[Believe nothing. For entertainment purposes only.]
Lyons told reporters that the old styled masks had an unexpected side effect. The ICE Agents wearing them became hideously deformed. The improved mask has been approved by the new CDC Directory (thumbs up).
“Just think if we had had these masks on January 6th, and ICE had been assigned to the U.S. Capitol, things would have been much different.” Heck, Donald Trump might have even been re-elected for a second term back then.
AND HOW GEMINI HANDLED HER DEVELOPMENT
I’m not sure if she is a goddess, a witch or maybe an alien creature. But, this is Bert who is a businessman and just moments ago was on the 57th floor of the World Trade Center #2 and for him this is/was September 11th, of 2001. The other gentleman is Colonel George Armstrong Custer and he, moments ago was surrounded by angry Indians. Lots and lots of angry Indians at the Little Big Horn, on a hot afternoon.
I know I will come up short on delivering this, but here goes. *I’m a Type 2 diabetic which means I need to watch the foods I eat to limit the amount of sugar that my body produces, but all of us should be aware of controlling our glucose because health issues can occur if you don’t. Make wise, healthy choices throughout your life and you will be a happier camper. See my note at the bottom regarding the “Reader’s Digest: MAGIC FOODS for Better Blood Sugar” book. In the course of this article, if I say “sweetener” instead of “sugar,” this is why.
I’ve noticed that quite often I will see a request by various people for a meal that is easy to fix, will be delicious, and may feed many. I don’t think they usually think about the utensils that might make these meals possible or about “clean-up” after the meal.
Equipment & Utensils
Flavor Enhancers
Meals
SALSA & CHIPS
I think of this as more of a snack than an actual meal, but you could get full enough to bide your time until the next big meal.
You will need some spices such as ground cumin and cayenne powder, S&P to season the blend of roasted garlic diced tomatoes, chopped sweet “Vidalia” onion, sweet bell pepper and cilantro. — maybe throw in a jalapeno, chipotle or habanero pepper for heat.
I might expand on making guacamole for this snack elsewhere, but for now it’s just a mention. A nice ripe avocado, with some onion, cumin & garlic powder might be a good start.
HUMMUS &
Hummus can be a snack, or it can be a meal. An all vegetarian meal, or add something like Smoked Oysters to it.
Basic hummus is made with garbanzo beans (also called Chick peas), some olive oil, cumin (ground or seeds) and some tahani (fermented sesame seeds) and a little lemon/lime juice. I can do without the tahani.
You can use a different bean or even black eyed peas to make hummus, although technically that might just be some bean puree. You can throw in some cilantro leaves and blend for a greenish hummus, or add turmeric or carrots to get a more orange color. You could even add beet juice for a reddish hummus. — There may be several flag colors from that combination.
In years past, I have eaten a whole “veggie” meal of hummus and assorted dipping veggies. Olives, anchovies, capers, ranch dill pickles?
CHICKEN STIR FRY
Besides using chicken or shrimp, and an assortment of veggies like onion, bell pepper and carrots, I like to add when available sugar snap or snow peas and about half a can of “Stir Fry Vegetables.” I also like to add pineapple and a little Agave Nectar for sweetness.
There are two additional flavors that really make a good stir-fry: Laoganma’s Spicy Chili Crisp and Toasted Sesame Oil. The chili crisp is only about $5 for a small jar at Walmart, but the toasted sesame oil is about $10 but both of these will last through multiple stir-fries.
Clean-up with an electric wok is super easy. I put a little water in the bottom and add just a drop of Dawn Dishwashing Liquid. I take a sponge brush to it and then rinse it out and wipe it with a paper towel. Done. Ready to cook again.
Before I forget it, I have found the Spicy Chili Crisp to be addictive. It goes great in stir fry, but it also gives a nice flavor to steamed cabbage or steamed cauliflower. I might also add some Toasted Sesame Oil to either of these, and maybe just a hint of sweetener. Add these side dishes to maybe a fried pork chop and you’ve got some good eating. — There is a cold Asian Cucumber Salad that uses the Spicy Chili Crisp and it’s good too.
SPAGHETTI SAUCE & ANGEL HAIR PASTA
You can choose whichever type of pasta you like with your spaghetti sauce, but for something quick, Angel Hair pasta is very thin and becomes “al dente” quickly. — I don’t like Farfalle (bowtie) because of its shape. the fanned part cooks quicker than where the tie comes together.
I cook my spaghetti sauce in my Instant Pot Mini and it only takes about 8 minutes on High Pressure with about 5 minutes cool down before Quick Release.
Lately my sauce has become more pared down but here is what I currently like:
I will add about 4 oz. of ground beef and some chopped onion to my Instant Pot and sautee them for browning. After that is done, I add half a jar of RAO’s Marinara Sauce (great starter flavor) to which I add a whole can of Hunt’s “Roasted Garlic” Diced Tomatoes. I then add sliced green bell pepper and when I can get them some fresh white button mushrooms, which I slice up. — I know green bell pepper has less vitamin C, is tougher, and not as sweet, but there is just something about what it brings to the spaghetti table.
CHICKEN (TWO WAYS)
I want to give you an idea for making the exact same ingredients go in two different directions. We are going to cut up chunks of chicken tenders (white meat without the bone). We’ll chop up some onion and let the chicken & onion brown in some olive oil on the stove top in a pan (on the stove top). We (your choice) are going to add sweet colorful bell pepper, sliced carrots and some diced tomatoes to this and let them begin to cook down.
I haven’t mentioned spices yet and here is why. You get to choose whether you are going South of the Border (Mexico) or across the Big Pond(s) to India. Everything so far is the same. You just haven’t bought your boarding pass yet for your country of choice.
MEXCIO (HISPANIC INFLUENCE)
If you want the Hispanic flavor you will add something like Herdez’ Salsa Ranchera” hot sauce to this with a little sweetener like Agave Nectar. Throw in some chopped cilantro, add cumin, garlic powder and S&P. Lemon or lime juice is nice to freshen up the flavors.
I prefer to make my refried beans by buying a can of low sodium black beans and mashing them up on the stove top in a little olive oil, maybe some bacon grease, and with some ground garlic, S&P. Canned refried beans have way too much salt already added.
INDIAN (INDIA INFLUENCE)
Adding the Patak’s Hot Curry Paste (only about a tablespoonful) to your ingredients instead of the Herdez Salsa Ranchera takes you to a totally different country. As I do with most food, I like to add an element of sweetness, so some Agave Nectar or coconut sugar here would be alright.
As a side dish, or two, I suggest making a red cabbage slaw, with some corn and maybe a mayo base (vinegar would be okay, but not as cooling). I might also suggest baking a sweet potato and adding some sour cream, cinnamon and sweetener. Nice with the spicy Indian inspired main dish.
Clean-Up (but not necessarily)
What do I mean by “Clean-up, but not necessarily?” Well, I want to address some items or issues, or even suggestions that I haven’t covered in the above areas yet.
I want to mention maybe 12 spices that you might want to keep on hand that you will use not just in the meals listed above, but in many other meals. There are many more spices and flavorings than just 12, but I found for me personally that I probably only use about 12 spices on a regular basis. The others might be used for special foods or meals.
Measuring Spoons & Cups
The King’s of Condiments
My 12 Spices (& Salt & Pepper)
Bay Leaf
Cayenne Powder
Cinnamon
Cumin Powder
Garlic Powder
Marjorham
Oregano
Red Pepper Flakes
Sesame Seeds (white)
Smoked Paprika
Thyme
Turmeric
The vegetable steamer insert is great for steaming assorted veggies like asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, or carrots. The microwave onion cooker works great for other items like: cooking a potato (white or sweet), or an egg, or even a small amount of broccoli. Add a little water if you want to steam the item.
Reader’s Digest: MAGIC FOODS for Better Blood Sugar (published 2007)
Well written and illustrated and still as valid today as when it was first written. This is a good intro regarding the types of foods we should be eating in order to maintain a consistent blood glucose level. Starchy foods like corn, potatoes, rice, and pasta all turn quickly into sugar after we eat them. If you are healthy, cutting these items out entirely isn’t necessary. Just eat them wisely and appreciate them when you do.
You can find this book online, used for about $5, or perhaps in your local library. Not something that you have to read from cover to cover, but just look through it and note the various foods that are a healthy choice. There are 57 foods listed.
—
When I was a young boy I loved when summer came along and I was allowed to wear shorts and go barefoot almost all summer.
SHRIMP, KIELBASA & ZUCCHINI SHELLS
I first made this dish several years ago — at about three in the morning — just experimenting with what I had on hand. I wanted a pasta that wasn’t heavy and tomato-saucy, but still felt complete and satisfying. What I ended up with surprised me: every bite had a different character — a piece of shrimp, a bit of smoky kielbasa, a juicy zucchini slice — and the onion and tomato melted into the background, supporting everything without overpowering it. I’ve made it many times since then, always happy with how balanced and colorful it is.
I finally thought to try making this in my Instant Pot Mini today for lunch. Oh, goodness. It was so delicious and everything came together so well. Before I made this again, I was seriously thinking of not buying Polska Kielbasa again because I’ve been eating a lot of Andouille Sausage in my Frogmore Stews. But this oh, YES!
Intant Pot Mini Process:
The difference with my IPM version and my stovetop skillet version is that the IPM version is much more soupy, but that in no way diminished the flavors and how they worked together. This kicks my original 3am Original up a notch or two.
RANCH DILL PICKLES
There is not much to making Ranch Dill Pickles. Buy a descent dill pickle, which is the Walmart GV Dill Pickle Spears. They only cost about $2.65. I may not be a connoisseur of Ranch Dressing, but I have been perfectly happy with the cheap packets from Food Lion (about $.50) or Walmart GV Ranch Dressing (for about $.65). Open the dill pickle jar and depending upon how full the jar is with brine, pour some out in a container. Then add the whole packet of dressing mix to the brine in the container. If you need to add back some brine so that all the dill spears are completely covered, do so. Put the lid on tight and give it a good shake to mix the dry dressing into the brine. Put the mix into your fridge and wait a day before trying your new batch of Ranch Dill Pickles.
I will say that I’ve noted that the skins of Ranch Dill Pickles become tougher as they age, but the flavor is worth the little extra toughness. After you’ve eaten the last pickle spear, save the brine. It could be perfectly usable for 4 or 5 more times. Just open a new jar. Pour out the fresh brine and add the old Ranch Dressing brine. Top off the new batch with some of the new brine in necessary. Back in the fridge for a day, and repeat the process.
Higher salt levels in the ranch mix pull moisture out of the cucumber’s outer cells, which firms and slightly toughens the skin. Calcium and other minerals in the mix can also bind with pectin in the skin, strengthening the cell walls and making the surface feel tougher.
I like a spear or two as a snack, but also like to eat one with my Pastrami Reuben and Sauerkraut & Thousand Island Side.
BLACK EYED PEAS IN THE INSTANT POT MINI
Making a “mess of” black eyed peas in your Instant Pot isn’t rocket science. You need some good seasoning meat. Add fatback or ham hock and you may have to pressure cook it before adding the dry black eyed peas.
This was the first thing I cooked in my Instant Pot Mini (3 Qt.) and they came out very well. But, just like when you cook black eyed peas on the stove top, you need to put them in a container and let them sit overnight in the fridge. This allows the flavors to meld together and the next day, even a poor cook becomes a great cook.
WAKAMI SEAWEED SALAD
This spiffed up Wakami Seaweed Salad is as close as I remember it being when I had it at the Circa 1800 Restaurant in downtown Fayetteville, about 10 years ago.
I first found a canned seaweed salad at the “Golden Hex” European Market in Cary, North Carolina. This salad comes in a glass jar and is healthier than the one I found at Walmart, but the Walmart version tastes better and is refrigerated. The Walmart nearest me is treating this salad as seasonal and does not currently have it, but the Walmart way across town has it year round.
This salad is high calorie so you have to pay attention to the serving size. Start with 1/3 Cup of Wakami Seaweed. Add vinegar (red wine or rice wine), soy sauce (low sodium preferred) and toasted sesame oil. To this mixture you will add some sweetener, like equal or Agave Nectar, red pepper flakes and white sesame seeds. Finally, adding some dried almonds and dried cranberries tops this salad off.
HOMEMADE PIZZA MADE WITH KETO BAGEL THINS
I found the Basic Pizza Sauce recipe online and when I tried it, it reminded me of the pizza sauce at either Pizza Hut or Pizza Inn many years ago. Basic and a very good flavor.
These Thomas KETO Bagel Thins don’t spike my blood sugar. I have found these at both Walmart and Harris Teeter, but lately only Walmart has them. They are thin so I use 1.5 bagels to make 3 small round pizzas. I slather on the homemade pizza sauce first and then fill the bagel hole and cover the rest of the bagel in a layer of pepperoni. Then I add some diced red bell pepper and sweet onion (although yellow onion will do). Finally I top it off with a generous helping of shredded mozzarella (of 5 Italian Cheeses).
I put the three mini pizzas on a wire rack and put it in the oven under Bake at 450 degrees for about 5 minutes or until I see the cheese start to melt. I then turn the Broil on to HI and watch it for about 2 minutes until the cheese has begun to brown on top. The melted cheese holds the diced bell pepper and onion on top of the layer of pepperoni.
GERMAN POTATO SALAD
NOTE [04/08/26]: I’ve made this twice in about 3 days, and it is easy to prepare and quick to cook and delicious. I only used 1 small red potato this time, and about half of a large sweet onion sliced up. One trick that I use is slice the potatoes up and put them in my Microwave Onion Cooker and nuke them for about 2 minutes, with a little water in the bottom of the cooker to steam them and soften them. I cook my bacon for 3 minutes total. 2 minutes first and then 1 more minute. I break up the bacon in the pan. I sautee the onion in the skillet with some olive oil. After the potatoes are soften I add them to the skillet with the onions and mix. Then I add some red wine vinegar, some Splenda, and/or Agave Nectar, and then some S&P and celery seeds and brown whole seed mustard. You may have to add a little more liquid if it gets too dry on the skillet. [end NOTE]
CHICKEN & MUSHROOMS -and- ZUCCHINI & ITALIAN TOMATO SAUCE
I guess this meal combination came out of me buying a small package of boneless chicken thighs the other day. I managed to get 4 good helpings (two thighs per meal) for a little over $5, so somewhere around $1.40 per meal. I consider that very reasonable for the protein for a meal. Another factor is that recently I’ve bought some delicious button mushrooms at Pate’s Farm Market across town and have made a least two good batches of spaghetti sauce. *Ironically, even though I know that the colored bell peppers, not the green ones (the least ripe) have more Vitamin C and are sweeter & more tender, the green bell pepper hits the flavor profile that is most satisfying. And the ground beef, green bell pepper, mushrooms & onion are spot on. I add half a jar of Rao’s Marinara Sauce and one can of Hunt’s Roasted Garlic Diced Tomatoes.
So, for some reason, I wanted to buy some more of the white button mushrooms and add them to the boneless chicken thighs. I also had some green onions so that went into the mix also. I cooked the chicken, green onions & sliced white button mushrooms on the stove top while I cooked the zucchini in tomato sauce in my Instant Pot Mini. And as the AI told me, only 1 minute under pressure because the zucchini cooks really quickly. I might have wanted it to go for two minutes, but it was “al dente.” A little crunchy, but done.
I added oregano, thyme, garlic & onion powder, the green onions, sliced mushrooms and a little chicken stock in the pan on the stove. In the IPM I added sliced zucchini (thick cut) with a few Campari tomatoes, about half a medium onion sliced and about half a bottle of Italiamo Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce (LIDL), Red Wine Vinegar, and some Agave Nectar for added sweetness.
I have enjoyed the DelMonte Zucchini in Italian Styled Tomato Sauce for more than 30 years. I have noted that in the last year some of the zucchini has thick skins and they are gigantic. They would be better & more tender if they were younger and smaller. So I included the image of the can above, not because I actually used a can of it, but because I was attempting to create a flavor similar to it… and it came close enough.
Currently I like “cartooning” food images because they seem to express the feelings I have toward food. The colors are brighter, simpler and the elements more recognizable. The reality my be more bland, but the flavor should match the cartooned image. This simple meal had no dominant flavors but everything worked together in a nuanced effort.
BORLOTTI BEANS & SWISS CHARD
[October 2022]: I was watching Jamie Oliver a few days ago and he made a bean dish, using Borlotti beans, which he said were popular in Italy. I googled and found that another name for Borlotti beans was Cranberry beans. [end]
I saw, on TV, Jamie Oliver fixing some dish with Borlotti Beans, which I found later were also called Cranberry Beans. I was going to order a small amount of the beans through Amazon, but went out shopping first. I hadn’t seen this recipe yet, and was looking for Dandelion Greens, but since they didn’t have any, I settled for Chard (which I’m not sure I have ever cooked with). But the Chard looked wonderful (all green and red stems). I went to a different grocer, not thinking at all about Borlotti/Cranberry Beans, but happened to spy a bag of Cranberry Beans on the shelf. Glad I didn’t purchase from Amazon because they were about half the cost in the local grocer. *I have never tried Cranberry Beans before.
Once home, I found your recipe online for Borlotti & Chard. I thought it was “meant to be” because I normally would not have bought Chard, and I didn’t expect to find the beans locally. I normally use some kind of ‘seasoning’ meat with my beans, but didn’t here, and followed your recipe pretty closely. Had dried, ground Sage though. They turned out fantastic, although maybe a little ‘wetter’ than yours. I’m not sure if the distinct flavor was due to the beans or the Chard, or maybe both in combo.
I am going to try to pull together the various writings I’ve written regarding Borlotti/Cranberry/October/Roman Beans and the Chard dish that I originally saw in a Jaime Oliver Video.
HUMMUS &
I haven’t made hummus in quite a while, but it is very easy to make and I enjoy eating various veggies with it, but also like Smoked Oysters with it. Chickpeas are also known as Garbanzo beans and blending them up with some olive oil, some cumin, turmeric, maybe ground garlic powder and tahanni makes a classic hummus. But, I have used various beans to make hummus.
PASTRAMI REUBEN ON SEEDED RYE
And yet another “guilty pleasure,” but this one I might only fix once a quarter, if that often. It becomes a major event in that I have to buy most of the ingredients, just for this meal. I have to buy seeded rye bread which I use for nothing else, unless I have to finish it. The pastrami I use is just from Hillshire Farms and is both fattening and extremely salty. I make my own Thousand Island Dressing, which is very tasty, and goes well with sauerkraut as a side dish. And I buy the “Silver Floss” sauerkraut which I’ve come to enjoy when mixed with the Thousand Island Dressing.
I have a honed process which works to the letter and t. I first butter one side of each slice of rye bread and toast that side in the oven. I then turn it over and put either Swiss or White American (Wegmans preferably) and toast that. I then add a layer of deli pastrami on top of the melted cheese and finally add sauerkraut and mix some Thousand Island Dressing with it. This keeps the “wet” items from getting to the bread and making it soggy. I slice the sandwich in half and it stays surprisingly neat.
I do like my Ranch Dill Pickle Spear with this meal and as I’ve said I like to add a side dish of sauerkraut and TI Dressing. The dressing “turns” the sauerkraut.
Making these sandwiches at home stemmed from an exceptional Pastrami Reuben Sandwich experience I had in about 2017 at a Macado’s Restaurant in Salem, Virginia. I was on one of my short vacations which normally only last 3 or 4 days, and had been in Lynchburg, Virginia the night before. The sandwich was exceptional and it came with rough cut fries (not crinkle cut) and both the catchup and soft drink were ice cold. So good that I had Pastrami Reubens and two other restaurants before making it back home. The one at the Grille in Asheville was very good also, but not quite to the level of Macado’s.
*A note about this short vacation. In Lynchburg I had stayed at the Quality Inn and that morning just before leaving had snagged a Bigelow Tea bag of “Raspberry Royale.” It was delicious both hot and cold. I have bought this since, both for Christmas presents and for home use and now get it at the Wegmans in Raleigh, North Carolina. — So two food related items that I was introduced to on this trip have become a constant part of my life ever since.
FROGMORE STEW
Since getting my Instant Pot Mini (3 Qt.) back in November of 2025, I have made this classic large pot meal often. I bought a steamer insert which keeps everything out of the juicy broth, and I don’t add salt until after everything is done, and then not in the broth, but on the cooked ingredients. That way I can re-use the broth to make a Frogmore Stew Soup, using the same ingredients.
CHICKEN STIR-FRY @ HOME
One of my favorite things to fix at home is a chicken stir-fry in my electric wok. It’s quick to prepare the ingredients. Quick to cook them. Delicious, and easy clean-up.
A recently deceased cousin of mine, who had turned 100 years old, several years ago gave me a Westinghouse electric wok. I would use it periodically, profusely, and then go long bouts of not using it. But each cycle, I would recall how easy it was to fix a stir-fry, delicious, and then the clean-up was very easy.
STICKS-N-STONES MARGHERITA PIZZA
I first heard about Sticks-n-Stones from a morning national TV show. I don’t recall which one, Good Morning America maybe. But they said that this was one of the top 3 restaurants for “wood fired” pizza. And it was delicious. And repeatedly so until a few years ago when the flavor went down seriously. The last two times have been better.
I have them add fresh jalapenos to this basic Basil & Mozzarella pizza, and I pour on the Red Pepper Flakes and the ground Parmesean Cheese at the table.
SPAGHETTI SAUCE IN MY INSTANT POT MINI
I’ve recently enjoyed making spaghetti sauce in my Instant Pot Mini (3 Qt.). I had stopped making spaghetti sauce because I had cut way back on eating spaghetti noodles, but found lately that in moderation, they don’t spike my glucose levels too much.
I think the other reason for my joy in spaghetti sauce is finding that green bell peppers and fresh button mushrooms give the sauce that “just right” flavor, even though I know that a more colorful bell pepper has sweeter flavor and more Vitamin C. And I’ve been able to get fresh button mushrooms lately at Pate’s Farm Market.
My sauce is simple: Ground beef & onions sauteed in the IP. Then half a jar of RAO’s spaghetti sauce starter, Maranara. Then a can of diced Hunt’s Roasted Garlic tomatoes. Slice the green bell pepper and mushrooms, and add oregano, powdered garlic, some sweetener, and some Red Pepper Flakes. Close the lid, hit 8 minutes on High Pressure, and then about 5 minutes cool down. The sauce is a little runny, but everything is cooked and it goes great with some Angel Hair Pasta.
LONGHORN CHEESEBURGER & SEAFOOD CHOWDER
This is one of my “guilty pleasures.” I have gotten into the habit of slicing some sweet onion (and sometimes adding a few slices of sweet pickles) and putting those in a zip lock baggie. The meal comes with dill pickles, and I like dill, but not for this meal. The onion they provide is okay, but there is more of mine and it’s a little more flavorful. And, I use the empty baggie to take home about half the appetizer bread that they give. I eat all the butter with the half loaf of bread but I usually don’t eat any of the hamburger bun.
The above cartooned images are of my actual visit for lunch, not too long ago. I was waiting to be seated and saw a couple of cartoonable characters, but before I could get my phone out to take a picture they had gone on to be seated, so I took the picture of a couple that were leaving with leftovers. I cartooned them and because it turned out pretty well, I decided to record my whole lunch as a cartooned story. *I find that I like cartooning various events and things, even people because it simplifies what you see. The colors are fewer, the elements more elemental.
So, it does not take a large number of cartoon stills to tell a story. I came. I ate. I left.
NO.1 CHINA BUFFET
I don’t recall why I visited Asheboro, North Carolina a couple of years ago. I know it wasn’t to see the North Carolina Zoo. *I believe that if people want to see wild animals, they should be put in cages (the people) and driven through the wild county wherever the wild animals live. Less stress on the animals, and the people understand what it means to be a caged animal.
I do recall now. Jeff Mitchell, my good friend, had told me about David’s Restaurant and how good the food was. The first time I came through Asheboro, about 2 pm, I passed David’s and it was still busy. I didn’t stop. But I did come back eventually, for breakfast, and they had a good breakfast for a great price.
After breakfast, I took a self-guided tour of the town and at some point ended up at the Main Library. It was and still is a vibrant library, post COVID. I enjoy visiting each time I am in town.
So, not on my first or even second visit (I think.) did I find the “No. 1 China Buffet,” which is in the same shopping center as Walmart. But, with my first visit all those good times and the various Chinese restaurants and their buffets that I have eaten at through the years came flooding back. At different times, there was fried chicken livers, stir fried green beans, chicken on a stick, fried wontons, egg drop & wonton soup & green onions. They’ve had watermelon, and even a simple Wakami seaweed salad.
They have a Senior Discount day each Tuesday, so I choose to go to Asheboro on Tuesdays. Sometimes I go on to Greensboro and then back home. There is a Natural Foods Store in downtown Greensboro. And I actually found “Chlorella” there, a green silky algae that has a unique flavor. I love it on my egg salad.
CHICKEN TERIYAKI W/ BLUE CORN TORTILLA CHIPS
I fix this dish in my Instant Pot Mini and it is consistently good. You add frozen garden peas after everything is done and just let the hot water bring them to life. This recipe is a version from a young woman who is an Instant Pot guru, but I added the Spicy Chili Crisp to this.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer posuere erat a ante venenatis dapibus posuere velit aliquet. Praesent commodo cursus magna, vel scelerisque nisl consectetur et. Curabitur blandit tempus porttitor. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Donec ullamcorper nulla non metus auctor fringilla. Maecenas faucibus mollis interdum. Aenean eu leo quam. Pellentesque ornare sem lacinia quam venenatis vestibulum.
Vestibulum id ligula porta felis euismod semper. Cras mattis consectetur purus sit amet fermentum. Donec sed odio dui. Nulla vitae elit libero, a pharetra augue. Nullam quis risus eget urna mollis ornare vel eu leo. Etiam porta sem malesuada magna mollis euismod. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Morbi leo risus, porta ac consectetur ac, vestibulum at eros.
BIGELOW RASPBERRY ROYALE TEA
I think it was during a short vacation I took in April of 2017, during which I visited Lynchburg and Salem, Virginia and then went down to Asheville for a night and finally over to Florence, South Carolina before returning to Fayetteville. On this trip I had a really good experience with a Pastrami Reuben at Macado’s in Salem. But before that, after staying the night at the Quality Inn in Lynchburg, just prior to leaving, I snagged a wrapped tea bag of Bigelow Raspberry Royal tea. I heated the water in my room and used one of their small styrofoam coffee cups. Good tea and I took it with me as I drove the short distance over to eat breakfast at Famous Anthony’s. This restaurant is no longer there.
I left the tea in my car and went in and had a good breakfast. When I came out the tea was cold, but when I tasted it, it was good cold, so I took it with me instead of pouring it out.
Later that day I made it down to Roanoke, Virginia but decided to go on to Salem because it was about noon and I didn’t want to fight the lunch crowd in a busy downtown. There is a Macado’s Restaurant in downtown Salem and is directly next to Roanoke College.
So, I fell in love with the Raspberry Royale tea and have bought it both for Christmas presents one year, and then regularly for home use. I buy it at Wegmans in Raleigh.
LUNCH SALAD BAR BUFFETS
I do not recall exactly when, but possibly November or December of 2025 I stopped in to the IGA in Erwin, North Carolina. I had driven past this IGA many times but had never had a reason to stop in. This day I’m not sure if I even knew they had a salad bar and BBQ chicken wings bar.
I must have been looking for lunch and I walked through their green grocer section and saw some good looking avocadoes. They were only 99 cents and they felt just ripe so I picked one. I then walked over to the salad bar. It looked well cared for and they had Ken’s Salad Dressings so I picked up a plastic clam shell and started to make my salad. I probably put some lettuce as a base and then began to pick cauliflower and broccoli and then bell pepper, and raisins or grapes and before any dressing some bacon bits. If there was any fruit like strawberries then I might take a couple of halved slices. Thousand Island and/or Ranch Dressings.
I walked over to their Wings Bar and selected three different flavors. After several visits I was never able to come up with a good way to determine which flavors I liked best.
I paid for this and headed out to my car. I drove a short distance away and found a small park and small parking area to stop for lunch. I cut the avocado in half and it was perfectly ripe. I scooped some avocado out with my plastic knife and began to eat some salad with it. Then I took a bite of one of the wings. All of this was delicious together and with each bit I began to murmure, “This is so good.” And, it was. It was so good that I returned the next day for another lunch salad and it was just about as good. And thus started my month-long Lunch Salad Days.
I knew that Harris Teeter in Fayetteville had a good salad bar and they had Cindy’s Kitchen Dressings. The dressings were the highlight of this feast because of two unique dressings: Sweet Basil and Tangerine Vinegarette. One odd thing about the Harris Teeter salad bar was that they did not slice their hard boiled eggs but left them whole. *I thought this a waste on their part because I often did not want a whole hard boiled egg and thought that others might not also. I started bringing my egg slicer.
ASSORTED TIE-UPS
I will try to tie up various loose ends here about some things just mentioned in passing in the above sections. What for instance?
How about some of my favorite salad dressings, or how I got into growing sprouts which I incorporated into my lunch salads. I especially liked broccoli sprouts and Mung bean sprouts. Both easy to grow.
I’ve watched the old Sci Fi movie, “When Worlds Collide” several times. It doesn’t come on often, and I’m too cheap to rent it.
I just needed a couple of astronauts for this scene, but because I used the original psychedelic scene, not only did it put their faces as they were, but also comically added the element of the 1960s garb of the cut out side of the woman’s dress. How funny is it to add that element to a spacesuit which is supposed to be completely pressure sealed?
At the end of the movie, a small band of Earthlings manage to escape Earth just as Bellus burns it to a crisp.
They open the door to their spaceship, although someone protested, but good logic prevailed. Basically, we are on this new world, and if we can’t breath the air, “we are toast.”
I like the painted background, their first view of the new world, but I immediately saw a disturbing element. On the far left side, there are prominent gashes cut into the mountainside and that says to me, “Intelligent life here already.” Later I noted two pyramid like structures which I had at first thought were just mountains. But, what mountain is shaped so perfectly conical?
I let AI render this view several times because it’s first rendering removed the river flowing across the green plain. And then it created a large lake.
Only the next morning did I realize that these renderings provided the possibility of a world that changes drastically, and possibly fairly often, perhaps even daily.
So the placid welcoming scene quickly becomes threatening. A valley that floods at times, so we wouldn’t want to build our homes there, or plant crops there.
That reminded me of a character that I had the AI create some time ago and I wanted the image to play with the idea that maybe we hadn’t actually gone to the moon, but only staged that visit here upon Earth. The AI added the boom mike in view as it’s playful poke in the eye, but later I realized that he’s not wearing a helmet. Even funnier.
And before we go, AI’s final coup de ta, “The Best of Both Worlds.”
STATE FARMERS MARKET
The vendor was friendly and I wish him well, but his product was a little too pricey and it makes me wonder if he will succeed. He had a fantastic assortment of dried beans and they were in various sizes of Mason jars. After re-thinking that, my thought is that “lose the glass jars” and start packaging those beans in plastic baggies.
The price was $14 for a pint jar of dry beans. I’m thinking that is equivalent to about a pound (16 oz.) of beans. Most of the beans I buy are no more than $4 a pound and I would normally find that pushing the limit. $14? For a pint of beans that I might be able to make 10 servings, so that would be about $1.40 for just the bean side dish. $1.40 would probably be pushing it for the high end of my meat entre for a meal, so way too much for a side dish. Less than a buck for a side, is more reasonable.
A few years ago I found several varieties of dried beans at Cara’s in one corner of the Western Carolina State Farmers Market in Asheville, North Carolina. I bought them, brought them home and cooked them and the results were less than stellar. I realized that the more popular versions of these beans were more popular for a reason. The more flavorful or distinctive bean had “won out” and won the blue ribbon, deserving to be grown, sold, cooked and eaten by the general public. Check out that story at “Beans, Beans, Beans.“
I think his fate will be similar to a vendor that I found along the side of a road up toward Louisburg a few years back. I saw this large outdoor market area and turned around to come back to it. The one thing I recall was this vendor had bought these gigantic okra. You don’t want gigantic okra because BIGGER IS definitely NOT BETTER! You could feel that they were old and tough and no way cooking them any amount of time was going to make them edible. That told me that this vendor didn’t know what he was doing, and that whomever had sold him these large okra wasn’t doing him any favor. — The next time I rode past the location, nothing was left of that vendor’s facilities.
WHOLE FOODS
WEGMANS
LOWE’S FOODS
And later that night I made some good Lentil and Sausage Soup in my IPM.
