TV a couple of times, but not all the Vietnamese places in our area have them.

@MetsFan5 - I actually like Spaghetti-O’s. My mom used to make Campbell’s tomato soup with elbow macaroni and I think Spaghetti-O’s are more akin to that than to what it’s trying to be! @Shelby – great looking meals – as always, such wonderful crust on your fish! What dressing do you use on your cucumber salad? @David Ross – I’m with you 100% on cooking what you want no matter the weather. I’ve always been fortunate enough to have AC (lived in a LOT of apartments as a kid), so if I want pot roast, I just crank the AC to 65 and get cooking. I think it is my rebellious side – “no one is going to tell me what to cook”😄. Of course, with my IP and CSO, I can avoid turning on the big oven a lot. I’ve never understood the mania for summertime outdoor cooking. Those temperatures keep me hibernating inside. Last Wednesday: (Can you tell I love my new salad bowls? I've really been posting them a LOT). And some pasta that Jessica made with some already prepared purchased grilled chicken: The pasta was a lemony spaghetti with lots of pepper and Parm – very good. I topped it with the chicken just to add a little protein and it went perfectly. On Thursday, Mr. Kim was busy at dinner time, so Jessica and I ended up at a local Vietnamese restaurant. We shared an appetizer platter: Really fresh and good. Not at all greasy. Jessica had seafood pho: Such lovely broth. I had my favorite and usual order: Its either called a “Yellow Pancake” or a “Vietnamese Crepe” depending on the restaurant. Crisp and folded and filled with shrimp, roast pork, and bean sprouts. Served with pickled carrot and daikon, fish sauce to dip and lettuce leaves to wrap up in: I’ve been fighting vertigo for a few days, so dinner on Monday was very simple – salad and Margarita flat bread from Kroger: Last night was Carolina dogs, baked beans, and corn. Hot dog just how I like them – spiral cut, fried in oil/butter, and slathered with BBQ sauce: With mustard, chili, and slaw:

@Ann_T – dear Lord, Ann! That roast dinner for breakfast. Just completely amazing. As is, of course, the follow-up sandwich. Those Yorkies are just begging to be stuffed full of the beef and drenched in gravy! Our close-by independent doughnut shop is no longer open 24 hours, so Jessica and I were forced to go to Wawa late last Wednesday night for the doughnuts we were craving😁. That’s an Entenmann’s plain doughnut (I am oddly enamoured of plain doughnuts) next to bacon, an IP egg, and a sausage biscuit (I cooked the sage sausage, but the biscuit was leftover from Popeye’s the night before): Monday: Sweet roll that Jessica brought from the (open) doughnut shop, leftover “Italian” bread that I never used for dinner, sage sausage, and scrambles. Tuesday: Cinnamon applesauce and ham and egg on an English muffin. Today:

I'm pretty sure that people think I'm doing this when I talk to Mr. Kim about the "CSO" and the "IP".

Also recalled by McCormick: McCormick Perfect Pinch Italian Seasoning 1.31-ounce bottle UPC: 052100049731 McCormick item number: 901582629 Affected date codes: MAY 26 24 K, MAY 27 24 K, JUN 04 24 K, JUN 05 24 K McCormick Perfect Pinch Italian Seasoning 2.25-ounce bottle UPC: 052100038254 McCormick item number: 901455463 Affected date codes: JUN 30 24 H, JUL 01 24 H McCormick Culinary Italian Seasoning 1.75-pound bottle UPC: 52100325743 McCormick item number: 932574 Affected date code: Jun 12 24 USA Today article

Chimpanzees and many species count better than humans and Norwegians... My favorite part.

So sad to see this. I can only imagine how hard a loss this will be for her family, especially a "joined at the hip" spouse. She was a love of a person and will be SO very, very missed.