Kim Shook

It was interesting seeing the Lorne sausage. I never thought about it before, but I believe that's the first "loose" British sausage I've ever seen. Everything I've ever seen and been offered has been in a link. In the US breakfast sausage comes either "link" or "patty" and patty is, of course, just loose, spiced sausage meat.

I need to apologize. I hate drama and I know I caused some. Of course everyone should go ahead and enjoy themselves on this topic - I know it wasn't mean spirited. All I can say is that I've been a bit fragile just lately and it hit me wrong. My problem and no one else's. It's a reason, but not an excuse. Please do accept my apology and carry on.

Welcome to eGullet, @Wait. Wot! I'm looking forward to your contributions. Where (generally) in the world are you located?

I won't do it, but I'd really love to see the reactions of folks if I decided to trash the foods of other cultures here on eG.

Growing up on the Eastern Shore of VA and MD, I think of blue crabs as being a HUGE part of the cuisine.

I think I'll go all out and NOT bash my country's food in this topic. Something built around Chicken and Dumplings or blue crab, sweet corn, and cornbread dumplings could be delicious and interesting.

And doesn't heat up my throat like the cheap stuff does.

I did wring mine (not rinse) because, like you said the strands were very much visually distinguishable. I think that next time I'll grate them on a hand grater like yours, but do it the "short way" - across the potato rather than end to end, so that I get a shorter strand.

@liamsaunt – I had to laugh at your post about the salmon on salad because, with some exceptions, I tend to side with your niece. As someone who detests hot, spicy foods, I confess to hating it when I come across spicy stuff in a salad. It feels like a betrayal – similar to how I feel about spicy desserts. Hot things on salads I can go back and forth on. To me, steak has no place on a salad. I’m ok with hot shrimp but prefer cold ones. Same with fish. I would certainly eat hot salmon on a salad, but I’d rather have it cold. However, to be completely contrary, I love “killed lettuce/spinach” – iceberg or Savoy spinach topped with a right out of the frying pan dressing of bacon, bacon grease, and vinegar. So, tell your niece she has an ally 🤪! I can’t see those Lion’s Head mushrooms without thinking of these weird venomous caterpillars we started hearing about in Virginia last year. @Ann_T – Happy Birthday to Moe! And what a lovely thing to be able to say. @Shelby – everything looks good, but especially those strawberries 🥰! How I wish I could find them that small. Also, in keeping with the fact that we could apparently move into one another’s homes and everything would be familiar, I have a very similar pitcher to the one that you have your peonies in 😄. Mr. Kim had to fast last Sunday for a medical test on Monday. So, he picked a favorite pizza place for dinner on Saturday: It cannot measure up to the incredible home made pizzas y’all make, but it was pretty good. Since I was eating alone on Sunday, I thawed an ET bagel and piled on some smoked salmon cream cheese: Wednesday was breakfast for dinner: Edward’s country ham: Scrambled eggs and @Duvel's potato pancakes: Which, I think are NOT exactly like his even though he very kindly sent me his recipe and answered a couple of last-minute questions. I think that being a little lazy and shredding them in the Cuisinart is NOT the same as “grating” which is what his recipe calls for. But they were delicious, and everything was properly cooked – crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Thank you so much, @Duvel! I used beef tallow to fry them – not sure that did anything for the flavor, but they were gorgeously crunchy. Served with a fruit salad of blackberries, pineapple, and mango dressed with lime juice and Sister Schubert rolls and bacon jam: Thursday was Toad in the Hole and I used one of the enamel roasting pans that Jessica gave me for the first time. Found Irish bangers at Fresh Market. After a partial roast of the sausages and red onions with the batter poured on: Out of the oven: I used beef tallow and I don’t think that I could detect any difference from the usual oil. Served with leftover potato pancakes and green beans: And onion gravy:

As far as British food being unseasoned, what I was referring to here was specifically the beans. Those Heinz vegetarian beans are tomatoey and sweet and, to me, need the little bit of acidity that the vinegar provides. I think the use of it may vary by family in Britain. I did a little poll on FB and, while the majority hadn’t heard of it, lots had. Oddly enough, many seemed to have missed the point of my poll – I was asking whether they did it or not and they seemed to think I was asking permission 😉. The mispronunciation of Worcestershire is a daily occurrence for folks who watch the Food Network. So many people seem to think it is adorable to NOT be able to properly pronounce the word. Yesterday: Bologna and cheese and BBQ chips. It looks like I used multiple slices of cheese, but it is only 2 thin slices. I guess the car was too hot coming home from the grocery store and the slices all merged. I was pulling off little strips of cheese to build my sandwich.

Yesterday: Fruit salad (mango, pineapple, blackberries dressing with lime juice), IP hard-cooked eggs and toast – one sliced adorned with my beloved Little Scarlett strawberry preserves. This morning: Classic – tomatoes on toast. One of the few weekday breakfasts my mother could get me to eat. She was still making them for me up until the time she finally moved out from her apartment.

I've done this, too. These are the "Theatre Box Candies". I can sit watching a show on TV and suddenly a whole box of Milk Duds or Dots is gone! Mr. Kim ordered these from a local company. They came yesterday: The peanut brittle is very good. The coconut is incredible. I'm already inspired to try to make coconut and toasted sliced almond brittle.

Well, all this bacon jam chat got me in the mood for it. So a couple of days ago I started a batch. Bacon fried and set aside and onions and brown sugar started: Onions and seasonings cooked down a bit: With the liquids added: Gorgeous, intense, sticky, gooeyness: After a spin in the Cuisinart: (Note to self: From here on out always make double batches.)

I'm sorry, but I have zero experience with a slushie maker. I was getting ready to link you to an article I found, but when I read @blue_dolphin's comment, I realized it was the same article that she linked to. Great minds, huh? 🤣

We are fortunate enough in my area to have several butcher shops and specialty shops that include a good meat section. Our favorite is Belmont Butchery which is owned by real deal lady butcher Tanya Cauthen. She appeared on, and won, Food Network's Chopped Grill Game. She's also a chef, and has a fantastic staff. You can get great products and good advice at her place. They do in-store charcuterie and confit. It's an amazing place that I wish we lived closer to.

I’m afraid that my sample group is rather small and my evidence purely anecdotal. I can only go by my stepdad, @Ted Fairhead , my 3 stepsisters and their English, French, Persian family. Ted was born in 1931 in London and grew up in east London (Bermondsey and Docklands). When they came to the US in the mid-1960s, they didn’t like much seasoning besides tons of salt and vinegar. No garlic, no onion, no green flecks of herbs, nothing tomato-laden. The first time that my mother entertained them was pizza and Monopoly night. They were completely suspicious and wouldn’t touch it. I think Momma scrambled some eggs and made toast. I’ve chronicled on here when my aunt came over to visit from Dorset and hardly ate a bite of the food I offered. She bemoaned the “heavily spiced” American food (y’all know me well enough to know that would NEVER describe MY food😄) and said she couldn’t wait to get back to “Good, plain English food”. My uncle who married a French lady and lived all over the world ate everything, as did his children. Conversely, a cousin was married to a Persian girl who ate almost every meal of her life at McDonalds – just because she loved the flavor. Ted never did grow to like spicy foods (we shared that aversion), but because he traveled so much in later years, his appreciation of various seasoned food grew enormously. This is not to support or refute anyone else’s research or experiences. I just find all of the stories interesting.

This, exactly. It was good enough that I would buy a large one to serve with dinner some weeknights. Another fast food place that used to have wonderful slaw was KFC. They didn't discontinue, but changed the recipe and it's rubbish now.

This recipe might give you a good start. It's not exactly the same ingredients, but similar enough. You'll have fun recipe testing anyway. Wish I could join you - it's just the kind of drink I like.

Welcome, Henri! Like everyone else, I'm happy to see you here and I'm looking forward to your contributions.

Certainly unethical. It didn't say "tenderloin". Just "filet". Which, without a bone it certainly was. Not sure how much actual regulation there is about what cuts are called. When I Google it, there is nothing for "filet" but "filet mignon" - it is just assumed to be tenderloin. Additionally, it is stupid. If the butcher hadn't been standing there and told us that it was actually chuck, we would have continued to assume that it was really poor quality beef.

When I have beans on toast, I am still an American 😄. Meaning that I don't use unseasoned, vegetarian Heinz beans. I prefer something with a little pork - like Van De Kamps, which are tomatoey, but not really highly flavored. These were leftovers, so they were more "fixed up" - BBQ sauce, onions, garlic, mustard.

Thanks all for chiming in re: the Air Fryer. It sounds like what we thought was right and that it is a good thing for her to use on her own, but not worth me getting one. @Duvel – that leg of lamb looks SO good. I have been dreaming of going to Zahav in Philadelphia to try their lamb shoulder with pomegranate molassas and your lamb looks like the roast they start with. @kayb– I’m so glad that you got to go to Bulrush! Thanks so much for taking the time to get pictures and sharing with us! @rotuts – I, too, remember those dressings. I still like Russian a LOT. Once in a great while I’ll want French. But Catalina was too sweet for me even when I was a kid! My uncle retired from McCormick spices years ago but is still loyal to the products. One thing that he loves is using their Beef Stroganoff seasoning packet. It is his “specialty”😁. A couple of months ago he couldn’t find it anywhere up in Northern VA. I found some down here in Richmond VA and sent him a bunch. I hadn't had any in forever so, I kept a couple for myself. It is one of those mixes where you cook the meat and add water and the seasoning mix and simmer. Sour cream is added just before serving. The flavor is fine for something so easy and quick. But I made an interesting discovery. I don’t know if anyone remembers some steaks I made at the beginning of the month that were SO tough. I figured it was because I accidentally overcooked them. Which I DID, but that is only part of the reason they were so bad. I used the same “steaks” from the same place (Tom Leonard’s) for the Beef Stroganoff and they were even tougher and NOT at all over cooked. We ended up in the store the next day and spoke to the butcher who confessed that these pieces of meat, though clearly marked “filets” and certainly cut and packaged to resemble filet mignon, are actually just “boneless chuck”. So, we had sawed and chewed our way through this stroganoff Friday night: 😠 Thank goodness there was a nice salad or we’d have choked to death: Mr. Kim had to start fasting on Sunday for some testing on Monday, so for dinner he picked pizza from a local place on Saturday: Since he was fasting on Sunday, I just had breakfast for dinner: ET bagel from the freezer with smoked salmon cream cheese.

Yep. For the beans. I don't know about other folks, but my English stepdad and sisters always used malt vinegar on beans.

I know that there are foods in other countries/regions that I would not be willing to eat. I understand that. But, if you know that about yourself, you don't sign up for a travel program that specializes in local cuisine. If you want the Disney version, go to Disney.

No Del Tacos anywhere near here. I wish there was. I seem to remember going to one when we lived in Reseda in 1970.