Kim Shook

A couple of recent breakfasts: Freezer rescue ET bagel and some whipped cream cheese. This morning: Ham and egg biscuits (frozen biscuits).

I haven't yet made them, but I have always had fairly good results from ATK baking recipes.

Just a toasted Lidl croissant this morning:

I remember this episode and you're right - their obvious enjoyment alone makes you want to make the buns. I am not a huge fan of wet nuts, but I still printed out the recipe to try!

I agree! If you do the strips just pipe a long strip down the baking sheet and cut them on the sheet, but do NOT separate them. They are so tender that they will come apart easily when they are baked.

You could try that, but what I'd do - if you can - is use a piping bag. You could either use a large piping tip or just cut a 1/2-inch hole in the bottom.

@Pete Fred & @RWood - I’m just blown away by your recent contributions to this thread. @RobertM – I’m intrigued by the Philly Fluff cake! I’m finding a lot of different recipes online. Which one did you make? At a recent auction our church had to raise funds, I offered making 6 batches of cookies (every other month for a year). I did the first batch for the winner the other day. She chose Key Lime Meltaway Spritz Cookies: Couldn’t find any key lime juice, so these are just regular lime, but they are delectable. No granulated sugar – just 10X. And with the addition of cornstarch, they are so incredibly tender. A wonderful, delicate cooky.

@Dejah – your rib roast is gorgeous! And those pierogies are making me wish I had an air fryer. @Ann_T – as always, your hot chicken sandwich with gravy has me craving the same. I love that you serve it with fries – fries and gravy have been a favorite of mine since I was a young girl. I used to stop off on my way home from school at the drug store lunch counter and get an order of fries and gravy. Not comparable to yours, of course, but I never see yours that I don’t think of that experience! A couple of nights ago: Cheeseburger, celery, apple. The quickest and most simple meal I could think of. The burger was in the fridge from the other night when I had a half a pound of ground beef leftover from making Sloppy Joe filling. I fried a couple of small patties and put them in the fridge. I just microwaved the burger, added cheese and heated long enough to melt it. Added condiments and a little lettuce. Washed a stalk of celery and added an apple from the fridge. Less than 5 minutes later and I was eating. It was completely satisfying. I'll have to add cooked burgers to my list of things to keep on hand. I was surprised it was that good. Or maybe I was just that hungry?

@Captain – that’s a beautifully rolled wrap and looks delicious. Mine are always so clumsy. @Mike.12lu– that big breakfast is my favorite, too. I don’t usually have time in the mornings to do it, but we sometimes have that for dinner. I wouldn’t turn down one of those French croissants, though. One of my very favorite things! This morning: Rye toast, Fiorucci hard salami, and black grapes.

@CantCookStillTry – that lamb roast meal is gorgeous. I adore lamb and, for some reason, never seem to make it. I need to remedy that! Your Yorkies look perfect. I would 100% roll up some of that lamb into a Yorkie, drown it in gravy and TUCK IN! @btbyrd – that roast is one of the most delicious things I’ve seen in a LONG time. Between you and @CantCookStillTry, I’m now craving a roast dinner – and a roast chicken ain’t gonna cut it. I want RED MEAT! We celebrated Labor Day a day early with a potluck cookout at the home of some friends. We had brats, hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans, slaw, potato salad, deviled eggs, chips, and purchased fudge and lemon chess pies. We simmered the brats here and took them over and I made slaw and beans. Jessica made deviled eggs. I didn’t take any pictures that day. Last night, because we had a lovely tomato that needed eating, this was dinner: Classic summer sandwich with the addition of cheese (deli American, please). Plate: Corn (we’re still getting good corn, too), sandwich, neighbor’s smoked pork belly (amazingly good), my slaw and beans – both leftover from our early Labor Day potluck.

@Tropicalsenior – those buns look amazing. I’ve copied the recipe. I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to actually making them, but thank you for the link! We actually had our Labor Day meal on Sunday. We went to our friends’ home for a potluck. Our Labor Day lunch was mostly leftovers: A hot dog with mustard and my slaw and Jessica’s deviled eggs. I also made baked beans: These did get a bit overcooked, but still tasted wonderful.

Still eating the Neuske’s bacon from the freezer. If Benton’s bacon is one right answer, Neuske’s is another. Very different, but just as good. With rye toast:

Yesterday: Toast and Neuske’s bacon. Also, a Crispin apple. We were first introduced to these apples under the name “Mutsu” when we lived in Indiana. I found it at the produce stand and will look for more. It was just our sort of apple – sweet/tart and super crisp. I also got one called a Cripps Pink – same as a Pink Lady – and that was very good, too. This morning: Toast, scrambled eggs with catsup, and NC sage sausage. And, yes, I overdid my toast a bit.

@rotuts – Look at the first picture of the belly in the container – that was exactly how he brought it over to us – already sliced. My understanding is that the belly came from our local favorite butcher (she was a winner on Chopped), and that it was brined, rubbed (no idea what he rubbed it with, but I know it had some form of sugar in it and it wasn’t too spicy) and then smoked whole and sliced. I simply fried it on both sides in a fairly hot pan in tiny bit of vegetable oil. It was cold when he brought it to us and when I asked him what I should do with it, he said to do that. I’m not sure it would be great right off the grill. Though it was leaner than it looked to me when I opened the container. I think eating it in a sandwich might depend on how thin it was sliced – these slices were about a half inch wide and I think that would have been too thick for a sandwich. @Norm Matthews – I loved the looks of your Salisbury Steaks! I’ve gone to your blog and copied the recipe! What was the other dish that wasn’t mac and cheese or peas? The one with the gravy on it? @Ann_T - the pork belly WAS good – I was especially impressed as this was the first time this guy has smoked a belly. Dinner last night started with big salads: Lettuce (with kale for Mr. Kim), various crunchy vegetables, kalamatas, salami, and provolone. We used to get a similar salad at a local pizza place. We stopped going when they stopped serving slices, so now I have to do this at home. We are still recovering from chest colds, so the salad exhausted my energy and imagination. The rest of dinner was Sloppy Joes, pickly stuff, and fresh corn:

@Ann_T – funny you should say that about toasting because the reason I do it is because I want to be able to multi-task – specifically to sit at my computer and read and respond to messages, etc. If I heat a whole croissant and tear it apart and butter the torn off bites I get flakes of pastry and butter finger marks all over the computer and the table. Slicing and toasting just makes it neater! 😊 Breakfast this morning was the end of a leftover Lidl baguette, an egg, and some Neese’s Sage Sausage from Greensboro NC: I'm appalled to be posting this right after @Ann_T's gorgeous baguettes. 😄

@heidih – I’m pretty sure you’re right about the origins of the Pupu platter – Trader Vic certainly had one on their menu. I remember being taken to the Washington DC Trader Vic as a little girl. It was a popular date spot and my newly single mom had a rule that every few dates had to include me. So I got exposed to some great restaurants in the 1960s. I’m betting that that was my first exposure to the Pupu platter. It certainly spread to Chinese-American restaurants, though. Growing up in Washington with its Chinatown and neighboring Arlington VA with a huge Asian population, I remember them being ubiquitous. @Katie Meadow – sounds like FIL was ahead of his time. I see things labeled “charcuterie boards” with everything in the world on them BUT meats. Sigh. @Honkman – your shakshuka is the first one I’ve seen that I think I would eat (I really don’t care at all for the combination of eggs and tomato). Just lovely. Our next door neighbor is, like Mr. Kim, a smoker and they have formed a bit of a friendship based on that. They bring each other samples of everything they cook. Last night he brought us his first ever pork belly effort: I sautéed it in a little oil in a nonstick pan: He had made a Korean-style BBQ sauce to go on it: This was just simply phenomenal. I can’t wait to have my second piece tonight! Since it’s still August, I’m still serving corn and tomatoes. Dinner last night was Polish sausage, sauerkraut, fried green tomatoes, regular tomatoes and corn: And iceberg lettuce with Jessica’s Creamy Dressing on it: This dressing is so good that I’m finding I like it best on just salad greens – it really shines without a bunch of other stuff.

Good Lord, @Shelby! I miss a couple of days and you make 97 meals 😉! Good stuff. Glad y’all can breathe a little better for a few days! A couple of nights ago, I made @Maggie the Cat’s Shrimp and Corn for the first time this summer. I figured I’d better get a move on while the corn is still good. So, we picked up some corn at the produce stand: And I found some Gulf of Mexico large shrimp at Lidl: Plus a bonus – this lush basil plant: Lidl sells these for $2.49 – exactly what Kroger charges for a little plastic bubble of a few leaves. This will last me a good 2 months. Finished dish: So simple and good. Maggie shared this recipe in 2010 and I’ve made it every summer since. Sometimes for us and sometimes for guests and always to rave reviews. I think of Maggie every time I make it ❤️. To me, that is one of the best things about food – the memories and people that it conjures up. Served with a salad and a baguette: Last night we went to “our place” - Yen Ching, our local and favorite Chinese restaurant. Their wonderful hot and sour: We have this everywhere, but theirs is our favorite. We shared a pupu platter: So old school, but I love all the classic Chinese-American appetizers – ribs, teriyaki beef, shrimp toast, crab Rangoon, fried chicken wings, and egg rolls. Unfortunately, this was not their best effort. Not terrible, but not as good as usual. We also shared chicken, pork, and shrimp fried rice:

This morning: Produce stand VA peaches, a Lidl croissant, and some Neuske’s bacon from a Christmas package we got my cousin and his family. Really good bacon. Those peaches would have been perfection with some Greek yogurt, but we still very good.

They really weren't bad. Just not the chunky chips that I was hoping for. And if the batter isn't rocket science, proper chips certainly aren't. It's really just a matter of cutting them right. And double frying is a nice extra, though not absolutely necessary.

I'm in Virginia, but I'm still finding plenty of it - usually near the meat section in a display with all kinds of shrink wrapped smoked/salted pork products - country ham slices, salt pork, ham bones, bits and pieces for beans/soup. Not refrigerated. I saw that it was available on Instacart, if you have that available. If you have any European markets near you, you might check with them.

It was extremely papery, so no, he didn't eat the skin. He's not much on the skin of potatoes - not even a nice, crispy, buttery russet skin. The petals are just onions pieces cut long ways and battered and fried. Outback's Bloomin' Onion is trashy, greasy GOODNESS and the only reason we ever go there.

Mr. Kim has been owed his dinners out for Father’s Day and his birthday since June. We were all sick for Father’s Day and he got a temporary crown in just before his birthday. He’s had the permanent crown in for a few days, so he decided on his BD steak last night. We went to Longhorn (which we like as a mid-range steak house). Started with onion petals: Nowhere NEAR as good as a Blooming Onion, but we don’t care for Outback steaks. He got his favorite – NY strip and a sweet potato: I got the small ribeye and the roasted corn: The corn had crema and toasted parmesan on it – it was good, but cotija would have been better than the parm. Jessica got a filet and baked potato and Brussels sprouts: Everything was good – not fabulous, but it tasted good and the steaks were decent quality. It occurs to me looking at these plates – at what point did so many restaurants stop worrying about nice plating? A little garnish or sauce swoop on a plate and a swipe of the grease off the edge of a plate used to be standard in all kitchens except the very greasiest of the greasy spoons. Now, I get messy plates all the time. It’s not a huge thing, but a bit of a turn off. Makes you know that no one in the kitchen really cares about the food.

Yesterday we were out running errands and stopped at an old favorite for lunch. They are under new ownership and some things seem unchanged and others not quite. The meatloaf and sweet potato tots were still great: This was Mr. Kim’s meal. Mine was not so successful. I tried yet again to satisfy my craving for fish and chips: The fish (cod) itself was good. The coating was mushy and not crisp at all. The “chips’, like the last place, were fries. And not terribly good ones either. Sigh. I know that it sounds insane but I’m still trying to find someone in my area that makes better fish and chips and one particular Long John Silver’s in our area. Today was tuna-noodle salad and rye toast at home:

A good BEC ET bagel from our closest bagel place: It wasn’t the one I wanted, but sometimes you gotta love the one you’re with 😉. This morning: A Lidl croissant with butter and nearly the last of my beloved Little Scarlet strawberry preserves ☹️!

Sounds like an episode of emmymade. Which I LOVE.