The Crossing by Michael Connelly, a Bosch Novel.

December 19, 2023July 4, 2024 bgibson135

I don’t notice it in Bosch Legacy episodes, but the early Bosch shows did something that I found quickly odd. Odd compared to almost all TV shows & movies that came prior. The locations were real, and street signs were real, with a few exceptions where an actual location was used for a different purpose, such as, a bank and it’s parking lot being used as a restaurant and “shoot out” scene for the story. But, for the most part, if you paused the video and looked at a street sign, then you could actually google for that location in Google Maps (Streetview) and you could usually find it. I do recall one house that I couldn’t find on my own in this way, but that was because there was only a house number showing on a gaudily painted house, and nowhere in the scene was there a street sign visible.

So, I have never read a Stephen King novel (that I can recall), but I have watched the myriad of movies which have been made from his writings & novels. Until recently, I could say the same about the author Michael Connelly and his Bosch (and Lincoln Lawyer) novels. I rarely read fiction, and for most of my working life only read technical manuals & industry related items. The exception might have been in reading various works regarding education.

But, I am now almost 180 pages into reading “The Crossing” by Michael Connelly. I’ve cheated, and looked, and there are 388 pages of the actual novel. Why? Well, this is about the third book that I am reading because of my experience with the Little Community Lending Libraries that I took on as my own project, of being a “book bee” (my term for moving a few books from one location, area or even city to another). I normally don’t take a book or two to actually read, but only to cross-pollinate these little book drops. Two exceptions have been “Fig Pudding” and “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” which was the late Matthew Perry memoir. I will attribute “The Crossing” to these little libraries, but not because I actually found it there, but because I’ve started collecting these Connelly novels to add to these lending libraries starting this coming spring. *I’ve stopped my “book bee” process since it’s gotten colder, because I am guessing that fewer people walk around to these locations in bad weather, and I also don’t want to leave a book, “out in the cold” during stormy winter months. Oh, and I settled on Connelly novels because I had enjoyed the Bosch series on TV. And it was an added bonus that I had independently liked the Lincoln Lawyer series, before I ever knew the connection between Haller & Bosch, and Connelly, the author of both. At the last Cumberland County Library Book Sale, I found a whole shelf of the Connelly-Bosch novels and that was the second day of the sale. No telling how many had filled the shelves on Day One.

I don’t plan to read even a few of the Bosch novels, but I am finding The Crossing to be enjoyable. First, I know most of the characters mentioned, and have probably even seen the story line on TV first, but I do see where an event where Haller is “set up” by crooked cops on a DUI bust… so the cops can view the files he is carrying in the trunk of his Lincoln, after he is carted off to jail, actually happens to Honey Chandler in the TV episode. And I’m not sure of how a fictional event in a book, or a fictional event in a TV episode can “actually happen.” I guess it’s just poetic license.

But all of the previous writing above, was just to get me to the point so that I could mention that the novels apparently echo that of the TV series. Places mentioned in the book are many times, actual places that you can find in Streetview. I’ve skipped over a few locations already mentioned in the book but plan to go back and include them in my Streetview searching.

So, Harry Bosch is meeting another character at a local bar. The book mentions the name of the bar and even describes a large mural painted on the side of the building as being of an old Mariachi. This was the trigger for me to finally go to Streetview searching for this bar & location. Sure enough I put in the bar name, “Eastside Luv” and quickly found it and yup, there was the grizzled old Mariachi musician portrayed on the side of the building.

As another aside, I will miss Lance Reddick, the actor. I liked him in everything I saw him in. Enjoyed his character in “Fringe.”

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I came across the Matthew Perry memoir in one of the little community lending libraries about three days before the actor died. I snagged the book because I thought someone would like to read it. However, less than a week later, as I was viewing one of those online tributes to actors & other famous persons who have died in the current year, I saw a picture of Matthew Perry. My thought was that I didn’t know he was dead, and when did it happen. I quickly found that he had actually died, very recently, and just 3 days after I snagged his book.

So I told myself that I probably will have to read it now. And, I started slowly, but then picked up speed and finished it, except for the last half page, which I superstitiously left unread. He was a tennis player in his youth, so I had that in common, although I started much later in life. He made $80 millions mostly from “Friends” but he also spent $7 millions on therapy. By the end of the book, I was thinking another title might have been “Self-Inflicted Wounds.” Catch-22. Without the holes in his soul, he probably wouldn’t have been talented enough to be on “Friends” and make millions & millions of dollars… and with the holes, he was so “fucked up” that he could never be happy, and would put himself through more pain than almost any enemy would have thought “too brutal” to foist on even the most hated foe. And ironic. From the start of the book he is saying, “I should have been dead by now,” ”many times.”

I got “Fig Pudding” from a LCL in Benson, NC. It was one of many (perhaps 15 or more copies) in the little hut on a stick. I’m guessing this many copies might have been purchased for a Sunday School class, or other group reading project, perhaps at a school. In any case, the read was quick and enjoyable. Not really religious themed, but a family story with ups and downs, and one of the downs being really down. The sudden death of one of the children. It’s not a real family or story, but an entertaining look, that makes the reader want to participate in that kind of cohesive unit.

[NOTE]: On the actor, Titus Welliver… ”Mullholland Falls” from 1996 is still fun to watch, and in it Welliver, a much, much younger Welliver, plays a letch, who is about to screw a young, naive girl, even if it means doping her up beforehand. The Nolte character, a policeman, steps in hard, and kills the Welliver character with his own dope filled hypodermic syringe. But none of that keeps the bad guys, other bad guys, from throwing the Jennifer Connelly character from an aeroplane. And, I don’t know if Michael Connelly and Jennifer Connelly are any, if even, distant relation.

[ A LATER NOTE ]: ”I don’t plan to read even a few of the Bosch novels, but I am finding The Crossing to be enjoyable.“ Funny, since now I am on my fifth Bosch novel, “the 9 Dragons,” and may read more. I am finding “9 Dragons” to be a little slower reading than the previous four Bosch novels I have read, and enjoyed. I think this may be the novel where Harry has to fly to Hong Kong to rescue his daughter, Maddie. Not sure if his ex-wife, who Maddie lives with all but two weeks of the year, (is it Eleanor Wish) is killed in this story. In the TV series, his ex-wife is gunned down in an L.A. parking lot, and I don’t think that Harry flies to Hong Kong in the TV series.

*I enjoyed the first Bosch TV series, and the latest, “Bosch Legacy,” but having started to read Connelly’s Bosch novels, I really like the author’s stories better than the TV adaptations, and part of that is because I like the Mickey Haller, his Lincoln Lawyer half-brother, character. I think I read that it is licensing agreements that limit the Bosch-Haller interaction on the TV series, and that is probably why the Honey Chandler character was prominent in the TV series. I haven’t read if she even exists in the novels, or if she does, probably plays a much smaller mentionable role there.

[AN EVEN LATER NOTE 04/02/24]: Having mentioned above that I don’t plan to read even a few of the Bosch novels, I am now reading “The DROP,” and I have already read about 15 other Bosch novels, and have a couple more ready to be read after the current one I am reading. I haven’t read them in order, and there have been some interesting insights because of the timing & order of reading that I have made. That is one reason for why I wrote a brief article called, “Harry Bosch, that lying sack of shit.” [end of NOTE]

[NOTE 07/04/24]: The 4th of July, 2024, and I am at home watching part of the “Twilight Zone Marathon” on the SyFy Channel. And the current episode is, “Time Enough At Last,” which stars Burgess Meredith. This is the episode in which Henry Bemis, a bank teller, who is a voracious reader with thick glasses is repeatedly stymied at both work and home by “non-readers.” One day, while reading on his break, in the bank vault, an H-Bomb goes off killing everyone else on Earth. Bemis emerges from the bank vault into a world of twisted metal and ashes. He walks the earth and finds that there is enough canned goods and other food in a demolished grocery for him to survive. (I know that canned goods, most of them, have a shelf life, and eventually will spoil, even in a well sealed can. So, eventually he would need to figure out how to reproduce food by “tilling the soil.”) And then, just before deciding to put an end to his aloneness with a bullet, he spies a fallen pillar with the words “Public Library” written on it. And here he finds and starts to compile his readings, sorted by months, as stacks of books on the front steps of the demolished library. And here’s the twist. While bending down to pick up a tome, his glasses slip from his face falling to the concrete steps and completely shattering the lenses. He cannot see to read, which seems to be the most important obstacle for the rest of his life. And the episode ends, “in the Twilight Zone.”

So, I’ve read all the Bosch novels except for “The Burning Room” and “The Wrong Side of Goodbye.” I am a little over 50 pages into “The Burning Room,” which I thought would be a story about the death of a young girl, killed by smoke inhalation during an apartment fire started by a fire bomb. The “bad guys” were trying to get tenants out of this apartment complex so they could build something bigger. *That storyline was from several Bosch episodes on TV. **But that hasn’t happened yet, and we are focused on a Mariachi player, who having been shot ten years prior has suffered and finally died of blood poisoning, due to his original injury. Thus this becomes a homicide which is now handed off to Harry Bosch and his novice Spanish speaking protege, Soto. This is Harry’s last year, not many more cases left in his LAPD detective career before the DROP (not the Bosch novel).

Mariachi Plaza

The shooting occurred at the crowded Mariachi Plaza and was for 10 years thought to have been a “drive by” shooting. But now, with the player’s death, an autopsy has produced a rifle slug that had been lodged into his spine. And the bullet, having been fired from a rifle, was proof (if not positive) that the shooting had been deliberate and not just random.

There is a description, from a store security camera located across the street from the Plaza, of the actual shooting. I suppose from the current Google Street View that that store no longer exists.

The Corner of Boyle and 1st Street at Mariachi Plaza.

As I explored Mariachi Plaza via Google Maps & Street View, I came upon a surprise revelation. I was just looking to find a concrete table, like the one described from which the Mariachi player had fallen after being shot. I found several concrete outcroppings, not quite where I thought they should be, but that made me go to Street View to get a different angle on Mariachi Plaza. And, that is where I looked in the opposite direction from the Plaza. There it was, a view that I was familiar with, from a long ago Bosch novel, “The Crossing.” And here it is,

Eastside Luv Wine Bar

I just checked the publishing order for the Michael Connelly’s novels and see that “The Crossing” was published directly after “The Burning Room.” But, I read “The Crossing” a good many books ago, so it seems at a much different time. ***There has also been a description of a drive-by shooting regarding the “White Fence” Gang. Not sure which novel this other vignette comes from, but there was a shooting into the walls of a garage, in which, at a much later time, LAPD tried to recover the slugs, but unsuccessfully. ****I mention this because I put “two and two together” between two other novels, that I had read, “out of their order.” I read about an Oriental shop/store keeper (wine shop?) who had been shot and killed in his store. Bosch finally reveals that the store owner’s daughter had actually killed her father. But, now I was reading another novel in which Harry drives a crooked detective into hostile territory, during the LA Race Riots, and this detective is pulled from the car and beat to death, while Harry managed to drive back to safety. On safe ground, Harry walks over to a looted wine shop to get cigarettes and some matches and finds the Oriental store owner cowering down behind his cash register. There was something about this description that made me look further, and I realized that this was when Harry first met the store owner that some years later was killed by his, the owner’s, daughter.

Another note. If you look in the opposite direction from the Eastside Luv Wine Bar, up 1st Street, you are looking a short distance to downtown LA.

[end NOTE]

The Best Stewed Tomatoes…

December 15, 2023December 19, 2023 bgibson135

I found this recipe for “The Best Stewed Tomatoes Ever” online. I did make a few modifications, but this just proves that it doesn’t take much for tomatoes to taste good, really good!

I’ve used Roma Tomatoes both times, and did the simple boil (for 30 seconds-1 minute) and then a quick “ice” bath. I only do 5 or 6 tomatoes total. I would have done six tomatoes the last time, but one of them had already begun to rot, and I only bought them a couple of days ago.

It is amazing how the boil/ice bath works to make a tomato easily peeled.

I had part of a red sweet bell pepper that I large diced into the tomatoes, which I had cut up into smaller chunks. I also fine diced a regular onion and put that in the mix. I added some parsley flakes & salt, according to the recipe, but I also added some dried basil leaves (which I had grown last year, and then dried and put in a re-closeable sandwich baggie), and a little Splenda sweetener.

I bought a can of mushroom stems & pieces yesterday and then I went looking for a healthy “diabetic friendly” recipe. I had originally imagined stewing the mushrooms down to make a delicious mushroom gravy which led to thoughts of adding them to some Cream of Celery soup, but then I thought that the cream wouldn’t be as diabetic friendly as I would like. Not to add Half-n-Half to make this creamy, hmmm.

I had some leeks, so I chopped up one small one, and some onion, and some sweet bell pepper. I think I added a diced carrot, some dried tarragon and just a little Splenda sweetener. I ended up eating this concoction as my dinner, along with some of the steamed cabbage I had cooked for lunch.

*Beef Polska Kielbasa, waffle polenta cakes and steamed cabbage make a good, comfort food meal. I have recently started flavoring my steamed cabbage first with just a little Splenda sweetener. Then I may add a little margarine while it is steaming. Some S&P and some Celery Seeds. Once the cabbage is done, I put them on the plate, and flavor one portion with some bacon fat and another portion with Toasted Sesame Oil.

This worked. I had calf liver, with sauteed onions, some of the best stewed tomatoes (.5 cup is just enough), roasted cauliflower seasoned with smoked paprika & margarine, and a slice of the Tuscan Boule Loaf bread from Publix. I would do this combination again because it all worked together very well.

One surprise was that the sauteed onions complimented the roasted cauliflower.

OK Google, Show Me My List…

December 7, 2023December 7, 2023 bgibson135

Damn, that is frustrating! I had a rather extensive shopping list that I had built with categories such as Bread:, Meat:, Veg:, etc. and then the various sub items, such as Veg:Onions, Veg:Tomatoes, etc. The only frustrating problem with that list was that it didn’t keep my “alphabetize list” option and I would have to re-sort each time before I used the long list.

Then I started getting messages that My List would be switched to Google Assistant (I think that was what it was being switched to.). I didn’t think anything of it because it was a simple program that kept a list that I could sort easily. It was very useful! WAS very useful!

It finally was switched yesterday, and the new list looked different, and since there were so many items in the list, it was useless to have them unsorted (not alphabetized). But, I couldn’t find the alphabetize option. Instead of telling me directly that the new program couldn’t handle a simple sort (alphabetize), it cheerfully told me that I would have to copy my list and put it in another app and sort there, and then copy it back. Well, that’s moronic!!! That would make the new list app useless.

But I see they have a simple solution for that. I can no longer find my list. I’ll create something, or find another list app that works and leave this Google Shit behind.

NOTE [ 12/07/23 ]: I found another app quickly, and scheduled it to be installed. But, as I waited, I noted that the reviews for this new app stopped about 2021. So, I went looking for another app, but came across the option for a To Do List template in Google Sheets.

I saw that the Google Sheets To Do List should accomplish my needs and I entered a couple of items manually. I then looked for a way to import my old list into this Google Sheet. I managed to copy the old list into the new format. I then found how to change the font & font size once the old data had been pasted into the Sheet. I removed all the strikethrough text that had come over, and then used Search/Replace to clean-up the categories & some other existing ragged text.

I am able to use both the Google Sheets interface and the Google Sheets interface on my Android (Samsung) phone. It worked fine and I was able to check off the items, via my phone, as I put each in my shopping cart.

Okay, so if Google can screw up a simple app, what is to keep them from screwing up Google Sheets? Not a damned thing. I have seen this happen with other apps throughout my technical career. Not all later versions of a program or app were necessarily better, and depending upon the direction that the owner or programmer wanted to go, the useful functionality or even the whole program might be abandoned. Painter was a powerful graphics program, but after it was sold, twice I think, the last owner decided to abandon the graphics program to pursue their video interests.

WordPress took away certain functionality that made the pages less attractive.

Michael Connelly’s Fiction

December 5, 2023December 5, 2023 bgibson135

Harry Bosch & the Lincoln Lawyer

Polenta

ImageDecember 3, 2023December 13, 2023 bgibson135

I haven’t fixed polenta in a while, but I do love the flavor and that it is an excellent vehicle for gravy. I’m not sure if “Trillium a Bistro” in Asheville, North Carolina was the first time I tried polenta, but I do recall that Chef Leisa Payne fixed some delicious alligator sausage, gravy and […]

Ending School Bussing…

November 29, 2023November 29, 2023 bgibson135

Several years ago Wake County in North Carolina, Raleigh, discontinued school bussing based upon family income. I remember thinking that the students from lower income families would suffer by this decision.

Wealthy families, living in the same neighborhood, sending their children to the same school would be able to provide much nicer “extracurricular activities” for their children. If you have low income students mixed with higher income students, you’re not going to be able to send a group to New York City on a special educational trip.

At Southeast Raleigh High School, the total minority enrollment is 94%, and 45% of students are economically disadvantaged [USNEWS article]. “Southeast Raleigh High School grieves loss…” was part of the title for a story that WRAL TV had on it’s web site. This was regarding the recent knifing & death of a 15 year old, by a 14 year old, in the school gymnasium. *I wonder if better security would have already been in place, if the student demographics were more diverse.

In 2010, John Tedesco was a very visible proponent of ending the bussing.

Friends of the Library Book Sale

November 18, 2023December 9, 2023 bgibson135

The first day of book sales, there being two more, was yesterday. Friday’s book sale was from 12 noon to 5 pm. I made it to the Library a little after noon, and the small parking area beside the library was almost full. A couple of open spaces were marked as DO NOT PARK, and a couple were too small because the cars on each side were a little too close to each other. But this forced me into the last open space, second from the stairs, that go down to the Book Sale Entrance.

When I got to the entrance there were only two women, probably in their late 20s to early 30s standing in front of the entrance door. I asked if they were standing in line, and they said they were. I thought one of them said that only 15 persons were allowed inside at a time (fire regulations), but she may have said 50 persons, which is the number one of the staff later told me. But, it took a long time before we were allowed inside. In fact, I was able to read 4 books of the Bible on my phone before the next people were allowed in. And by that time, the line behind me had grown to maybe more than 20 persons.

Just outside the entrance there were some books labeled “Free.” While standing there I looked over some of the free book titles & authors. There was a book by Leon Uris, and one by Tom Clancy. Okay, maybe not Clancy, but another recognizable author’s name and to think that they were now “free.” Did Uris do “Exodus,” which was made into a movie? ***I just googled, and I did remember correctly, he did write “Exodus” which was made into a movie with Paul Newman. And google listed as one of his books, “Redemption,” which was the free book.

I walked inside carrying my large, light gray, empty tote bag. It is sturdily made, and I used it a few months ago when I was at that book sale.

There is a small room to the left as you walk down a short hallway to the main book room. This apparently is the “discount” book room. A sign said, “Books 25 cents each or 5 for a $1.” I knew from last time that most of the books were children’s books and that there was a small “cookbook” section. But, and I may have missed it last time, the cookbook section wasn’t just one small unit, but several, side by side. I only noticed the extra cookbooks after choosing several and then walking all the way around the children’s area and back to the first cookbook section I had noted. There were also foreign language books, but I didn’t see any German Language books. But then I noticed that there were more cookbooks, and even more beside those. I started looking through those. I happened to see a large book by John Besh. I knew this chef from a cooking show he had on a few years ago. He was family oriented, cooking with his children on the show, and I think that was the theme of this cookbook. He was also a former Marine, so I knew some of where he was coming from. *But, I haven’t seen his show on TV for quite a while and at some point I think I saw something about him having an affair with one of his staff. What a shame because that blew much of what he had to offer, a family man, chef, out of the water. *But then, I guess having an adulterous affair blows all of us, guilty of it, out of the water.

I didn’t pay for the books from the discount room, but was given a chit with a $2 amount on it. This I was to show to the staff in the larger book sale room, and then they could total all the books up and I could just pay once. So at 5 for $1, I must have had 10 books from the discount section.

I bought six more books in the other room, but they were only 50 cents each, and children’s books. So I ended up with a $5 price tag for 16 books. I took out a $10 bill and gave it to the clerk telling her to treat the extra as a donation. Still, that’s only about 63 cents a book, even with the donation.

But, I almost totally ignored my book buying parameters. I bought mostly cookbooks. And, most of the books that I bought were large in size, if not large in number of pages. Size does matter because I wanted to buy books to add to the various Local Community Book sites that I visit. Most of these are small cubicles on posts, some looking like little houses with glass front doors, so that you can see the books that people have left. The idea being, “Take a book, leave a book.” My routine is normally to take 2 and leave 2, but I don’t plan to read most of the books I take. I also take a picture of the unit, and the two books I have taken. That way I can try to not return a book to where I originally got it from. I am being a “book bee” and pollinating each little book stand with books from another stand elsewhere. So, I may take books from several locations in Fayetteville, and move them to locations in Sanford, Raleigh, Benson or even Florence, SC. **And there is an app that makes it easy to find locations of the units, and to record when you visited. Not all units are listed in the app. Not rogue units, just not in the list.

Little did I know, this was Briggs Farm.

I did find a small Local Library next to a goat pen at an elementary school in Florence (Briggs Elementary). And may I say, the goats there were fine looking specimens. A pretty brown haired one was a little skittish at me taking it’s picture. The school also had a pretty garden area for children to learn about agriculture, etc.

I mentioned Benson because there is only one community library location there. I’ve visited twice and I may have gotten a copy of “Fig Pudding” both times. I was unfamiliar with this story, but it is a good family oriented tale, that even includes the death of one of the children in the family, and a messy, child’s foot in the communal fig pudding at a family to-do.

So the books need to “fit” in these little units. A large one might not be able to be squeezed in.

Not sure if I have written about this elsewhere, but back in October, I happened to see and take a book by Matthew Perry, the actor/comedian. I recognized his face on the cover and didn’t actually expect to read the book, but knew someone might. I don’t recall the exact title of his book, but part of the title was the equivalent of “and the Elephant in the Room,” to paraphrase his title. And looking online I quickly found that his elephant was a life long “drug/alcohol addiction.” Well, just a short time (less than a week) later I was looking online at a list of recently (this year) deceased celebrities and who should I see but the face of Matthew Perry. I then googled to see when he died, and surprise, he died three days after I had received his book. Now, I sort of felt an urge and obligation to try to read his book.

I’ve only gotten a page into the book, but “creepy” he starts off presenting his addiction, and saying something to the effect that he is surprised that he has lived this long. He easily could have died due to complications of his alcohol/drug abuse, but he hadn’t. So he dies alone in his hot tub. Maybe not ironic. You might say he died of natural causes. To which the joke about the bank robber who was shot and killed. It was stated that he died of natural causes. Well, being shot to death is a natural cause for a bank robber, isn’t it?

NOTE [ 11/30/23 ]: Well, I took the Matthew Perry book with me this morning when I went for scheduled maintenance for my 2018 Toyota Camry. I was in the Hendrick Toyota waiting room for almost 2.5 hours and much of that was spent reading his book. I’m now about 70 pages into the book. I’m thinking another more appropriate title might be, “Self Inflicted Wounds.” *Reading a book where people, places & things are mentioned is much more fun when you have a Handy connected to the Internet. When Perry mentions his tennis playing, you can go online and see him in his tennis garb. Or when he mentions a small group of actor friends, you can see each one of their faces, or even see each one of them with Matty. Or River Phoenix & his first movie, that too is also documented online. **I played a lot of tennis when I was younger, but I didn’t start playing until I was older, which meant I would never progress to a “world class” level. Much like Matty being a Canadian star, but just a good club player, when he reaches LA. Also, I realized from the book that the 1984 Summer Olympics were played in Los Angeles. I was in Wedowee/Lineville, Alabama that summer. And sometime that summer, tennis players started saying, “My bad,” when they made an error on the court. I always hated that phrase because it sounded “so dorky” to me. Almost as bad as, “I shit my pants.” No, dork, it’s “I shit in my pants.” Or the demise of adverbs that have “ly” appended to them as, “He walked quick into the room.” “quickly, suddenly, gingerly, etc.” [END NOTE]

Oh, I hadn’t thought about winter time and these small lending libraries until just a short time ago. I don’t want to put a book outside during the coldest time of the year. I don’t think that as many people would be walking and taking books during the winter. I think this is mainly a spring, summer & fall activity. But, I might be wrong.

NOTE [ 11/18/23 ]: So, I went back to the Friends of the Library Book Sale again this morning. It started at 10 am, and I was a little late arriving, but found a space in the parking lot and there was no waiting line when I got to the door. Eric Hyman was sitting guard at the door and pushed it open to let me in. We talked briefly. I was surprised that he was not retired from FSU. He said something about being on partial retirement, and working a limited amount of time with classes, and some time off for his writings.

I asked about the new chancellor, but he said he didn’t see him.

I walked past the discount room and directly into the main book sales room. The criminal/murder mystery writers were directly in front down an isle, and they had the books organized by author, and there were a bunch of books by Michael Connelly. I picked up & picked out several books by Connelly, and saw that in addition to the Bosch novels, he also wrote the Lincoln Lawyer character. As I drove down the street today, I made a note to self that I had never read a Stephen King novel but only enjoyed the movies made from his novels. I say I’ve never read one of his novels, but I am haunted by the thought that I may have read something by him, and just don’t remember it. So, I’ve also not read a Michael Connelly novel, but have enjoyed the Bosch TV series and several episodes of the Lincoln Lawyer.

I have read “The Red Dragon” by Thomas Harris many years ago, while I was still working for the New River Baptist Association at the Hem of His Garment. A paperback copy of his novel was donated to the Hem, and Maribell Jarman brought it up and put it under our checkout counter. She sheepishly said to me that she wasn’t sure what to do with it. I took it home and read it, and as I did, I realized that I had already seen this story in the movie, “Manhunter.” By that time, the Iwo Jima Theater on New Bridge Street in Jacksonville offered $1 movies and “Manhunter” was one of those that I had seen. But, years prior, I had also watched “Planet of the Apes” and “The Godfather” at the Iwo Jima.

“Manhunter” was a movie that was ruined, by Michael Mann music. Well, if you had lived through the “Miami Vice” TV series, which reeked of Michael Mann, then listening to his music in “Manhunter” made it impossible not to keep thinking about Miami Vice. So “Manhunter” was based on Harris’ “Red Dragon.” And the story was later remade into a movie called “Red Dragon.”

There were a select few novels with $2 price tags, the rest of the hardback novels were only $1 each, and before I left, I also found a section of cookbooks also at $1. I only had one $2 book and the rest were $1 each, and I think I paid $15 total, so is that 14 books total? I got online and have a list of the Michael Connelly novels he has written. Not sure if I will try to collect them all, not to keep, but just to have put them all back out in the Community Libraries.

So what am I going to do with these books? I’m probably going to store them during the winter, and start leaving them at the little lending libraries beginning next Spring 2024. I hope to make it till then, but if not as with everything once you die, it won’t be my worry any longer.

NOTE [ 11/24/23 ]: Yesterday, before I headed up to the Mitchell’s, I took my red cart out to the car and took out a bunch of mail, trash and books that I had in the front seat and passenger-side floorboard. I was surprised by finding three books that I didn’t recall having. One was a book of things that a mother learned from her children and another was “Fig Pudding.”

All three of these books were youth/child oriented, and smaller in size, so they would fit easily in almost all of the little community libraries that I have visited. However, I look over against the wall from my easy chair and see the books I bought at the recent Cumberland County Library – Friends of the Library Book Sale. I bought very few child/youth oriented books. I bought a bunch of cookbooks, most of them not thick in size, but larger, and about 8 Michael Connelly books (both Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer), and one Harlan Coban book. I don’t even know the genre that Coban writes, but I’ve seen the advertising for a bunch of movies from books that he has written. So I consider Coban & Connelly in the same ilk as Stieg Larsson. I just googled on how to spell Stieg Larsson’s name, and see that he died of a heart attach in 2004 and his Millennium Trilogy was published after his death. Who knew? Not me.

Not directly related, but I was just reminded of the incestuous father/daughter relationship, and recall from several of the Scandinavian police/detective shows that Europeans find this a problem worthy of death or at least keeping in the family as a “dark” secret. I think from the Wallander series, no matter who is playing the character, there was at least one murder as the result of an incestuous father. *Oh, oh, I just thought of the first episode of “the Mentalist.” This came out in 2008 and in the first episode, there as a “prologue” not related to the rest of the show. We are introduced to the character of Patrick Jane, who is acting as a consultant to a state police unit. Jane wanders off from the rest of his unit, and finds himself in the kitchen/small dining area, of the victim’s home (a very nice home). He makes himself at home, fixing himself some hot tea and a sandwich. And then the mother walks into her kitchen and Jane and she introduce themselves. Jane begins to probe the mother. It is her daughter that has been found murdered, and the current suspect is a teenaged, Goth themed boy in black. But Jane begins to sense that the mother has doubts about what has happened. She may even suspect her husband, who comes into the kitchen and sees Jane and his wife talking a a small dining table. The husband is confrontive toward Jane, but instead of backing down, Jane brings himself to ask the father if he is responsible for his daughter’s death. The father is incensed at this accusation, and threatens to report Jane to his unit head (maybe higher). The wife/mother has gotten up from the table and disappeared briefly. But, she now returns to the room, with a gun. Jane backs away from the husband, the husband tries to defend himself from the guilty verdict his wife has obviously put upon him. But, in short order the wife puts about four bullets in her husband’s torso (the red splotches vibrant upon his crisp, white dress shirt) and he falls to the kitchen floor. Jane’s boss and the others in the unit arrive promptly in the kitchen having heard the gun fire. The wife drops her weapon, and Jane steps back and says to the police, “Honest, it’s not as bad as it looks.” And this little segment ends and the show goes briefly to a commercial break.

I recall the first time, as I was watching this, I thought to myself, “Now that’s funny, I’m going to like this show.” And, I did. I watched several seasons of the show, religiously, right up until we learned that the evil character of “Red John” has been killed, but it wasn’t actually Red John. This type of writing has happened in a few other shows that I have been watching intensely and as soon as it does, I lose all interest in that show. I don’t ever want to watch another episode because the writer could keep doing this, ad infinitum. If I had still been watching the TV show, Dallas, when they revealed that a whole season of the show had just been a dream, I would have been so angry that I wouldn’t have watched any episode after that, and would have felt cheated by the “dream” season.

So, in America an incestuous story only merits 10 minutes of an episode, which the Europeans can stretch into a story of several hours or even 5 or 6 episodes.

In the past ten years, I have watched a bunch of Scandinavian detective/police shows, filmed in a snow bound environment. Not sure why this is attractive. I wouldn’t want to live in a place where there were more days of the year with snow on the ground than not. *Although when I lived and went to school in Louisville, KY, I liked walking about in the snow for hours. If you have the right clothing and boots, you can enjoy yourself, even if you are not sledding down a hill, or doing other kid-type stuff. Northerners know how to thrive in snow. **Actually, Northerner’s can be just as big pussys in snow and ice, if you provide them with enough snow & ice, and maybe a little more cold wind and sleet than they are used to. Then, they whine and act just like Southerners do, when there is an inch of snow on the ground. If you don’t have the right equipment, or aren’t prepared for a good snow (and that is a relative term) we are all whiners & complainers. Whether we have a Southern drawl, or don’t know how to pronounce an “R” in words like park, bar or car. Is that, “paak da kah at da ba?”

I bought some snow boots, probably at Walmart. They seemed to be made of the same rubbery material that commercial fishermen wear. Although the color of boots for commercial fishermen has changed to white. They weren’t white when I was growing up. **Oh, and the style of oyster knife has changed since I was a child. Some oyster knives are still made, with a bulbous wooden handle, but the majority have a rubber/plastic handle, not as bulbous, and the knife blade may be almost stubby.

The snow boots had a thick insulation material, probably over a half inch thick. I mentioned being out in the snow for 3 hours. I did this, tromping about the snowy Southern Seminary campus in my snow boots & heavy coat. Probably also wearing several layers of shirts & pants. I recall my feet were actually sweating after several hours. My body heat was sufficient with the thick book insulation.

I used to like to listen to Garrison Keillor on the radio. He had a lengthy show that came on weekly. I think it may have been 90 minutes in length. Maybe not, but because there was so much entertaining material, the show seemed to last a long time. Well he had a segment of the show where he would start to tell a story. He painted beautiful, intricately designed scenes with his words, and he filled those scenes and rooms with interesting characters. But, one of the things he did extremely well was to start one story, and very quickly, without the audience even being aware of the segway, he would dive into another story and make that just as intricate as what he had started with. But, near the end of this segment, he would bring us all back to the original story and finish that tale. And, over and over, I would realize that the majority of that segment was filled not by the original story, but something entirely different. I would wonder how he got my mind sidetracked, so easily, and without being aware that the train I was riding on has switched to another track, even another destination for a while, until the conductor decides to switch us back to the main line.

NOTE [ 12/09/23 ]: I’ve continued to read the Matthew Perry memoir. *As I write this, I am watching “Leave the World Behind” a movie with Julia Roberts. One of her (the character she is playing) children was watching an episode of “Friends”. This was probably intentional because Matthew Perry and Julia Roberts dated for a brief while, as is recounted in his book.

The book is interesting because of several things, such as a movie that Matty did with Bruce Willis, “The Whole Nine Yards.” I recall seeing this movie, years ago but couldn’t have told you that Matthew Perry was in it. The two actors I recalled were Bruce Willis and Amanda Pete. But, reviewing it, I see that Natasha Henstridge was in it, and without rewatching the film, I think she became the love interest of Matty’s character, not recalling what happened to his wife. But, Bruce Willis’ character was a notorious “hit man” hiding out. *Perry mentions that this film was #1 for about three weeks, so he, like Michael J. Fox, had a #1 movie and a #1 TV show at the same time. But Matty also mentions that because of his alcohol/drug additions he “felt like shit” (my translation) during this time of success. And the irony, was that later, when the sequel, “The Whole Ten Yards” tanked, he didn’t feel that bad. **I don’t recall if he had hit rehab again before the sequel. ***I just rewatched “the Jackal” with Bruce Willis as a contract hitman and Richard Gere as his nemesis (1997). “The Whole Nine Yards” came out in 2000.

Now, I recall seeing Matthew Perry’s dad, the actor, on something in the past. It was either a TV show he was on or a commercial he had done. Several of the friends he mentions, his drinking buddies, all had faces that I recall seeing as actors. As I have said, either in writing or to someone, the memoir could just as well have been named, “Self Inflicted Wounds.” He made a bunch of money, and he spent a bunch of money, and fame & money didn’t make him happy, or fill his holes. His deal with God was something to the effect of, “You make me famous, and you can do whatever you want with me.” So, he knew God had honored one part of the contract, and he was going to have to live with the consequences.

Cabbage with Mustard Sauce

November 17, 2023February 16, 2024 bgibson135

I’ve eaten a bunch of steamed cabbage recently. I love the flavor, and if you give it just the right amount of sweetness, it is a delicious side dish. But, salt & margarine, and maybe some bacon grease can only go so far. I thought, what might spiff up steamed cabbage, and immediately thought of adding a mustard sauce. *I really, really, really don’t know why I thought of a mustard sauce. I hadn’t seen anything, recently about this, and I don’t think I’ve ever had steamed cabbage with a mustard sauce. It may be like the time I was walking down an isle in my local Walmart and thought that I might like to make hummus at home. There were the cans of garbanzo beans on the shelf, so I chose one (may have been Hanover), took it home and googled on how to make hummus. I like making hummus, every so often, and having a veggie meal, with olives, smoked oysters, sweet bell pepper and sweet onion, carrot sticks, etc. Surprisingly, even though I like celery, I don’t like celery and hummus. **Not all canned garbanzo beans are equal;-) I found that some companies cooked their beans longer, some shorter. So the canned product may either be too hard, or not. And, when I first made hummus at home, I was using my older, smaller, Braun chopper (came with a chopper, whisk, & stick blender) which wasn’t powerful enough to grind an entire can of garbanzo beans into hummus. I since bought a larger Braun unit which has no problem with a whole can of garbanzo beans. ***The chopper also does excellently on making homemade salsa.

So, I thought “mustard sauce” and googled for a recipe, if that was a valid food combination. Sure enough I quickly found a Cabbage with Mustard Sauce recipe online and looked. It seemed to be a very easy recipe. Steam the cabbage wedges. Sautee diced onion in olive oil. When translucent, remove the onions from the oil. Add a small amount of flour to the oil, then some milk, and finally add the onions back to this sauce. Pour the sauce over the steamed cabbage wedges, and then sprinkle with black pepper. *The recipe is simple, and I even wrote the above from memory. That is something I just memorized about 30 minutes ago. And since, I’ve been online buying microplane spice grinders, Grains of Paradise, and Indian Long Peppers for Christmas presents, via Amazon.com, but came back to write this entry.

I have no illusions that these gifts will be appreciated, or even used, except for the Grains of Paradise. This was a gift that I gave to Danny a couple of years ago, and he mentioned it to me in thanking me for it sometime later. So, I’m planning to give Danny another package of Grains of Paradise seeds this year for Christmas. **I did see online that there is an Alligator Pepper from West Africa. They appear to be pods, which have seeds in them. But then I noted that these seeds are actually Grains of Paradise. Who knew? Certainly not me.

I gave a small sample of the Indian Long Peppers last year as Christmas presents, and no one let me know, “yea or nay” as to them. But, they are difficult to process, with a special pepper mill, or a mortar & pestle (which most probably do not have). I even found using the mortar & pestle mildly difficult. You had to hold your hand over the bowl so that the pepper being ground did not jump out.

So, I’ve been happy with the special “microplane” grinder that I found online. This grinder will grind nutmeg (probably the most “wear & tear” on the grinder), Indian Long Pepper, cinnamon, and various other hard spices. This grinder was well planned and even had a storage compartment in the top grinding handle… but, it is made of a hard plastic, and the threads to the storage compartment seized up and I haven’t been able to twist it open for quite a while. I just add my Indian Long Peppers from an external source and the grinder works fine!

NOTE [ 11/17/23 ]: So after several months, probably 4 – 6, I tried again to open the storage part of the grinder, and today, the seal broke and I was able to get to the contents inside. I found quite a few Long Peppers in it, and took them out and put most of them in the grinder. But later I found that the grinder wouldn’t function properly with too many items, so I took all but a couple of peppers out, and the grinder works fine.

From a comment that Lawrence made some time ago, I’m not going to give him an assortment of flavored teas… although, I wouldn’t mind getting an assortment. Well, I probably wouldn’t want an assortment because I already know what I like and have a pretty good selection at home of what I regularly like: Constant Comment & Earl Grey being my longtime favorites (probably the 1980s and Rick & Linda Bell). Finding Chris, what a horror that must have been. And Raspberry Royal from my trip to Lynchburg, VA. I have several other flavored teas, but none repeatedly satisfy like the three mentioned above.

This microplane grinder was extremely well thought out. I put it in a similar category to the old Northwest Airlines logo, which I deem as the perfect logo for an English speaking audience. Their old logo consisted of two interconnected images. There was a circle with a small triangle pointing to the northwest quadrant, signifying a compass pointing NW. But, the small triangle also helped form an italicized N into a W. Wow, what a brilliant creation. I’ve never seen any other logo that spoke so well, with no wasted space. “This was poetry.”

So, I made the mustard sauce this afternoon and hated it. There wasn’t enough mustard, and I’m not sure if there ever could be enough mustard. I tried adding some horseradish and that wasn’t the right direction. I tried adding some Splenda, because I do like a sweetness to my steamed cabbage, but nothing actually worked. I did try some other BBQ type sauces, and mixing horseradish with them, but had no steamed cabbage to try those sauces on. One sauce had a tomato-ey base and the other a mustard-ey base, and I like both, but not sure either would add to steamed cabbage. **Just saw a suggestion to flavor the steamed cabbage with Soy Sauce. I like Soy Sauce, and that would be a different direction for flavoring. But that also gets me thinking about Toasted Sesame Oil, which I equate with fried rice. Perhaps Soy Sauce & Toasted Sesame Oil together would be a good combo with steamed cabbage. But, might be too overpowering depending upon what else it is served with.

[NOTE 02/16/24]: As I said above, I hated the mustard sauce from the recipe above that included flour, but just recently I wanted to try mustard (yellow) on some steamed cabbage. I added some of the Creamy Horseradish from Inglehoff, and some Splenda Sweetener, and put this on the cabbage, and it was good. [end NOTE]

Okinawa, Japan

November 11, 2023April 27, 2025 bgibson135

I’m 69 years old, and grew up in eastern North Carolina near Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. Now I’ve heard of many soldiers being stationed on Okinawa. But only tonight as I am watching an old “black & white” movie called, “Okinawa,” has it sunk in that Okinawa is an island, a part of Japan. I guess through all these years, I knew Okinawa was near Japan, but it never sunk in that it was Japan.

Oh, and Lejeune was always pronounced LEE-JUNE, never Lay-Jurn as it is now pronounced. My mother worked many years on Base, as did my Uncle Bob. She as a Clerk-Typist, and he, as a painter. *Maybe we could remind folks, that in North Carolina , Beaufort is pronounced “Bowfort” and in South Carolina it’s pronounced “Bewfurt”. If the man wants his name pronounced correctly, that’s one thing, but the Marine Base in North Carolina, where many “locals” worked for many, many, many years, it will forever be “Camp LEE-JUNE”. Well, unless the Government steps in and makes you change your pronunciation of “Fort Bragg” to “Fort Liberty.”

And most of the Christian Marines that I knew, believed that victory lay in the Hand of God, and not in the might of their Hum-Vees, Tanks, Bazookas or M16s.

I’ve known and been good friends with Jeff Mitchell since 1985 or so, and with his family through the years, but only recently asked him if he ever travelled and saw the sights while he was in the Marines. He surprised me (although he may have told me this before), but he did go out exploring the various parts of the World he as travelling through. He said he visited many ornate churches and saw a bunch of wonderous architecture. He tells the story of one time, going in to play on a “what he thought was a public tennis court” but the caretaker came out enraged because Jeff had messed up the court (a clay or composite court I am guessing). Jeff was apologetic to the man telling him the gate was open and he thought it a public facility.

… more good food, over & over.

November 10, 2023November 30, 2023 bgibson135

I used some of the Brazilian Starfish peppers (mildly hot) and Biquinho (mild) along with some onion on sauteed pork chops. I added some Agave Nectar & a little Equal and lime juice in cooking the pork chops.

NOTE [ 11/20/23 ]: I was in Raleigh a week or so ago and they still had some peppers in the stand at the State Farmers’ Market, but the season is winding down. I am choosing to not eat really hot peppers because they just don’t please me. Hotter is not better for me. Hot without flavor is useless.

Poblano and jalapeno peppers are my base flavors, and roasting them in the oven before adding them to salsa or soup is preferred. I like some peppers in my lentil soup, with spicy Andouille sausage.

I ate a bunch of corn on the cob, cooked in the microwave, this year. The new guy on Americas Test Kitchen shared a way to use the microwave to get rid of the corn silks. You cut off the stalk end of the corn, and leave on the silks end. You then cook for a couple of minutes. You can then remove the corn and squeeze on the silks end and this will begin to force the ear of corn out of its husk. But the surprise is that the silks will stay with the husk and you will end up with a clean ear of corn. *I cook my corn in the microwave for about 4 or 5 minutes, and this completely steams the corn and it is then ready for salt & margarine.

But, as much as I love corn on the cob, especially when it is sweet and flavorful, it is also high starch/sugar. I have been “good” for about 3 weeks, and have been watching what I am eating and recording it in My Food Diary on the My Fitness Pal website. I have managed to keep my weight a few pounds under 260, and my Bgl has been consistently in the good, but not lowest range. I’m not sure if it will be below 7.0 AC1, but it should be near 7, hopefully lower if I remain vigilant.

The photo above is from several years ago, but everything came together in season for a really good meal. The tomatoes had good flavor as did the corn and fried okra. I fried tomatillos, with onion and added vinegar and sweetener and that turned out flavorful also.

NOTE [ 11/28/23 ]: One of the problems with eating to suppress blood glucose spikes is that anything edible that is either sugar, or is starchy and turns into sugar easily & rapidly is to be avoided, or severely reduced. I love bread, the smell, the flavor, even the different textures and colors of it. But yes, bread is a starch that quickly turns into sugar.

I have chosen to not go completely without bread, although in the past, I can completely cut out eating bread, and did so both times that I lost 60 lbs. One of those times was when I was about 49 years old and then again about nine years later. The first time was before I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, so losing weight that time was super easy. I ate wisely, and managed to turn my body’s metabolism way up, and therefore could eat a bunch during each day, never hungry (maybe once) and still could lose 2 or 3 pounds a week, with very little exercise. I drank a bunch of water each of those days.

One thing I read was that you didn’t want to exercise too vigorously because that would threaten a high metabolism, because the body would begin to wonder where it’s next meal was coming from, and shut down the metabolism thereby wanting to store food as fat. The article suggested controlled breathing and walks that would cause the body to bring in more Oxygen, which encourages a higher metabolism.

Oh, and I ate vegetables from A through Z: avocado, asparagus, beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, beans, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, leeks, lettuce, okra, olives, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, rappini, spinach, and zucchini. The first 60 lbs. loss was easy, but by the second time, there were a bunch of veggies that now were off limits… beets, carrots, garden peas, potatoes, all turn to sugar quickly in the body.

Oh, once in the eating zone, with my metabolism going full tilt, and eating properly each day, I could even satisfy those extreme urges, every once in a while… not every day, but maybe every couple to three weeks, I could splurge on a “craving”. Say a large plate of pasta with delicious spaghetti sauce, or a whole quart of ice cream or maybe a couple of slices of pizza. My weight would go up maybe 2 or 3 pounds the next day, but then I would go right back into that proper eating pattern and by the end of the week I was still losing a couple of pounds. Now when your body is taking in a bunch of food, and processing it efficiently, and not storing fat it is more of a “life style” and not a “diet.” Diets don’t work long term because humans can’t maintain the extremes that most diets require. Eat nothing but eggs & water for a week. Sure, you might lose weight, but you can’t keeps those extremes up, so when you go back to your former eating patterns, yup, you start to gain weight again.

A proper eating pattern requires you to regulate your daily calorie intake, while satisfying your body’s needs for nutrition. You need a certain amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat each day. You need to regulate your salt and sugar intake. Water helps flush the system, getting rid of waste and some of the excess items you have taken in, but don’t need.

At one time I could eat about 2,200 calories a day and maintain my weight, but now it is down to around 1,900 calories a day. So, if you have ever religiously recorded your daily food intake with an eye to satisfying all the nutrients your body requires, you realize very quickly that there’s not a lot of “wiggle” room to what you can put into your mouth.

You have 3 meals a day, so that’s 21 meals a week. Now, you may also choose to eat three meals a day with two snacks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This might make more sense because you could eat less at each of the 3 meals, and the snacks would be providing your metabolism with a little “pick me up” during those normal low points. But still seven of those meals are breakfasts. That only leaves 14 main meals. You are probably not going to have steamed asparagus, broccoli, or cabbage for breakfast. Although, I made some delicious Seafood Chowder a few days ago. I made it early in the morning, and it tasted so good that I had a small bowl of it as my breakfast that morning. *I had some for one of my meals yesterday, and it was still very delicious. A little spicy, and served hot, very flavorful.

So for fourteen meals, I will probably want some protein at each of those meals. Beef, chicken, pork, lamb and maybe fish. A steak or a hamburger, baked chicken, or shredded chicken in a soup or as chicken salad, a pork chop, a round bone lamb chop, or tuna fish salad. So for the 14 main meals you are probably going to want to rotate those different sources of protein so that you don’t get bored with a hamburger at each meal. Now, you not only have to start watching what you eat, but what is going to happen to any leftovers. You have to limit what you put in your mouth, but you also have to reduce waste by not preparing too much of any one thing. You can’t prepare a large pot of spaghetti sauce that might last for 5 or 6 meals. For one, you don’t need all of the pasta that would go with that much sauce.

I like vegetable beef soup. I make a delicious vegetable soup, but have found that it is difficult to make less of it unless I find a way to store some of the veggies for future use. What? Well, many of the cans of vegetables that I use for this soup; corn, green beans, garden peas, diced tomatoes and even okra come in 15 oz. cans. If you dump five 15 oz. cans of these veggies into a pot, the pot begins to fill up quickly. And you are going to cut up some carrots & potatoes, add some ground beef and some chicken stock… and the pot is filled with delicious soup, but FILLED is an important word here. I know you could do it this way, but then you would have to store the extra soup in your freezer.

What I have chosen to do, after years of making too much and freezing it, and throwing away the frozen soup that never gets eaten, is to make less of it to begin with. How? Well, the 15 oz. cans of veggies are normally a better buy than the smaller 7.5 oz. cans. So only use half of each of the 15 oz. cans and freeze the rest. You can even save the extra veggies in a single Tupperware container. Find a way to label your frozen items by date & interred item. So you might have a container that has corn, garden peas, green beans, diced tomatoes & okra all waiting to be thawed for another batch of soup.

*Oh, and okra. I love the flavor of okra, and I do not have a problem with slimy okra… it is just another form of a veggie that I like the flavor of. I like fried okra. I like diced okra in vegetable soup or in my Seafood Chowder. I like pickled okra. I like those okra cooked under pressure at a low temperature that come out like a brittle, dry okra chip, but still in the shape of the original okra pod. These may be priced at $16 a pound, but each of them weighs so little that you can get a bunch for a reasonable price. In the past I would buy a can of okra, or a can of mixed okra, corn & tomatoes, to add to my soup, but last time I bought a bag of frozen, diced okra, and add the frozen okra directly into the pot. During the okra season, I prefer to dice fresh okra up and add them to my soup… or fry them, without batter on the stove top.

What I prefer is to cook fresh and not store a bunch of leftovers. If I could fix each item with just enough for two meals… the one I am about to eat and one more a couple of days later, that is what I would do.

My original intent at the start of this note was to make mention of a new cracker that I had recently purchased to take the place of the White Mountain Bread that I buy at Publix and love to eat. For the White Mountain Bread, I try to limit myself to just one slice a day, although I might do two slices. One for the egg salad that I have at breakfast, and maybe one for the pork chop & steamed cabbage I am having at dinner.

I was in Harris Teeter yesterday and wanted to find a cracker so that I could cut back on my bread intake. Price matters when I am in Harris Teeter, so unless it is a special item that only HT has, I can probably find the item cheaper elsewhere. Spices and fresh vegetables are two of the items that can usually be found cheaper elsewhere. But, HT does display their veggies exceptionally well. I found a small package of “Savory Rice Thins” by Sesmark (original flavor, rice snack crackers). They are made of rice and have sesame & soy and they do have a pleasant flavor. A serving of 16 crackers, each a little bigger than the diameter of a golf ball, provide a total of 130 calories. There are 3 servings in a pack for under $4.

The 130 calories may sound high, but compared to most of the other crackers (wheat) this is very reasonable. Four wheat crackers might be 130 calories.

I’ve recently wanted to add a different flavor to my steamed cabbage. I love steamed cabbage, and with just enough sweetener, and/or bacon fat, I could eat a bunch of steamed cabbage. So, the thought of adding a little Toasted Sesame Oil to my steamed cabbage came to me. I tried it, and it worked, and then I was reminded that shredded, steamed cabbage comes in many of the egg rolls I love to eat. But haven’t eaten many lately. So a little soy sauce, and some toasted sesame oil flavors steamed cabbage very well. And I am thinking, that these rice crackers flavored with sesame & soy would go well with the steamed cabbage, and the crispness of the cracker would provide a welcome texture also. *A few of these crackers would probably go well with my Seafood Chowder, or with my Greek salad and these would be in place of a whole slice of White Mountain Bread. Okay, if I chose to eat just 6 crackers for each meal, that would be eight servings (@49 calories for 6 crackers) per package. The White Mountain Bread (counted as whole wheat) is 91 calories per slice, so I would be saving 42 calories each time I ate these crackers instead of the bread. Oh, and on the package, these crackers appear to have 0 sugars, but 8% sodium, carbs are 9%.

[ 11/30/23 ]: I fixed some steamed cabbage earlier this afternoon, and I had enough to mentally divide the cabbage on the plate into three sections. I put some bacon fat on one section, some toasted sesame oil on another, and margarine on the other. I had already added some salt, pepper and a little Splenda to the cabbage. All three versions of steamed cabbage were delicious, and then I thought about what else to serve with this. Corned beef. I grew up eating corned beef about twice a year. It would always be fixed the same, in a pot on the stove-top in water, with onions & white potatoes. This was a delicious comfort food for a cold day.

But, I just googled regarding whether corned beef is okay for a diabetic, and the suggestion was not to eat it, or not to eat much of it, as it was high in salt content. So as I am writing, I think of the boneless pork chops that I bought this afternoon. There were seven small pork chops, less than a pound total, for less than $4. Yes, maybe a couple of these would go good with the cabbage. And yes, some green beans and white potatoes (not too much of the potato). And, some seasoned black-eyed peas and Vidalia onion! A perfectly flavored “comfort food” meal. [ END NOTE ]