Kim Shook

This is it.

They are "Silvermark" brand. I can find them on Amazon, but they are currently unavailable. Mr. Kim bought those for me many years ago. And, except for the stickiness, they are holding up amazingly well, for a cheap knife. Yeah. I think you and the others who said this are probably right.

They are gorgeous. I'd love to draw them. But not eat them. I'm not interested in losing any more taste buds. 😁

I don't. I couldn't ever see the difference whether I did it or not. Maybe @Ann_T has a different experience?

@Ann_T - thank you. That's exactly how I do it, too, but mine are never as pretty as yours. This morning: Omelet-style egg on buttered rye toast.

@liuzhou – I am so sorry for that pitiful fish you were given. The chips just looked ordinary and undercooked, but that fish! @Ann_T – those oxtails look incredibly scrumptious! Can you believe I’ve never had them? In my area, you generally only find them at Jamaican places, which I know will be too spicy. Dinner out last night at one of our favorite local Mexican places. Jessica had their new Birria tacos: They were good, but didn’t approach the quality of the other place we go to. I had shrimp tacos with mango sauce: They have the best rice. Mr. Kim had their giant chicken/beans/rice burrito: We’re almost never very impressed with the quality of the chicken at your average Mexican restaurant, but this was really good. Tender, juicy and really flavorful. And not chopped too fine.

Jessica has been doing a long stint of overnight pet sitting and the people told her to please take the ripe peppers from their backyard so they wouldn’t go to waste. This is the second bowlful that she’s brought home: That’s a large bowl – big enough to hold salad for six. Mr. Kim held back a couple to eat fresh and taken the rest to work to share with crazy people 😜.

Sorry, I put it badly. This recipe is only egg yolks. @Tropicalsenior's calls for whole eggs.

@FauxPas – pears and bleu cheese is a favorite combination around our house! Today: A lemon curd and lady finger sandwich and some blueberries drizzled with more curd. Perfect combination.

@Dejah – I loved seeing your pile of char siu! It reminds me that I’m all out and I need to stock the freezer! @Duvel – just in case @Dejah’s link doesn’t work for you, I use her recipe and have it on my webpage. Only one dinner to show. I’m still battling the queasiness, so lots of what we call “pick up meals” – canned soup, fold-over sandwiches, cheese and crackers. Poor Mr. Kim has ended up fending for himself many nights (Jessica is doing a long stint of overnight pet sitting). Just some of TJ’s orange chicken (with Mambo sauce instead of their chicken sauce which we found underwhelming), buttered rice, and salad:

I agree 100%. That recipe is the best. But I only had yolks this time and that calls for whole eggs. It's nice to have the AB recipe in my pocket when I have tons of yolks for some reason.

After making the angel food cake recently, I had 10 egg yolks leftover, so I made two batches of Alton Brown’s lemon curd: It is delicious and I had enough to give some to some friends who love it. But I don’t know what that separated white foamy stuff is all about. Any ideas?

I slept late one day and woke up wanting this in spite of lingering queasiness (the bane of my recent existence). Fried bologna and cheese toasted sandwich: It was fantastic. It took almost 2 hours to finish, but I managed it and felt ok. Saturday was Mr. Kim’s departmental potluck picnic. My contribution was Texas Caviar. As always, I got Mr. Kim to char the jalapenos in the grill so I could clean them: To me, this is the best compromise. You get the flavor of the peppers (practically the only pepper I like the taste of) without the heat. Finished dish: It seemed to be popular. Sunday was our first restaurant meal since September! Post church lunch at Westwood Fountain – our favorite local pharmacy lunch counter-type place. I had the creamy chicken soup – which was a little odd this time, but delicious: There was almost no liquid. It wasn’t dry – it was as if the noodles had soaked up all the liquid. It was more like chicken and dumplings. I ate every bit of it, though – it was SO good. I also had a half an egg salad sandwich on toasted rye with local tomatoes and we shared some onion rings: Mr. Kim got a waffle and bacon:

@blue_dolphin – thanks so much for your directions for the sandwich. I hope to try it soon. @Ann_T – your tuna salad looks so good. No to mention that gorgeous little roll it is sitting on!!! I’m also envious of your perfect poached eggs. Do you just use the drop in simmering water method? We have company coming next week and I wanted to do a little experiment and see if I needed to get croissants from our local bakery the morning I wanted to serve them, or if I could do it the day before. Two croissants and a Kouign-amann: The kouign-amann: It was lovely. I started it in the car and barely managed to save half for Mr. Kim! When I got home, I tried the croissant. I also did a goofy little experiment. I don’t usually indulge in expensive bakery pastries on an everyday basis. I usually get Lidl croissants a couple of times a week. They are very good, so I decided to do a head-to-head comparison: The bakery – Whisk - on the left and Lidl on the right. Whisk: Lidl: I mean, I KNEW that Whisk’s would be much better, and it was. Look at the insides – Lidl’s are much more the texture of an enriched yeast bread than a laminated croissant like Whisk’s. But the Lidl one is really good – no weird non-butter flavor like so many grocery store bakery croissants. I’ll continue to buy my weekday croissants from Lidl and splurge with their across the street neighbor, Whisk. Breakfast the next morning was the other – now day old - Whisk croissant I got the day before to see if they could be bought the day before: It was great, but I think I’ll go ahead and get them the morning that I want to serve them. Yesterday: Ham and egg on toast.

I have a couple of these ceramic knives: ...that large one and a small paring size one. I don't use them a lot, but for certain applications they are great - green onions, for instance, which I hate to slice if I'm not using the ceramic knife. Anyway, over the years, the handle (which started out with a sort of rubbery - but not flexible - feeling) developed a kind of gummy residue that makes holding it unpleasant. Kind of a stickiness in places on the handle. I've tried everything I can think of including all kinds of detergents, alcohol, applying oil, a baking soda paste, etc. Does anyone have any ideas? I actually tossed an umbrella awhile back that had a similar handle that I couldn't get cleaned. I'd like to keep my knife. Thanks!

The one on the left in the picture is Walmart's version of Shake & Bake and the one on the right is their panko. That's EXACTLY what @FeChefwas showing. As far as it goes, I actually like Shake & Bake - the original and all the knock-offs that I've tried including a brand sold by Aldi. I didn't grow up with it and neither did Mr. Kim, but I remember years ago @Marlene confessed that she liked it and used it often. I respected her taste so much that I gave it a try and found we quite liked it. My only complaint is that I wish it got crispier.

Those Wagon Wheel things will be reminding every person from the Southern US of Moon Pies. Which, now that I think of it, is quite appropriate. My daughter objects heartily to the term "nut juice". LOLOLOLOL

@Katie Meadow – I’ve always been a beach vacationer, too. I grew up spending weekends and vacations at the Eastern Shore of VA and MD. The first time I ever went to the mountains was on our honeymoon. We loved it, but somehow it didn’t “stick” and we’ve never been back. Your visit sounds wonderful and I think I’d like to try it again. You’re right about the Scottish presence. The Appalachians are loaded with folks descended from Scottish and Irish immigrants. @Norm Matthews – hope you’re feeling better! @MaryIsobel – your potatoes looked MUCH better than the picture on their website. I thought theirs looked so dry. I would definitely love yours (without the fungus, of course😉). I’m not cooking a whole lot lately. I’m having some issues with day long queasiness and a lingering bad taste in my mouth. Consequently, I’m not terribly interested in eating and when I do, it tends to taste funny. Aggravating. But I am doing a little to try to keep Jessica and Mr. Kim from rioting. A few meals: Dumplings: Frozen – from Costco. Copycat Bang-Bang shrimp and stir fried snow peas and bean sprouts: The shrimp were frozen tempura shrimp also from Costco that I sauced with sweet chili sauce and Kewpie mayo. They were really large and tasted very good. Also, probably the last of the good corn this year: Another quick meal was a pizza from Food Lion. We have noticed a lot of grocery stores are stocking these now – basically Take & Bake and usually from the deli. We’ve tried a couple of them, but this was our first one from Food Lion. It was fine – better than frozen, but not as “good” as the Big Three (Dominos, Papa Johns, and Pizza Hut) and nowhere near as good as some independent places. But, still, not bad – and I didn’t have to wrestle with pizza dough: It came with pepperoni, and I added sliced onions. The photo is deceptive – it looks like a fairly thick crust, but it was actually as thin as a cracker. Served with some crusty bread that I had leftover and some tarted up Rao’s sauce: And a green salad with salami, provolone and kalamatas: One night was breakfast for dinner, by request of Mr. Kim – sausage gravy and biscuits with scrambled eggs and hash brown patties. Mr. Kim’s plate: I like my eggs tucked up under my gravy: Also sliced bananas with honey, yogurt, and a little granola: This is one of my favorite treats and one I don’t indulge in very often due to bananas and yogurt being loaded with potassium. It was fantastic! Dianne’s Garlic Shrimp with baked potatoes, salad and bread: Rice or noodles probably made more sense, but we were all craving baked potatoes! One night I put together some bits and pieces and came up with this: Mrs. Fearnow’s Brunswick stew (a local brand) and baked ham and Swiss sliders. Mr. Kim’s BBQ, fries & tots, “Italian” green beans, slaw, and some pickly stuff: Another breakfast for dinner - Country ham and egg biscuits and oranges:

So funny. Back when Mr. Kim's sister was getting married (almost 40 years ago), I put together a little family and friends cookbook pamphlet to give her. I sent a little note out requesting special recipes - especially ones that they knew she liked. Mr. Kim's grandmother was decidedly NOT a cook, but she made the family's favorite dessert - angel food cake with a caramel sauce. It was an absolute legend in the family and most of them requested it for their birthday cakes. She didn't respond to the initial request and so I called her directly and asked her. She was a little evasive, but I thought she was just busy and would send it later. I never received it and mentioned that it must be one of those "secret recipes" to their stepmom who laughed and told me that the reason it was a "secret recipe"was because she used a Duncan Hines angel food cake mix and melted Kraft caramels for the sauce. LOL

@Katie Meadow – your retreat sounds lovely! The fish and chips made me envious. I’ve been obsessed with finding great batter fried fish for a couple of months and have still not been satisfied. I agree with you 100% about those awful battered fries. I’d honestly rather just have frozen regular fries than those limp things. We are not doing restaurants this month. Retirement is looming and Mr. Kim is trying to determine what a true food budget eating at home looks like. So, instead of after church brunch out Sunday before last, I set out an assortment of stuff to nibble on while we watched football: TJ’s Unexpected Cheddar, cream cheese, cranberry Wensleydale, bologna. Gouda, and hard salami. Apple slices, red pepper jelly, honey fig spread, cocktail sauce, mandarin orange segments, and butter. Crusty bread, Ritz crackers, and Raincoast Crisps. One day, I got a craving for a Dagwood at lunchtime: Lettuce, bologna, ham, salami, Swiss, American, sweet pickles, mayo and mustard. I managed half. I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat the whole thing. I saved the other half for Mr. Kim’s dinner!

@RobertM – thanks for posting the cake recipe. I’m looking forward to trying it. Someone on Mr. Kim’s staff had a birthday last week and I made Michael Ruhlman’s angel food cake for him to take in. I didn’t remember to get a picture before he took it, but he sent me these: Served with some berries and squirty cream: This is my favorite angel food cake recipe. It uses 10 egg whites, so I’m required to make TWO batches of lemon curd afterwards 😉.

@blue_dolphin – that Croque Matthieu looks more than amazing! Any chance you could distill it into a recipe that you would share?? I am having some weird physical things happening – almost constant queasiness and bad taste in my mouth. My burning mouth syndrome is also worsening lately. So breakfast hasn’t happened much. Mostly must a piece of toast or chunk of cheese to take my medicines with. A couple to share: Toasted Lidl croissant with an egg and a surprisingly good peach: I ate the littermate of that peach this morning and had to eat it over the sink, it was so juicy. Amazing in late September! A leftover biscuit (frozen) and Diroc pork sausage links:

I love the crown you got on that cornbread. Mine never does that. Any hints?

@Ann_T – that pork chop looked so good. When we were grocery shopping last week, we walked by the pork and I remarked that we hadn’t had chops in a really long time. But I’m committed to working through the freezers so that I can start stocking them with Christmas stuff next month. @OlyveOyl – I first tasted the combination of duck and wild rice as a little girl and fell madly in love. Duck à l'Orange with wild rice was the quintessential company meal of the 1960s, so it was encountered quite often. I haven’t had it for years, but your lovely duck brought back those memories! @Shelby – big hugs from me. Your food looks wonderful, as always, but the cold stuff is calling to me today – the Greek salad and the chicken topped one especially. We’ve got house guests coming the beginning of October and I really need to get my butt in gear and yet, here I sit at the computer! Our neighbor is recovering from back surgery, so I took a quick meal over to them on Friday. Just a Costco rotisserie chicken, bagged salad and @Marlene's smashed potatoes: These are the perfect thing to take to someone – you can start them ahead of time and reheat at the last minute, but they reheat beautifully, too. This weekend I made a batch of Ruby Chicken to take to our neighbors: This is so great to take because you make it and freeze it and then it gets cooked from frozen. That way the folks you give it to can decide when they want to eat it. They can cook it right away (it takes 2 hours from frozen) or freeze it for another day. On Saturday, I was trimming some potatoes for our dinner, and I had the innards from the chicken I cooked so this was the cook’s treat: Fried chicken livers and raw potatoes 😁. Dinner was just packaged cheese fondue from Lidl and stuff to go with it. Mr. Kim found a recipe he wanted me to try – Patates Lemonates. They are basically lemony fondant potatoes (also called Melting Potatoes). Fried and ready to go in the oven: Out of the oven and ready to serve: They were delicious, but not terribly lemony. The recipe only called for the lemon juice, but I think next time, I’ll sprinkle them with the lemon zest after roasting. They were also not terribly crisp, and I wondered if it would help if I poured the lemon juice and chicken stock AROUND the potatoes rather than OVER them. All the goodies: The potatoes, Polish sausage, bread, pickled onions and cornichons, and apple slices. And there is no way to make cheese fondue look like anything but a bowl of vanilla pudding: I can’t imagine that I’ll ever bother making cheese fondue from scratch again. All three of us love this product. We also had a salad: Sunday was all leftovers – some from our church potluck earlier today and some from last week: Cheeseburger, deviled eggs, butter beans, slaw, and the last of my baked beans which have been reheated so much that they are starting to resemble Hillbilly Refried beans! Mr. Kim made pastrami, so that was dinner last night: Grilling some rye topped with Swiss: Topped with steamed pastrami, Russian dressing, Gulden’s mustard, and slaw: Served with kraut (we decided we wanted slaw on the sandwiches and kraut on the side) and @patti’s oven fries: So good. It took me two hours to finish my sandwich, but I did it! Tonight was orange chicken (frozen from Costco), frozen chicken egg rolls from a local Asian market, and fixed up Lidl fried rice:

Last Sunday we had a potluck at church. I made macaroni and cheese (no picture) and this strawberry-banana bread (cake, really) to take: These are just a cake mix fix up, but very good. Everyone always loves them and asks for the recipe. And then I have to admit that it is a strawberry cake mix with mashed bananas added! Today: Saltines and boneless, skinless sardines.