I’ve been drinking a mix of red wine vinegar, turmeric, fenugreek, Splenda and a little water either before or after each meal for the last few days. Apparently the vinegar helps regulate blood sugar, and may help in weight loss. I had noted online that it was suggested to not mix turmeric & fenugreek because […]
I am a little over 200 pages into the memoir, and there are only about 70 pages left. I just read where Dick Van Dyke’s father had just been diagnosed with emphysemia, and the doctor had told him, “You’re an old man, and your going to die.” Apparently the doctor had told him this as bluntly as I just wrote the prognosis and this had left Dick’s father and mother crying together in the hospital when Dick arrived. Dick said he ran around the hospital screaming and wanting to beat the crap out of this doctor. I closed the book, returned it to my little basket by my toilet and got up to wash my hands.
As I’m washing my hands, I feeling more sorry for the insensitive doctor than I am for either Dick Van Dyke, or his parents. I’m thinking, “That’s why doctors try not to be so blunt with their patients. I don’t actually know that they don’t.
If I were a doctor and I knew the patient was terminally ill, and old, would I tell him “your old and gonna die? No. I would say, “Mr. Van Dyke (the elder) we’re not sure about your situation, and we are going to need to run more tests.” That would be more preferable than having Dick Van “fucking” Dyke running around the hospital where I worked, screaming and wanting to beat the crap out of me. And I would tell the patient, we need to run more tests even if as I watched Mr. & Mrs. Van Dyke, and their famous son Dick, walk out the front door of the hospital, I still didn’t turn to the nearest nurse and say, “There goes an old man who’s gonna die.”
When I typed that doctors don’t want to be confrontive with their patients, I almost immediately recalled that the last few days that my mother was in the hospital at Chapel Hill, and after having gone through two more weeks of testing and been diagnosed with leukemia, her doctor came into the room and sat by her bed. I think I was sitting on her bed near her as he bluntly told us, “you only have two weeks to live,” and shortly thereafter got up and walked out of the door. *Mom had spent two weeks at Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville undergoing tests before going up to Chapel Hill. That was after her doctor in Jacksonville, had squeezed her arm one day and the next day she had a hand shaped bruise on her arm. That doctor had put her in the hospital immediately to run tests.
After the doctor left the room, my mother and I turned to each other and quizzically asked one another, “Did he just say you only have two weeks to live.” It’s surprising that in a situation like that when the doctor is sharing so many other things, that little part about, “two weeks and you’re gonna die,” just sort of slips by.
My mom had a transfusion of blood and I drove her back home (maybe a 3 hours drive back then) to Jacksonville, North Carolina. And the transfusion of blood worked miracles. For a few days mom was her old self. She had energy and we actually went out for a drive. She felt like eating.
But a couple of days later, while sitting on the sofa in our living room, the tiredness had returned, and we looked at each other and we knew… She might not die in two weeks, but she was going to die. She did die, but with the transfusions, she lasted four months. And the four months gave all of us time for closure. Whatever in the hell “closure” means.
Closure? Flossie, was the wife of Robert “Bob” Preston Morton who was mom’s brother. Flossie & Bob were living in the old home place, a little two story white farm house, located on Queens Creek Road directly opposite the new Swansboro High School. Flossie came up to Jacksonville to visit with my mom and during the visit mom had said something about wanting some clam chowder. What did Flossie do? She drove back down to Swansboro, got some clams and made some clam chowder and then brought it right back up for mom to eat.
Now we, some of the family, thought Flossie was “a little crazy” because at various times through the years she had done some slightly “off the wall” things. But for me all of that was erased in this one act of kindness she showed toward my mom.
My mom’s last stay at Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, North Carolina was in December of 1980. One thing I recall is looking out the window from her hospital room. They had put her up front near the nursing station. I guess they do this for all terminally ill patients, so the nurses can keep a closer watch. But I think it was still early morning and dark and I looked across the street toward where the new Jacksonville Mall was being built. In fact, the mall at that time was only the concrete floor and the steel girders and a light hanging from the rafters. I don’t really recall if there were rafters, or if there was more than one light. There would almost have to be more than one light. But I noted the light hanging down and there just being the poured concrete. There were no workers this early.
Mom would die, and the Mall would be completed and I would have a good slice of pizza and a drink at “Tony’s” just inside the front Mall entrance years later. I think it was “Tony’s” or are all Italian pizza joints not called “Tony’s?”
I think the Sears store in the Mall has been closed for several years. But years ago, I did buy a used lawn mower from them. The mower was more powerful than I usually bought and to my surprise the extra power meant I could finish mowing my yard at 204 Johnson Boulevard more quickly. I think I finished about 30 minutes quicker than with the less powerful mower. *I had kept my mower in the unoccupied house at 204 Johnson Blvd. even though I was living and working in Fayetteville, NC. One day when I had gone down to Jacksonville to mow the lawn, the lawnmower had been stolen.
I had stayed the night in her hospital room at Onslow Memorial (December 16, 1980) and had slept uncomfortably in a high backed chair in the corner of the room. Early in the morning, while it was still dark outside, a nurse came into the room and took my mom’s vital signs. My mom still sleeping. While the nurse was by the bed, another nurse came in and the first nurse shared my mom’s stats, one stat being that her blood pressure was, and I don’t recall now what the actual numbers were that the nurse spoke, but they were incredibly low numbers. Something over 14. They weren’t the kind of numbers for a healthy human being. And the other nurse responded understanding that those numbers weren’t good. Then they left.
Later, as the light of day had begun to creep into the room by the one window that faced out toward Western Boulevard and the front of the hospital, I got up from my chair and walked over to the bed beside my mother. I then reached over and touched her. Up to that point, she had been breathing laboriously (labored breathing), with long pauses between each new gulp of fresh air. Her eyes had been rolled back in her head, the whites showing through half opened eyelids. As I touched her hand, it seemed she had awoke, for her pupils came back to the front and she looked “through” me, not at me. There was no recognition of our relationship, no smile or warmth in the love she had showered on me for so many years. I was twenty-six at the time of her death. Her eyes looked through me for a brief moment and then they rolled back into her head, becoming only whites again, and she went back to her labored breathing.
I went to the other side of her bed and sat in a chair facing her, with my back to the only window. I didn’t touch her, and her gulps for air lengthened, until finally one last gulp and then no more, except for the gurgling of air as it escaped her body. They call these “the death gurgles,” which is just the natural flow of air out of a body, which is not being forced out by a working diaphragm. Almost like the sound of running water flowing over rocks in a mountain stream.
I didn’t touch her because I was wrestling with the idea of being “unclean” for a time after touching a dead body. I knew what had happened and I sat there briefly, but intentionally. I knew I didn’t want to immediately run out to the nurses. And I knew that the doctor had already put a “no code” on her. “No code” means that there shouldn’t be any attempt to revive a patient when they die. I knew she was dead, and I knew the pain she had been going through, especially toward her end, and I didn’t want them to bring her back to face more pain. And that doesn’t mean I loved her any less.
After a short while I stood up from my chair and walked out of the room to the nurses’ station. There was one nurse, standing behind the counter, and I think she didn’t even have a light on her work. She looked up and I said to her, “Could you take a look at my mother.” She said, “Okay,” and walked around the counter and went into my mom’s room. What you’ve got to know is that even as I was speaking the words, “Can you take a look at my mother,” there was a voice in my head telling me, “Funny how you said that. You know she’s dead.”
Only a few moments later the nurse came out of the room with a worried look on her face. She looked at me and ushered me around the corner up to where the elevators were located. She knew my mother was dead, but she probably had to have the doctor verify this, and it wouldn’t be her responsibility to tell me, “she’s dead.”
I actually don’t recall talking with the doctor (Dr. Adnan Taj-Eldin, MD) regarding my mom being dead. Not too long afterward, Mary Ann arrived and we began the discussion of “the rest of the process.” Who contacts the funeral home? Who tells everyone when the funeral will be? Where will she be buried? Flowers? Who will perform the funeral and burial?
I do recall the day mom was buried was very cold. We had the memorial service at Jones Funeral Home in Jacksonville and then afterwards, the funeral motorcade proceeded down Johnson Boulevard on toward Hwy. 24 and to the Morton Family Cemetery on the Morton Farm near Swansboro. *Queens Creek Middle School is located where the family cemetery is. The cemetery came first, then the school.
One of the things I recall was a black Jacksonville City police officer. I think there were two assigned to directing traffic. Two so they can leap frog each other from traffic light to traffic light. Each time the hearse and me in the following car passed the black officer he would come to attention, taking his hat off and bringing it to his chest in a sign of respect. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before or since that day, but I knew it was that little extra something special that he did to show respect for someone he didn’t know. More than just a job, or duty, but a small sign of humanity and understanding.
You know, “son of a bitch,” I just realized that the anniversary of my mom’s death passed about four days ago and I didn’t even think about it. Teary-eyed as I sit here writing this, and I didn’t even think of her. But, I do. It’s important that I remember her, when I am ready. It’s not important that I go to the cemetery on that day, but that I remember her wherever I am when those special feelings and thoughts are most meaningful.
I just had a vision of a photo that I took one time when we were down at the cemetery and she had been mowing the grass there. She was squatting down and the mower was at her side, and the morning sun was still low and bright. It wasn’t a great picture.
So she died on December 16, 1980 and the funeral would have probably been three days later (maybe four). It was very cold at the graveside, and the sky was that kind of overcast wintery day. But then again it might not have been that overcast.
How does someone go on, but not just go on, but thrive? Where does the next meal come from? Well, I know a bunch of meals have come from the trailer/home of Jim and Mary Ann Sharpe. I am family and I’ve always been treated as such, and my feet if not welcomed under their table, at least welcomed to stand somewhere and eat from their table. And boy, Mary Ann has cooked many, many delicious dishes.
Mary Ann can cook up a mess of collard greens, with some seasoning meat, and maybe slice up some fresh tomatoes to go with it. Or, have a pot of black eyed peas and chop up some sweet onion to go with them. Soup. Or how about those mashed potatoes that she fixed one Thanksgiving? Those were special because she kept standing there at the stove, adding a little more cream, and then a little more butter, and stirring and beating a little more. And the final result were possibly the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever had.
But, I will say the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten was a few years ago at the Seaboard Station Restaurant in Hamlet, North Carolina. And they consistently have good fried chicken, and really tasty fried pork chops, cut thin. How do they get those steamed cabbage tasting so yummy without seasoning meat? Is that a little sugar?
I’m sitting in my easy chair in my living room at 2:41-2-3 am starting to write this blog entry. I am awake at this time, most mornings. I reach over to a glass beer mug that has a hot citrus drink and take a sip. I really do like the flavor of “Bill’s Drink Mix,” hot or cold. I created this drink combination about a year and a half ago, and almost every day since, I’ve drank about one carafe, cold with ice. But I’ve also heated some up in the microwave, and found it delicious each time.
Neither the picture of the beer mug nor the glass carafe are my actual items, but they are quite accurate as to how each looks. I’ve had the glass beer mugs (6 of them) since Russ & Deborah Savage donated them to “The Hem of His Garment,” over 30 years ago. When I saw them, I priced them and then bought them and took them home. I had them before I moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina from Jacksonville, North Carolina in 1995. The beer mug is “microwave safe.” It better be as many times as I’ve used one of these to heat water for tea, or re-heat coffee. I bought three of the glass carafes (each with a tight fitting plastic cap) probably ten years ago at a specialty shop near Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh. *I may be lying to you about where I bought them, but I do recall buying some glass containers at that store.
[02/18/25]
Well, I guess there comes a time for all.
Note the packet shown below. Each packet is a single serving and they come in a box of 10 each, at WalMart. One of their GV – Great Value products. I normally just slice off one end of the packet with a knife and then pour the contents (a powder) into a carafe of water, and also adding the other juices.
“Bill’s Drink Mix” consists of four items: a little orange juice, a little cranberry juice, one packet of “Iced Tea” mix from WalMart, and one packet of “Pomegranate-Lemonade” mix from WalMart. And, I must have all four of these items included to make “Bill’s Drink Mix.” Any one of them left out, and I wouldn’t be a long-time fan. *I have however replaced the flavored tea packet with actual brewed tea, and the tea can be plain tea, or a more exotic flavored tea. Of course this substitution occurred as a result of me running out of the flavored tea packets. And it’s never certain that I will find both of the flavor packets when I go looking for them on the WalMart isles. **I still long for the “Lime” flavored packet to return to the shelf. The unadulterated version, not the “Lime&XXX” version, like “Watermelon Lime.” The lime flavor was excellent. It wasn’t a favorite at home, but often after lunch, I would enjoy a limeade made with one of these lime packets. I don’t know why.
And, before “Bill’s Drink Mix,” I had two flavors that I alternated back and forth between: “Fruit Punch,” and “Dragon Fruit,” but neither had that citrus punch that I came to appreciate in my mix.
As I started to re-read the above article I came upon the idea of several items that I have used for over 30 years, and still continue to use to this day (and hopefully several more days). The three items that first come to mind are the classic beer mugs that I bought at a thrift store in Jacksonville, NC perhaps a few years before I moved, in 1995, to Fayetteville to live & work. So that’s at least 30 years ago. As I said above, I have one of these beside me as I write, filled with “Bill’s Drink Mix” and served hot this morning.
The next item is the “Revere Ware” frying pan made in 1978. The company stamped the manufacture date on the bottom of each pan or pot that was made. Paul Revere, long dead, delegated the task of making this pan for me.
When I think of how much use this pan has had over the years, and I just roasted some Brussels Sprouts, walnuts & cranberries in it last night, it brings out the New Englander’s frugal nature in me. And I was born in North Carolina. Grew up in North Carolina. And, have only been to New England once that I recall. But I did enjoy my visit with my friend, Gary Golden, very much. It was winter, and snow was all around. I will say that the one shortcoming is the handle. Not that is has not weathered well since 1978, but that it’s not oven proof, so I can’t bake or broil something in the oven with this pan.
*I’ve been on Etsy and seen Revere Ware pots and pans on sale, and some going back to the 1940s. I might think about buying one of these as a present for a young man who is going off to college (and is allowed to cook),
Below is me fixing my Zucchini/Shrimp/Kielbasa dish. Several years ago I made this from scratch early one morning and liked it so much that I’ve repeated it a myriad of times. Six ingredients: beef Polska Kielbasa, shrimp, zucchini, onion, pasta shells & a small amount of tomato (I didn’t want a strong tomato sauce for this dish.). I usually only use a couple of Campari tomatoes, quartered and they disappear into the sauce, except for leaving a light hint of red. I add S&P and garlic powder, but I also add red pepper flakes and maybe even a little cayenne powder. It is a spicy dish, but each item is supposed to be a little island of flavor, with no one thing overpowering the others.
Before leaving the Revere Ware, I would like to mention that I also have a couple of 3 Qt. pots, a 2 Qt. pot & a 1 Qt. pot that I use quite often.
I noted that the pots did not have a manufacture date on their bottoms, and in reading online the logo was changed in 1968 and manufacture dates were no longer stamped on the utensils. Eventually the company was sold to Corning, and the headquarters moved to Indonesia.
I bought a “steamer” insert years ago, that is not Revere Ware, but was made to fit the pot perfectly. This insert has gotten a great deal of use throughout the years. I love steamed asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower. Anything that I need to steam goes into the insert which has worked faithfully for many years.
Several years ago, I bought a “cheap” set of Guy Fieri pots & pans at Belk’s and they each had glass lids. What was nice was that these glass lids also fit my Revere Ware pots (but not the skillet) perfectly. I like being able to put a lid on a pot and be able to look through the glass at what is cooking. However, most times I will leave the lid off. I said “cheap” set, but they look to be quality, and have lasted, and are oven safe so I use these when I am broiling a steak, pork chop, or lamb chop in the oven.
Since I’ve been a batchelor all my life, I have had the opportunity to use and reuse many items that if I had a wife, she would have had me “throw out those old things” long ago. I would have had new dishes instead of the “Gibson” restaurant blue stripe plates that I bought as a set at a store in Jacksonville, NC. They were factory “seconds” so some of the striping wasn’t up to par, and a plate might have a slight warp, but none of that has stopped me from using them almost daily since. The picture shows one of my actual plates, with a favorite meal that just happened to be a vegetarian delight: corn on the cob, fried okra, a tomatillo & onion chutney and sliced tomatoes.
I bought the dish set and then was surprised when I turned one of the dishes over at home and saw “Gibson” imprinted on its bottom. I had to do a double take, because of how the “G” and “i” run together, but no, it said “Gibson.” I went online and found that there was a Gibson Company that made dishes. So as a bonus I ended up with a set of monogramed dishes at no extra cost.
Tomatillos remind me of green tomatoes, but they have a different flesh than tomatoes. *”Chutney…” I’ve eaten at the “Blue Willow Inn,” in Social Circle, Georgia, several times since my sister Donna first introduced me to the place many years ago. In fact, and maybe it was my first visit, Donna treated me, my dad Bill (her & my dad), and his wife, Sara (Donna’s mother, but not mine.) to the crowded Sunday buffet. We sat together at a table on one of the side porches and enjoyed the meal and time together on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Georgia.
*I see from their web site that the restaurant must have been closed for a while but is about to reopen. I did think the buffet was a little pricey for what you had to choose from, especially since you could get most of those same items at other “country” restaurants and at a much lower price. And, the ambiance had changed greatly for me when the wooded area behind the restaurant was cut down and a small “strip mall” was built there. I don’t care how old and beautiful the home is if you plop it in the middle of a business district.
One time I was walking along the inner circle of the Blue Willow Inn buffet (it has a U shape so you can have customers walking on both sides of the food) and I took a couple of fried green tomatoes from the bar. I then noticed that they had “tomato chutney” in a small dish beside the fried tomatoes, so I put some of this on the tomatoes. The tomato chutney was sweet and I found it “decadent” that you could have two different flavor profiles that compliment each other from the same fruit. The sweet ripe red tomato complimenting the savory fried green tart tomato.
The following story was added the next day from most of this blog posting, as I recalled another one of my visits to the Blue Willow Inn. I had finished eating and was trying to leave Social Circle and get back on I20 and I was heading back in an easterly direction, but I don’t know why. It was late in the day, and if I had been driving all the way back to Fayetteville, I wouldn’t have eaten at the Blue Willow Inn.
I didn’t see street signage pointing to I20, but I drove down a road quite a ways. I knew I was heading in a westerly direction, and I didn’t want to go back toward Atlanta. Eventually, I decided to turn around thinking I had gotten on the wrong road. I believe I even made it back to Madison, Georgia before heading back to where I thought I20 was located. Unfortunately, the road that I chose took me across I20, but there were no ramps either on or off I20 on this road. But, I continued on and tried to head in an easterly direction. Those roads wound in giant undulating swaths through country, but never was there a road heading back to I20 and an on ramp. I must not have had a smartphone, or at least a smartphone with an Internet connection because I had no map to reference. And eventually I began to wonder if I would run out of gas somewhere in this Georgia countryside. If you look at a map, I must have headed to Eatonton from Madison and only in Eatonton and Lake Oconee was I able to get back to I20. But what a circuitous and angst filled route.
And once I got home and the Internet, I went back on Google Street View and found that before I turned around in Social Circle, I had been just two miles short of getting back to I20.
And the third item that I have probably had the longest is my “John Wayne” P38 – Military Issue field can opener. *I was never in the military, but I grew up (Swansboro, Hubert, Jacksonville, Camp Lejeune) around Marines. I’m thinking that a Marine may have rented one of my aunt’s (“Sis” – Carrie Kellum) mobile homes (trailers) and having eventually moved out, left his John Wayne in a kitchen drawer, where in came directly or indirectly into my possession. However, I do recall that someone told me that the Marines called this tool a “John Wayne” and after all these years I finally googled for the reason “why.” **Seems that John Wayne did the “voiceover” on a military training video for the P-38 can opener. ***I do know why they called the rough brown toilet paper John Wayne. The joke goes it is called “John Wayne” because it’s rough, and tough, and it doesn’t take crap off of anybody.
What’s Mine is Mine… Sometimes.
As I re-read above about what an imaginary wife might have made me do. “Throw out those old things,” regarding the Gibson dishes I had, or the old Revere Ware that has continued faithfully to perform, I was reminded about something that happened to me a year so so before I moved to Fayetteville (1995).
I worked at Coastal Carolina Community College for a couple of years before I moved to Fayetteville. During my time at Coastal, I taught a few introductory computer courses (they were on the quarter system, not semester) and I worked in their computer department doing repairs, maintenance and software installs & upgrades on PCs. I was also working to complete an “Associates” degree dealing with PCs. *My age has stopped me from remembering the exact title of the degree, but if I scrounge around in my old papers, I think I may still have the degree that I earned. It was in a sturdy little folding, thick cardboard holder.
I had come across an old Marine Corps hooded poncho probably at “The Hem of His Garment.” That was the ministry that included a thrift store that helped supply donated items for people in need, and the profit from the sale of the donated items also went to support those in need.
The old poncho was made of a heavy rubber, a dark avocado military green, but despite a few holes it did it’s job well. It may not have looked good, but it did keep the rain off my head and body when it rained. So, I would take the poncho to work and leave it on a shelf just inside our office door. There was a young, attractive girl (woman) who I think was volunteering in our department, and she several times mentioned how awful the poncho looked. And I would “laugh it off” because it didn’t belong to her, and what she thought at least about the poncho didn’t matter. Well, at least it didn’t matter until one day I realized that the poncho on the shelf, was no longer on the shelf.
She had been cleaning up the place (office) and had taken it upon herself to throw my old poncho away. She didn’t ask me if she could throw MY poncho away, she had just done it. And, when I confronted her about it, it was obvious that what I thought about her actions mattered just as little to her, as what I thought about her demeaning my old poncho had meant to me. Nada.
I have given away a bunch of stuff through the years, and I’ve even given up stuff intentionally when I perceived that someone else wanted it more than I did, but this act made me angry then, and when I rarely recall it, still makes me quite angry to this day. What’s mine is mine, sometimes, but don’t take or throw away something that is mine until you check with me first. And if I don’t want you to take it or throw it away, you better not take it or throw it away.
Sometimes I buy something and don’t appreciate it at first. I haven’t had this colander long, and even so, I don’t recall where I bought it. It would almost have to be WalMart, but then I might have been in Target, which I rarely visit now. Maybe I was walking past this item and bought it on impulse. *I almost have a vision that I was in the WalMart that is across town, near the Cracker Barrell and the Mall just a few blocks away. Not sure what I was looking for there, but now I recall walking up and down the isles. I was looking for something, and I think I looked down and saw the colander.
My thought was that I needed a small colander for canned beans. Often canned beans have a thick liquid they are packed in, not just water and instead of just pouring this liquid in the pot along with the beans, it is suggested, and I want to rinse the beans off first. You might be washing extra sugar or salt away with the packing liquid. The image isn’t an actual picture of my new colander, but is much like the one I have.
I have another colander I use regularly to strain out organic leftovers. I don’t want to put these wet items in my regular garbage bag which might later leak. I keep it in my kitchen sink, and when I have the ends of an onion, or potato peels, or some food that I have had in the fridge, but want to throw out, I usually put these in the colander. This strainer keeps the items from clogging the sink. And when this colander becomes full, I take four plastic grocery bags and nest them and then dump the refuse from the colander into them and tie them up. I mentioned that I use four bags and this is to help insure that if one or two of the bags have holes in them that four should keep any liquid from draining out of the bags. I don’t need them absolutely leak proof, but just leak proof long enough to get first to my car, and then from the car into the dumpster.
I’ve used my new colander to strain some black beans that I was using for a soup.
Spice Jars & a Repurposed Lazy Susan
Next is my repurposed Lazy Susan. I used this for my spices until a few months ago when I bought a set of empty spice jars. I’ve filled most of those jars already and I used one of the packing matrices to keep the jars neat and organized. But there is still a problem that I have not yet found a solution to. I use a 3 letter code that I put on the jar lids to remind me of which spice is in that container, but with almost 48 containers, how do I organize them? At first I just placed them alphabetically. But then making a subset of the “most used” spices seemed appropriate. e.g. garlic powder, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, celery seed, marjoram, cayenne powder, cumin, and even turmeric. And then I thought about grouping the “warm spices”: cloves, cinnamon, ginger, mace, nutmeg and pumpkin spice (which includes the previously listed spices). *I use the warm spices to sprinkle on my fried apples. For years I just used cinnamon, but then I thought of using the other warm spices, and even included coriander. I then thought of making a “warm spice” mixture just for my fried apples.
The apples fried, I put them on a plate and then reach over to the Lazy Susan and get a spoonful of Splenda and sift it across the apples. I then reach back over and get the red topped “warm spice” mix and sift that on top of the Splenda & apples. Works great!
But, now I had the Lazy Susan sitting on the kitchen floor leaning against my portable kitchen island. After a few days I suddenly had a thought for how I might repurpose this Lazy Susan. I could put it over next to my stove and use it to organize my sweeteners (Splenda, coconut sugar, Sweet-n-Low, Agave Nectar and Cary’s Sugar Free Syrup) and several other items like corn starch, corn meal and polenta, and even the oil brush I use to spread oil in pans. No sooner had I thought of this, and cleared off the spot to put the Lazy Susan, but it came to me to try and put my ceramic container of kitchen utensils (spatulas, tongs, thermometer, etc.) in the middle of the Lazy Susan (if it would fit). And fit it did, almost perfectly. It is surprising to me that after so long, this item found its perfect place and use.
It has continued to be a welcomed change. I pull out a spatula for either a stir fry or a hamburger in a frying pan on the stove top. Or, I reach for my oil brush to spread oil in a pan. Or, I choose the sweetener I want for either coffee or tea, or adding Splenda to fried apples. And on the back side, I have my cornstarch that I use at the end of my stir fry.
Indian Long Pepper & the Grinder
Sometimes, if I see a spice, condiment or food item that I’ve never tried, I might buy it if it is cheap enough. I think that is what happened when I saw a package of Long Pepper somewhere. I bought it and then didn’t open it, for probably over a year. And then a couple of years ago I was throwing out unused items (which rarely happens until fairly recently) and happened to come upon this plastic baggie labeled with “Indian Long Pepper.” Fortunately, I didn’t throw it out without first opening the package and tasting the flavor. The problem though is that Indian Long Pepper is unlike the little round seeds that make up most other peppers, be they black, white, green or red. The Long Pepper has a gnarly shape and is very hard. It just won’t fit in a regular pepper grinder. So at first I just used my small mortar and pestle to grind my Long Pepper. But, when grinding, if you don’t cover the top with your hand, or have a cover for the mortar (bowl for grinding), its possible that some of the Long Pepper will jump out of the bowl. And, grinding with a pestle & mortar isn’t convenient.
I went online to see if I could find a pepper grinder that would accommodate the shape & hardness of the Long Pepper. Not sure of the exact words I used, but I finally came upon a nutmeg grinder that incorporated a microplane in the process. I ordered one from Amazon (later ordering more as Christmas presents for those I was also providing with a package of Long Pepper) and when it arrived I was amazed at the remarkable planning that had gone into it’s design.
There are some designs for items that are just a cut above. Form follows function. e.g. The P-51 Mustang is a well designed propeller driven fighter airplane. You just have to look at one to recognize it’s uniqueness. Or how about the old Northwest Airlines logo which I consider the most perfect logo for an English speaking people. Note that the logo incorporates a compass shape, with the pointer pointing (where) Northwest. But then the pointer portion makes the large italicized “N” also become a “W.” How brilliant could you be? I’ve looked, but never found a record of who actually came up with this design.
And a logo that will never be, because of the choice of how to name the institution: A few years ago, Mount Olive College became a university and it was decided, not by me, to name it “The University of Mount Olive.” But my thoughts then, and they have reoccurred to me since, was that it would have been a much more clever name if they had named it “Mount Olive University.” Why, more clever? I visually see them emphasizing the first three letters of “MOUNT OLIVE” as “MOUNT OLIVE.” And then incorporating an advertising campaign something the effect of, “Mount Olive University, the start of your education in Mount Olive.” Okay, maybe not exactly the best advertising phrase. And sometimes when I am passing throuh, I also play with advertising for Dunn, North Carolina. How about, “When you are “Dunn” shopping why not have dinner and a movie?”
So this microplane grinder was perfectly designed. It can grind nutmeg which is an incredibly hard nut. But I also tested it, and I could grind cumin, other small spices and the Long Pepper. There was even a storage compartment in the top of this grinder. And now for the one imperfection. The grinder is made of black plastic, except for the metal microplane, and the screw top of the storage container sometimes seizes. It locks up and can’t be unscrewed. And at least once, when it did unseize, I tried to use olive oil to keep it from seizing, but this didn’t work.
Several years into using this grinder, it just stopped working. I couldn’t figure out why, and finally I noted that the metal microplane was rotating with the grinder handle. I’m not sure if the plane was glued and the glue had come undone, but I bought some Gorilla Glue Gel and just put a dab or two on the outer edge of the metal plane. It seems to have fixed the plane again and I’m going to try it out shortly (before the 24 hours suggested setting period). If it’s going to work, I think it will have already set. *Yes! It worked! **I was hoping the glue wouldn’t prevent the grinder mechanism from rotating so I only put a little glue gel on the opposite side of where the inner protrusion was. It worked fine.
I think the ground Long Pepper is more pungent than regular ground black pepper, and I still have a regular pepper blend in another grinder.
Microwave Onion Cooker
When I was growing up there was an FCX in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The Farmer’s Cooperative Exchange sold all sorts of farm supplies: seeds, plants, equipment, parts for farm equipment, etc. In 1986 the FCX went into bankruptcy and was incorporated into the Southern States Cooperative. I think of the Agri Supply store just outside of Lumberton, NC as being a like business.
I think I may have first bought a “Microwave Onion Cooker” at the Agri Supply store. It looks like a large white plastic onion, that has two halves and a very small steam vent. It’s “first” use is to cook a whole onion in the microwave and it does that very well. But, I then started to think of other things I might cook . I can cook a white or sweet potato in this cooker. I have cooked an egg, even adding onions, peppers & cheese in this cooker. The egg concoction comes out in a flat round shape perfect for an English muffin. You could bake an apple in it, even adding a little butter, cinnamon & sweetener.
The Agri Supply store still sells this item and probably offers the best price for it.
Box Cutter Pens
I do want to mention the box cutter (pen) as one of those exceptionally useful items, not just in the kitchen drawer, but by your easy chair and in your car. Any place that you often have a packaged item that needs a quick open, the box cutter can do the job. *And it also works in helping to peel an orange.
I bought these through Amazon. They easily slice through the Amazon shipping packages, mailers, and taped boxes. Many see thru plastic packages that may contain things like ink pens, fingernail clippers, or have tamper proof seals are easily “gotten into” using this box cutter. The blade length is adjustable and there is a blade lock that is easily manipulated with a single hand. For peeling oranges, just set the blade far enough to slice through the outer rind. Tupperware had a promotional “orange peeler” that they used to give away. This does the job just as well.
Ramekins & 3 Footed Salsa Bowls
I have a set of blue and white ceramic ramekins that I have used as “monkey dishes” for years. I might mix up some cornstarch in one to pour into my stir fry. Or I might mix several spices in one before pouring them into a dish or pot. I’ve also put bacon grease in one of these. But, I also have a few 3 footed plastic salsa bowls. I had a red, yellow, and a green salsa bowl so I might put mild salsa in the green and spicy salsa in the red and homemade hummus in the yellow bowl.
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Not too long ago, WalMart started selling these colored salsa bowls for about a dollar, so I bought a couple more colors (blue & a grayish color). And then it came to me to start using these bowls in the same way I had been using the ceramic ramikins. They are a perfect little mixing bowl, and when needed can be individual salsa, dip, or hummus dishes at a party. I almost forgot, I now put my Greek God’s Plain Yogurt in one and add in a little pureed raspberries, blackberries or blueberries and mix it all up.
Braun MultiQuick Tool
Of all the kitchen items I’ve mentioned so far, this tool with its various attachments is probably the most used over time (except for maybe the onion cooker or box cutter).
I bought the smaller, less powerful, and less capacity version of this Braun manufactured tool years ago when I was looking for a “stick blender” to puree hot liquids while they were still in their pots. I had a “Curried Apple” Soup that had onion, carrots and Granny Smith apples cooked down, but it all needed to be pureed, and a stick blender was the way to go. This tool also came with a whisk attachment, so you could get a carton of heavy cream and make your own whipped cream easily. Depending upon the size of your mayonnaise jar, you could even scoop out a little mayo, add any flavorings (curry, capers, etc.) and blend it all in the jar. *I mention mayo specifically because years ago I had a “Shrimp Po’Boy” sandwich at the Water’s Edge Restaurant on Shem Creek just across from Charleston, South Carolina. The sandwich was good but it was the “curry remoulade” sauce on the fried shrimp that made it special. I came home and tried to figure out how to replicate this sauce. At the time, I couldn’t even find a decent definition of “remoulade” online. But, I finally concluded that I would use Dukes Mayo, some Patak’s Curry Paste, and some small capers and these three ingredients when mixed together formed a yellowish sauce that went well on fried shrimp, but also on a ham or turkey sandwich. *Patak’s Curry Paste is also what I use to make my “Curried Apple Soup” and you can add chicken to this soup or leave it vegetarian.
I mentioned that I had originally bought the less powerful version of this tool, and as a result I limped along for years using the chopper attachment that was too small to hold a whole can of Garbanzo beans, and also not powerful enough to blend the whole can at one time for making hummus. When I finally bought a new larger version, what a difference. I now dump a whole can of chickpeas into the chopper, add some tahini, some cumin and some lemon (I use lime.) juice, blend and you have a delicious hummus dip for an assortment of veggies, or as I also like, for Smoked Oysters.
But I can also whip up a fast, delicious homemade salsa in the chopper. Sometimes, when in season, fresh tomatoes, but often with a can of “Roasted Garlic” diced tomatoes in a can. Roughly chop up some sweet onion, colorful sweet bell pepper, some Herdez “Salsa Ranchera” (smoked chipotle flavor) and during the late summer add some spicy, colorful peppers from the State Farmers’ Market. Or jalapenos and poblanos, that you buy at WalMart, and first roast in the oven for more flavor.
A quick trip through the Taco Bell drive thru, and bring a bean burrito back home to eat with some homemade salsa, chopped sweet onion and sour cream.
A trick for making coleslaw (the mayo version) is to rough chop the cabbage, put it in the chopper and cover it all with water, then blend with a few pulses. The water will keep the cabbage from becoming mush. Pour off the water, add some mayo and some Half-n-Half (a trick I learned from a restaurant I frequented) add S&P to taste. The Half-n-Half makes it creamier (no duh) and I don’t prefer carrots in this, but I do like carrots.
Hillshire Farms Reusable Containers
More than a year ago, I had bought a container of “Hillshire Farms Deli – Pastrami,” and when it came time to throw away the plastic container, I took a second look. It was a nice size for left overs, slightly smaller than the Rubbermaid Easy Find containers I have a bunch of. It had a clear bowl, and the tight seal lid was of semi clear red plastic. It was then that I realized the Hillshire Farms Company had planned for me (or others) to re-use these containers, and had made it especially easy to do so. The advertising was printed on a cardboard sheet and attached to the red lid with that stretchy glue substance. The cardboard and the glue were both easily peeled off. I keep my bacon in one of these and it will hold a whole pound of bacon.
It pays to pay attention to the prices for the same products at different grocery store chains. I visit a varied assortment of groceries during a week and I try to keep in mind which store has the cheapest price for a product. The Hillshire Farms Deli meats (in the 7 oz. container) can range from over $6 to under $5. And I figured that if the meat was under $5, then the storage container was worth the cost. WalMart and Aldi normally have a cheaper price on these products and also on the Beef Polska Kielbasa.
P38 Military Issue – Field Can Opener
I have a steel version of one of these that probably came via the US Marines from over 50 years ago. I got it while I was still in high school and have kept it mostly on my key chains through the years. I forget about it until I need it, and then it never fails… at least not yet.
This was issued to Marines (and probably most other services) to use in the field to open their metal cans of K-Rations. The “Jar Heads” might have called it their “John Wayne.” I don’t know why the can opener would take on that name. I do know why rough toilet paper takes on the name of John Wayne.
I’m at home using my regular hand crank can opener, and then I find a can that for whatever reason won’t open completely. The cutting mechanism doesn’t “catch” in some location and you end up with a can lid that you can’t lift up to get at it’s contents. John Wayne! And he finishes the job, plodding along at one little twist at a time.
New Electric Wok
I’ve had an electric wok that a cousin of mine gave me years ago. I run through periods of use and not use. I forget how easy it is to chop up the ingredients, quickly cook them and easily clean the wok before the next use. The wok I had was made by Westinghouse and has worked faithfully through the years, but apparently they don’t make electric woks any longer.
I have a friend who’s oldest son is to be married at the end of next May and I thought an electric wok might be a good wedding gift. If the young couple likes Chinese Stir Fry, you can’t get much cheaper that making a stir fry at home, or cooking it quickly, and cleaning the wok quickly. And you could make a veggie version, or add your choice or rotate through chicken, beef, pork or shrimp. Cheap that I am, I’ve also got a 3 in 1 Cookbook that probably cost me a dollar. It has a section for Chinese, Thai and Japanese cooking.
So that was the impetus for buying a new wok. I thought it prudent to buy one for myself, and if it seemed sturdy, to buy another for the wedding present. I chose one that looked good, from Amazon, and was relatively inexpensive. It arrived. It looked good. It cooked fine, and cleaned up easily. So I have already put in an order for another one.
New Waffle Maker
I may leave this off because I currently do not have an ideal waffle maker. It’s one of those that you pour the batter in and then flip the unit upside down. Then you wait for the green light to come on and the waffle should be ready. *I got rid of the flipping waffle maker, to the Thrift Store.
I bought a new Cuisinart Waffle Maker. It cooks really quickly, but the one thing I have noted is that the wells for the waffle aren’t deep. I’ve had that observation before with a different cheap waffle iron. Looking at the picture of this waffle iron, the depressions look much deeper than from the actual iron. But this waffle maker was only $25, so I will live with it. I got this one from Amazon.
S Hooks
I haven’t found these yet, and I don’t want to take those off my shower curtain, but those appear to be exactly what I want for my mobile kitchen cart. I want to hang my large non-electric wok on one, and maybe a pot/pan or two if they will fit.
I did buy these, but note the smaller S crook. That was a problem with some of my pans that wouldn’t fit on the small hook, and the small hook wouldn’t fit on the rod. So, I bought these, and they are working fine for all my pots & pans. They have clear plastic protectors on each end of the S hook.
Last night I was hungry, but didn’t know for what. I finally decided to fix a clam/pesto/pasta dish. But, the difference was that I also added some hot pork sausage to the mix. I use the Knorr’s Pesto mix that comes in a package, and normally just add that to the clams and angel hair pasta. But, as with other things, like clam chowder, adding a little ham makes the flavors pop.
I used about half of a sausage pak, but cooked the sausage down. This did make the mix “heavy.”
As I was finishing off the left overs tonight, I knew I needed something to cut the heaviness and I came up with the idea to make a simple salad with English cucumber, sweet onion, and sweet bell pepper in red wine vinegar with some Equal sweetener. This did work very well together. **Posted later from the previous sentence: I made some Tzatziki Sauce to go with this meal. I had modified the clams & pasta, by adding finely diced Shallot (I had bought them at Whole Foods in Raleigh the other day.). I also added finely diced Shallot to the Tzatziki. This too cut the heaviness of the sausage.
As I was just taking my nightly grouping of pills, I thought of something else that I wanted to write about. I had decided that I wanted to travel to Hamlet today (Monday) so that I could have lunch at Seaboard Station. I’ve written about Seaboard Station elsewhere, but recall that they have the best fried chicken. In fact, a couple of years ago I ate there and have attested to the fact that I had the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten, in my whole life, and that includes the fried chicken my mom made when I was growing up… all the fried chicken I’ve had at all the church and associational meeting and dinners throughout the years, and KFC or Smithfield’s Chicken -n- BBQ or anywhere else.
And, the fried chicken I had there today was also very, very good, as was the pork chop, the steamed cabbage and the Sara Lee carrot cake. *I would still like the recipe for the Broccoli Casserole that I had at Jeff’s church last year. I’m not like Donald Trump. This was the best broccoli casserole I’ve ever had and would definitely like it again and again, but I don’t know how to make it.
But what I actually wanted to write about was that since I was planning to have a good lunch, I didn’t want to eat my regular breakfast so I decided I would just order a country ham biscuit from JK’s Restaurant. My JK’s breakfast normally consists of one egg over medium, a couple of patty sausages, some of their home fried potatoes, and I eat the edges of the two slices of whole wheat toast (dry – w/o butter). Oh, and I have their coffee which is good, but I prefer the strength of the “Breakfast Blend? Starbuck’s coffee I have at home. I buy the already ground coffee at WalMart. I don’t recall the name of the coffee which I preferred before Covid, but I used to buy the “whole bean” at Harris Teeter and grind it myself at home. When Covid hit, HT stopped selling the whole bean coffees that you could bag yourself.
I’ve mentioned this elsewhere, but during Covid, when I wasn’t going out to eat breakfast and couldn’t resupply from HT, I finally ran out of the last whole beans that I had. It was then that I went to my kitchen cubboard and found an unused bag of already ground Cracker Barrell coffee. I would imagine that Deborah had given this to me as a Christmas present some time, but since I preferred to grind my own (figuring that freshly ground would have more flavor – same reasoning for grinding my own pepper) It had remained unused. Not sure if was still unopened when I found it, but I made some coffee from it and thought it tasted pretty good. The next day I made some more, and it was pretty good again. And finally on the third day when I made it again and it was good, the thought came to me. “I hate Cracker Barrell coffee, but this I like.” And I do hate Cracker Barrell coffee, that they serve in their restaurants. So much so that I would always order hot tea instead of coffee. *I haven’t been to Cracker Barrell in a long while, but for several years, when I was still unretired, I would go there for breakfast every Sunday morning, except for a few holidays, and when I might be off visiting relatives or on a mini-vacation. I usually went to the Fayetteville CB next to I95.
So with Covid, I finally finished the Cracker Barrel “gift” coffee. The Covid booster shot finally came along and on the day that I took it, I also went out for a haircut, and I went to Cracker Barrell (the one over by the WalMart nearer the Mall) to buy some more of their coffee. But, what? The package was no longer the same. The package I had tried at home had shiny coppery colors, but the new package was a shiny aqua color. I checked and they only sold two types of their coffee: Caffeinated and Decaffeinated and neither package had the coppery color.
And what? I got the new bag home and made a pot, and it wasn’t the same at all. I don’t recall if it was awful, or just not the same, but in either case it wasn’t what I wanted to drink most mornings so I had to start looking for an alternative.
I tried various types and blends from various sources and each package usually cost about $9 a bag. This was an expensive process since after trying the coffee just once from each bag, I knew, “Nope, I don’t like that either.” I don’t recall how long it took, but finally I tried a bag of Starbucks’ coffee that I bought from WalMart, and it was it. Not what I had pre-Covid, or the Cracker Barrell “gift” coffee I had enjoyed, but a good strong flavor that I liked over and over. *Seems that Walgreens currently has this bag for $7.99 which is about 50 cents cheaper than WalMart.
I probably drink more hot tea than coffee for breakfast, but will probably have coffee at least once a week, and may even re-heat yesterday’s coffee the next day. And, I normally drink from a large cup that is about two cups worth.
Since about 1985, I have enjoyed Bigelow’s “Earl Grey” and “Constant Comment” teas. I think Rick and Linda Bell introduced me to both of these as I would be over at their house a lot. Rick & Linda were the pre-cursors to Russ & Deborah. Earl Grey is flavored with Bergamont, and is very distinctive. The Constant Comment is flavored with citrus or maybe orange. And despite how tea aficionados suggest drinking these, with lemon, or with milk/cream, I like both usually with creamer, but as a change up Earl Grey with lime juice or Constant Comment with no creamer.
I’ve tried other teas throughout the years, but normally haven’t found any that I like better than the two listed above, until… I tried Taylor’s Scottish Breakfast tea and the first time hated it. But fortunately I tried it a second and third time, and fell in love with it. I would describe it as having a “heavy” flavor. I probably drink more of the Taylors tea than Earl Grey or Constant Comment, but still like all three. And then there is Rooibos, which I think I first tried when I bought some loose tea at Whole Foods several years ago. It has a distinctive flavor and reddish color. After all, Rooibos means “red bush.” I like this with creamer also.
I forgot to mention Raspberry Royale also from Bigelow, because I had completely run out of this tea and had not drank any for quite some time. I first tried this tea when I was on a short vacation up in Virginia. I had stayed at a Quality Inn in Lynchburg and the next morning as I was leaving I went up to the office. They had a Continental Breakfast area, and I looked over and saw an assortment of Bigelow teas (individually wrapped bags). I saw the Raspberry Royale tea and took a packet back to my room. I made some hot water with the room’s coffee maker and used a small styrofoam cup to brew the tea. I tried it and it was good, so I took the cup with me to my car and drove to a nearby restaurant for breakfast.
After breakfast I came back to my car and the Raspberry Royale was cold, but I thought, “It will still taste good cold.” And it did. I finished it off later along the route. And that’s how I came to love another Bigelow tea. One time I bought a 6 pack of Raspberry Royale (6-20 ct. boxes) from Amazon and gave them away that Christmas as presents.
Until just recently I didn’t know where I could buy Raspberry Royale. Amazon wanted about double the price you should pay for a box of 20 tea bags, or you had to buy the 6 pack. I didn’t want to do either, and finally I thought to search on the Wegman’s web site. To my surprise they showed that they did carry Raspberry Royale in their Raleigh location and it was listed at a reasonable price. So, a few days ago I was at that Wegman’s and yes, they did have Raspberry Royale, so I bought two 20 ct. boxes. I’ve already had two cups and this is also one of my favorites. I have 5 favorites.
About a year and a half ago, I came up with a drink mix that I now call “Bill’s Drink Mix,” and I drink some almost every day and about a carafe full each day. It has four ingredients that include: Pomegranate Lemonade (mix from WalMart), Sweet Tea (mix with or without Lemon from WalMart), some orange juice, and some cranberry juice. Now all four ingredients are necessary, or it is just not the same and isn’t pleasing to me. But, I have used brewed hot tea to make this mix and that is an ok alternative if I’ve run out of the little flavor packages. Oh, and this mixture is good cold or hot. Hot, it may remind me of what Tang (the orange flavored drink from many years ago) would taste like if heated.
Not tea, but I’ve also tried milk mixed with Turmeric and sometimes have also added powdered ginger to this concoction. When I do that it starts to remind me of Egg Nog. Not exactly but sorta.
I do like egg nog, and the season is once again here, but I rarely drink it, or buy it because it has a bunch of sugar and would throw my blood sugar off. In fact there are quite a few foods, drinks and places to eat that I no longer go to, or rarely go to before I became more serious about keeping my blood sugar under control.
About a year ago I bought some Homestead Creamery Egg Nog, in a glass bottle like the one shown here. The shape is that of the old milk bottles that the milkman (before my time, if ever in the country) used to deliver milk, but I think slightly smaller than actual size. Well, I didn’t throw the bottle away after the egg nog was gone, and now I reuse it for my Half-n-Half. I like the cold feel of the glass for some reason as I pour it into my coffee or tea.
I rarely go to any buffet style restaurants, and several no longer exist since Covid. I was in the habit of eating from Taco Bell once or twice a week (1 Burrito Supreme, 1 Bean Burrito, and 1 Crunchy Taco) and at the last I might just choose two of the above instead of all three. I would bring them home and add sour cream and sweet onion (chopped) and I might make my own salsa including some of the Herdez’ “Salsa Ranchera” sauce. I haven’t driven through the Taco Bell drive-thru in months. *Let me laud the Taco Bell staff that served me when I did go through their drive-thru. They were great at taking my order, preparing it quickly and getting me on my way without a problem, and they did that over and over, and I thanked them repeatedly because I saw this as exceptional service in a low-end job. And, I don’t mean to slight them by labeling it a “low-end” job. It’s fast food, fast cheap food to some degree.
I can make a delicious salsa at home but the problem is that what do you eat it with? Tortilla chips or beans? Either can throw my blood sugar off, so I try not to buy chips. At one time I couldn’t control it. If I bought a family sized bag of tortilla chips or potato chips, I would eat the whole thing… and might finish them off by the next day. But then I found more will power, but then what? The chips go stale if you open them, and then don’t eat any more for several weeks. I will say that IGA sells a smaller bag of Wavy Potato Chips for about $1.48 that is just about right. I can have three helpings from this smaller bag. And, I normally do not buy potato chips, but these are special to go with the Pastrami Reubens that I make at home. I don’t fry fries at home, so these chips have that saltiness that along with a dill pickle spear makes the perfect accompaniment for the Reuben sandwiches. But then again the Pastrami & Swiss are both fatty and salty and bad also for the blood sugar, along with the seeded rye bread.
I’ve learned to like Sauerkraut, and I combine it with my homemade Thousand Island dressing which only has the following ingredients: Dukes Mayo, ketchup, chopped sweet onion, sugar free pickle relish, and some hot sauce (Texas Pete, or Tabasco… NOT Frank’s). After realizing that the Thousand Island dressing “turned” the sauerkraut in a very pleasant way (like sugar turns vinegar — making pickle juice), I thought, “well why not make a side dish out of sauerkraut mixed with some Thousand Island dressing” and it worked. This side would be good with a pork chop too.
I said I rarely go to a buffet, but just recently, about two weeks ago now, I drove up to Asheboro, NC for another visit. I had breakfast at David’s and they have a great price on their breakfast specials. But for lunch, I found a Chinese Buffet restaurant and ate there. It was so reminiscent of several of the Chinese buffets I’ve visited throughout the years. In fact, the chicken on a stick, or the egg drop soup, or even the sliced bananas in a cherry sauce are classics. I really enjoyed eating at this buffet, and hopefully will go back again, but not often.
At one time I visited Hibachi Grill at least once a week, but since Covid, I may have only returned once or twice. It may have been over a year since I last had a meal there. I guess I also became aware of how often you either became ill from eating the food, or got a cold from all the other people messing in the food you would eventually eat. And, I don’t need that. *When you are younger you don’t pay attention to someone with a cold, but after a cold really messes you up… I might hear someone walking down the hall at work, and they were coughing or sneezing, and I would slide my chair over and shut my door quietly. I’m also aware now when I am out and some coughs or sneezes. It reminds me of why I both like to go out, a why I don’t like to.
I do go out, almost every day, and where do I go? I go to several groceries each day. In season, I may buy raw peanuts, okra, or brussels sprouts at Pate’s Farm Market. Or, corn on the cob, broccoli, asparagus, or Romaine lettuce at WalMart… Sweet Red/Orange/Yellow Bell Peppers, Gala Apples or Cauliflower at Food Lion… Harris Teeter has the Greek God’s Yogurt and Tilapia… Sprouts has all those bins of nuts and dried fruits… I may make a special trip up to Wegman’s in Raleigh for their White American Cheese, the Intense Brie, Bucheron, or their Ciabatta rolls… Whole Foods in Raleigh has the Capricho de Cabra Cheese, the Dolce K Olive Mix… and Farm Fresh may have Red Chard or some of the okra chips, and IGA “has the meats” or eggs.
I’ve found Lidl has a good price on Smoked Oysters for about $1.29 a can and I like them with my homemade hummus. **And that’s where I start talking about my Braun Multi-Quick tool that has a food chopper, whisk, and stick blender so I can make hummus from Garbanzo beans, or make salsa with tomatoes, sweet onion and some hot peppers from the State Farmer’s Market in Raleigh.
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**While in Aldi’s yesterday, I bought a tin of Smoked Oysters for $1.25. I haven’t tried them yet. ***I think I just tried these for the first time and here is my brief review: The oysters in the tin are larger than most of the other brands, and I didn’t think the flavor was quite as good, but pretty close.
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If I am in Asheville in the early spring, I will look for ramps at the WNC State Farmers’ Market. And the last time I was up there I found the Dulse (seaweed flakes) at Earth Fair and bought a couple of those little sifters.
After years, I finally broke down and bought 48 clean, brand new, squarish shaped glass spice jars with aluminum lids and the plastic sifter caps that you can use, but don’t have to. And, I’ve already filled up all but about five of them. But, I see that I don’t use many of them or often, except for the garlic powder, marjoram, cayenne powder, and Italian seasoning along with the pink salt that I add to regular white salt and then grind them in my food chopper.
I would briefly like to mention (how brief can it be by now?) that I am really proud of the re-use of my Lazy Susan that I used for my spices before buying all those spice jars. At first I just put the Lazy Susan on the kitchen floor, but then it came to me to see if it would fit on the countertop, to the right of my stove. I already had my sweeteners there, and the kitchen utensils were against the wall in a large ceramic jar. Would it fit? I tried putting the sweeteners on the Lazy Susan first, and then I thought about adding the ceramic jar of kitchen tools, and then flour & cornstarch, and the oil brush (for brushing various oils on pans, or the waffle iron before cooking). It worked perfectly, and now I just rotate the Lazy Susan to easily switch from the sweeteners (for coffee or tea), or the cornstarch for the stir fry. See:
I found that I like the Indian Long Pepper’s pungent flavor, but it’s odd shape and hardness means you can’t just use any old pepper grinder. I found a hand grinder that had a microplane bottom and this works perfectly for the Long Pepper.
I’ve cut back on the fried apples and bacon I enjoy for breakfast, but I’ve even made a special spice blend and put it in a separate shaker for when I do fix these apples (Galas normally from WalMart but also might be from Food Lion). For years I only used cinnamon and sugar (later Equal Sweetener) on the apples, but then I thought that incorporating all the “warm” spices might work, and it did/does: cloves, cinnamon, ginger, mace, nutmeg, and pumpkin spice (which includes all of them already mixed). Not sure if coriander is thought of as a warm spice, but I include that also in this mix.
So, I am now rereading some of the above posting and realized that I never told you what I had originally thought about. My stories do seem more like those told by Garrison Keillor on “A Prairie Home Companion.” He would start a story, and shortly into telling it, he would lead you off onto another completely different tale, for most of the story, only at the last to bring you back to the original story, and tie that up in a neat little bow. More than once I said to myself, “How in the heck did he get me off on that other tale.” I miss the weekly visits. They were “comfort food” that I ate, not with my mouth, but with my heart and mind. And once again I digress. This was what I wanted to say. So I found myself at JK’s restaurant for breakfast on Monday morning, just like I had for so many other times, but with the limitation that I wasn’t going to have my normal breakfast there, but only a country ham biscuit with coffee.
I walked in the front door and stood in front of the “Please Wait” sign and one of the waitresses who was obviously busy called back to me as she whisked herself back into the kitchen with some dirty dishes, “I’ll be back to get you as soon as I can.” So, I stood there and then a couple of gentlemen came in behind me, but they didn’t wait at the sign. No, one gentleman was obviously older and in need of getting to a table so that he could rest himself in a chair. The other gentleman was a bit younger and seemed to be an unofficial caretaker of the more fragile man. Not sure if the protective relationship was due to friendship or to family relationship. And so, I am still standing there, which by now is a little irritating because almost immediately after these two gentleman sat at “their” table, another waitress comes from the back, whips herself around and stops at their table and starts to take their orders.
Finally, a third waitress comes to the front and starts to determine where she wanted me to sit. I already had in my mind that I would like to sit over in the back corner, a booth next to the cash register. I’ve been seated there several times in the past year. It is a comfortable spot, especially since the current practice is for each waitress to bring the customer’s receipt and payment up themselves and then bring any change back to their table before they left. So as she started forward, past me, to lead me to the table, I stopped her and asked if I could sit in the back corner, to which she replied, “I was just planning to seat you there.” And my reply was, “Perfect.”
Now a fourth waitress brings me a menu and asks what I would like to drink. I’ve come prepared with a Rooibos tea bag (a Harris Teeter store brand), but I’m willing to pay them to bring their tea bag, and I will make the switch myself. I’ll have some hot Rooibos tea with my country ham biscuit and take their unused teabag with me when I leave. She picks up on my exchange plan and says, “So you just want hot water,” and starts to walk away. And my comment trails off with her, “But I’m willing to pay you for your tea.” She brings back the hot water which she refilled later in the meal.
I took the menu and started to look for “Country Ham Biscuit” and I found it, but off to the side there was a price. No, not just a price, but something that might have been written in a contract between an Indentured Servant and their Master. “You will work seven years for your freedom.” But in this case the amount said $7.49. I looked again. Yes, it said that a single country ham biscuit would cost $7.49 and that was without coffee. I’m not sure how expensive a price I would have endured for a country ham biscuit that morning but this price was far beyond reasonable. There were prices for bacon biscuits, and sausage biscuits (patty or link), and egg biscuits. All of these within the more reasonable price range. I think $5 and some change might be reasonable for a country ham biscuit, and if I were in a rush, I might even “choke down” a $6 tag, but not $7.49. I can make a country ham sandwich (I’m probably not going to have a biscuit at home.) for less. At least I think I can. But I do question if I can, because several years ago I ordered a sandwich and some soup at Panera Bread and whatever the price was at that time, it seemed exorbitant. And I said to myself that I could make it cheaper, and later would go on to try and prove that assumption. *Was in again, a short time ago, and noticed that the country ham biscuit had been repriced on the menu to something more reasonable.
And, that is where the assumption began to crumble. By the time I had added up all the charges for the various components of the same meal, I couldn’t make it cheaper and I would still have to factor in the cost of running the dirty dishes through my dishwasher… and I couldn’t make just one meal, but had to make more than a meal, because you can’t purchase just the right amount of ingredients to make a single meal. You want to make vegetable soup, but you can’t just make enough for a single bowl, or even two bowls. You open a can of corn = 15oz., and green beans – 15oz., and roasted diced tomatoes – 15oz., and then you dice some onion, and carrots, and potatoes, and maybe throw in another 15oz. can of garden peas. I love garden peas (but they affect my blood sugar also). And I use ground beef instead of beef stew. And by this point your 3Qt. pot is almost full, but you’ve got to add the chicken stock and if they are in season you want some diced okra for that special flavor to your soup. Okay, you can get frozen or canned okra (another 15 oz.). *So I’ve also tried halving the ingredients. 7.5oz. of each, and the other half gets thrown into a large Rubbermaid Easy Find Lids container to be put away in the freezer. You can put the corn, green beans, tomatoes and even the okra in a single tub. Thaw them all out, when you’re ready, next time, and cut up the carrots, onions & potatoes afresh.
**But, anything I put in the freezer is subject to a long hard life in the “Great North,” up beyond the Tundra and into that frozen region where, if left too long, nothing survives. And my freezer is packed with several meals worth of chicken, ground beef burgers, pork chops, shrimp (peeled, deveined with tail off), calf/beef liver, steak, tilapia, and sausages (Kielbasa, Andouille, Jimmy Deans, etc.). I am pretty good, currently, about taking out one or more frozen items to thaw for tomorrow, or at least later today. The Skylark Calf’ liver thaws in about 1 hour and cooks quickly on the stovetop. The Pender’s liver pudding (mush) is ready for the pan and the chopped onions by the next morning. Oh yeah, I forgot, the Round Bone Lamb Chops from Publix have to thaw.
But “No,” I’m not going to pay $7.49 for a single country ham biscuit… at least not this Monday morning, so I order a sausage biscuit (and some mustard) and the waitress asks whether that will be patty or link sausage. Patty of course.
JK’s biscuits are distinctive. They are crumbly in a slightly negative way, and the chef will cut the biscuit in half and toast it on the grill, sometimes, even if you don’t ask. The mustard was the right touch for this, but the biscuit did crumble and it seemed that there just wasn’t enough sausage to even out with the bites of biscuit. *I may take a picture of the menu the next time I visit, focusing on the $7.49 country ham biscuit price especially. For me it’s like listing “Country Ham Biscuit” and then instead of a price, you put a caveat, “WE DON’T WANT TO SELL ANY OF THESE” where the price should have been listed. I can imagine myself standing over in the line of people waiting to, NOT buy their country ham biscuits.
With my Taylors Scottish Breakfast tea I would probably like to have a toasted English muffin with a little butter on it and some Orange Marmalade, or perhaps raspberry jam. Or maybe have some melted cheese, not cheddar, on whole wheat toast. Or maybe even an Egg McMuffin type of sandwich with the egg over hard, a slice of fresh ham, and melted cheese.
[NOTE 02/14/25]: Interesting, as I was re-reading the above posting, and after adding the picture of “the best fried chicken” I’ve ever eaten, I noted the very last comment, above. Since the time of the comment, I found “Sourdough English Muffins” at Publix, googled about, and saw they were Diabetic friendly, so I bought a package (and several packages since). I ended up making a darned good “Bill McMuffin” at home using some Wegman’s White American Cheese, a slice of Hatfield pre-sliced ham, and an egg cooked in my microwave onion cooker. The muffin is first toasted, and then the cheese melted before the egg & ham go on.
A beautifully shaped “Bill McMuffin.”
The first one of these was so good that I ended up making one each morning for several days, and not only worked through several packages of Sourdough English Muffins, but also the whole pre-sliced Hatfield Ham, which had been on special at Harris Teeter (across town, where Pharaoh’s Legacy is located). *Unfortunately I couldn’t get another Hatfield Ham, and I bought a more well-known named ham, but I don’t think it is as good, and I lost the desire for my Bill McMuffins. *I do intend to buy another Hatfield Ham and see if the desire returns.
But, I am now in a brief “Egg Salad” period, on toasted Sourdourgh bread (also from Publix) and with some microwaved bacon. Recall that I think microwaving bacon is THE WAY to go. It is quick, and not messy (as long as you have a plastic microwave safe plate cover). *I am surprised how much egg salad you can put on each (half) slice of toast and it not fall off while you are eating it. I guess the right amount of “grass fed” butter & Dukes mayo makes the smushed egg all hang together really well.
Oh, and I’ve had Pu’er tea both of the last two mornings with my egg salad. Half-n-Half & sweetener yesterday, and just sweetener today. And, today I actually tasted what I consider “tannins” so I googled to see if Pu’er has tannins, like other teas, and “Yes” it does. [end NOTE]
[NOTE]: I don’t think I had this problem with an earlier can of Sauerkraut from Wegman’s, but this one was a shame. By the time I pressed most of the liquid out of the can of sauerkraut, the can was filled with less than half of the solid cabbage product. See right pix.
I just noticed an article I wrote back in 2010 entitled: “40 Years Ago, I was 16 Years Old.” I don’t know what I will write for this article, but realize that I’ve recently rewatched the videos I made, in 1984, when I was living down in Alabama at S.I.F.A.T. S.I.F.A.T. was an acronym that had a double meaning. One was for the “faith” crowd, “Servants In Faith And Technology,” and the other was for the heathen crowd (heathen my term) “Southern Institute for Appropriate Technology.” I just googled and see that the official name is “Southern Institute for Appropriate Technology,” but it IS a Christian service organization.
At 30 years old I had just ended my seminary education, short of a degree and had come to live for almost a year in rural Alabama, at a couple of locations between Wedowee and Lineville.
There was no TV at the house which meant that I completely missed the 1984 summer Olympics. Not sure if they played tennis in the Olympics at that time, but after I returned to the Hubert/Jacksonville, NC area from my stay in Alabama, when I played tennis some of the other players had picked up a saying, “my bad,” for when they made a mistake on court. I recall that I thought that was stupid sounding, so I never said, “my bad.” Not sure, but it was probably some well known tennis player, on TV, that had used that phrase and brought it into our society.
*Oh, and I am usually a stickler for using adverbs and prepositions. But, much of current society has dropped adding an “ly” to their adverbs and will say something like, “I drove quick to the store,” instead of “quickly.” And the one I really hate is, “I shit my pants.” If I am going to shit, while I’m wearing pants, and I want to tell you about it, I am going to say, “I shit in my pants,” and I’m not going to say, “I shit my pants.” And if you say the abbreviated version, I’m going to think that not only have you soiled your pants, but you also missed the English class that taught you about adverbs and adding the “ly” to the qualifying word.
I recall that one night I was playing tennis on a public tennis court in Lineville and happened to look up and between two power/light poles and there was a LINEVILLE town sign on a post, but what I could see highlighted between the posts was the word “EVIL”.
Please forgive the graininess of this image. I copied it from one of the VHS videos I made in my 1984 tour of the S.I.F.A.T. farm. This is the working part of a Water Ram Pump. Water falls over a distance (maybe falling four feet) coming in from the right (in this picture). The check valve keeps the water from returning back the way it came, and a small amount of water continues under a small amount of pressure (able to lift the water several times higher than the original fall of water. So, if the water is falling 4 feet to this pump, the pump will be able to move a small amount of water maybe up sixteen feet. But, there is a good portion of water that is wasted (a Waste Water Valve), but since you have an unlimited supply of water, it doesn’t cost any extra to waste some of it since you aren’t having to fill a bucket and walk it up the hill.
Christmas Time Back in Jacksonville from Seminary – Early 1980s (Jane Likens/Me/Tracy Todd)
I think I have a picture of myself when I was in Seminary. I was leaning against my car, and had a brightly colored 1980s styled shirt… and I was much, much thinner than I have been for quite some time. I will try to track down that picture and include it here. *Oh, I just thought, I also have a black & white picture of me in a suit on the Southern Seminary Campus in Louisville, KY which would have been sometime between 1982 and 1984. I’ve always liked that image because there was a large tree, with no leaves on it (during a winter month) and the tree trunk is severely bent which made the tree look like it was lightening coming out of the top of my heard.
**When I first arrived at Southern Seminary, I had brought my bedroom suit. It was a nice cherry wood suite, with a full sized bed, a mirrored vanity and a taller dresser. At some point I gave this bedroom suit to an inner city family. I hope they got good use out of it, but would not be surprised if they sold it, or burned it for firewood. I say burned it, because when I returned to Jacksonville, NC after living in Alabama, I had a family living in my 204 Johnson Boulevard house. I had to stay in a mobile home that Mary Ann owned briefly until the family moved out of 204 Johnson Blvd. But, when I moved back into my house in Jacksonville, I happened to be in the back yard and saw a “burn pit” near the rear kitchen door. When I looked into the ashes I recognized the metal hinges that I had used to build a sturdy set of wooden shelving that had been on the side porch. I realized that the renting family had broken the shelving apart and used it for firewood to keep warm. I didn’t think too unkindly of this, but it did seem a little cannibalistic to me. Burning perfectly good shelving to keep warm. When do you stop? When you burn your last shred of clothing?
Things I haven’t thought about in years… When I first moved back into my house at 204 Johnson Blvd., there were many, many roaches scurrying about the place. It might have been the first night I slept in my bed there, that I was awakened by a roach running across my front teeth. Apparently, my mouth was open while I was sleeping. That’s definitely not an experience that you want repeated so the next day I went to the FCX (Farmer’s Cooperative Exchange was absorbed in 1986 into the Southern States Cooperative) and asked them what I might use to get rid of a bunch of roaches. They sold me a white powder than came in a black cardboard canister. It had a little plastic tube that you could stick down into the container and then all you did was go about squeezing the canister and little puffs of white powder would spew out onto the floor or some other area you were pointing at. I went around the house making an almost continuous stream of the white powder running along the “baseboard” of each room. It worked! I’m not sure I’ve ever killed so many bugs, so quickly, and they didn’t come back… well, until I let “Red” Reid, a homeless person, stay in my house for a few nights. This was years later, and the box of his “stuff” that he brought in with him had one roach scurry out of the box. The thing is, that white powder may have still been working because I never saw him, the roach, again.
One other thing I never saw again was my gold colored Trek bicycle that “Red” stole when he left. Unlike the roach, that was more of a “kick in the teeth” for me trying to be generous and help the guy out. There was a legal notice that came to my house, for him, some time later and it had the date & time of a court date that he was required to appear at. I made a note of this scheduled event and “just happened” to be in that courtroom on that date & time, and sure enough, “Red” came through the courtroom door and was surprised to see me. I think I only said a few words to him, something to the effect that… You did wrong and God will reward you appropriately, and I left the room never to see him again. “Red” had red hair.
I left a Global Stamp Album in the attic at 204 Johnson Blvd. when I went off to Seminary in 1981. I had collected stamps since I was in high school. The album was probably 5 or 6 inches thick. Each page was double sided and included several black & white images of the stamps on each page. The images were the size of the actual stamps so all you did when you got that stamp was to paste it over the B&W image on the page. I probably didn’t have any really expensive stamps, but I had quite a few. When I came back to live at 204 Johnson Blvd., this album was gone. I should have known that you just couldn’t leave something like that in a house that you were going to rent out.
And another thing. I had a working, floor model, hand cranked phonograph that sat on four legs, and had a place to store some records and a door that opened to the speaker (this had no electrical working parts). The lid lifted so that you could put a record on the turn table. I think I had paid about $50 for it. I bought it because I had gotten a bunch of old 33 1/3 records when I was staying with my mother up in Portsmouth, VA. She was renting a small apartment with bathroom in a sprawling old house that had formerly been owned by either a Governor of Virginia, or important politician. One day the owner of the house had me help him start to clean the attic. He started to throw out a bunch of these old records that were stored in boxes. There was a window in the attic, and he opened it and threw a box down about 3 flights onto the alleyway. I stopped him and said I wanted them if he would, and he let me have them.
So now I had over a hundred old 33 1/3 records of people and bands like Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller and others, but nothing to play them on. That’s when I found an old hand crank, console and bought it.
At some point I bought a special record. It was much thicker that all the other records I had. Maybe about three times as thick, and it had a special engraved image of Thomas Edison (embossed?). This was a special record that required a diamond tipped needle to play, a diamond disc.
What happened to this phonograph and the records. Well, when I went off to Southern Seminary, I asked a friend if he would keep the boxes of records and he kept some under his bed. But, at some point his mom wanted to clean out the house and I told him to go ahead and get rid of them. But the phonograph? I also asked a former pastor of mine, Rev. Fred High (at New River Baptist Church), if he would keep this antique for me. I had a few records in it, and the Woodrow Wilson campaign button and a copy of the Daily News that had my mother’s obituary in it, all stored together. Well, when I came back to Jacksonville after seminary and my time in Alabama, I came over to get the phonograph. And what? Well Fred said something like, “When I look at it, I think of your mother,” and I realized that he didn’t want to give it back. I made a quick decision that if he wanted it more than me, he could have it. Not that he deserved it any more than me, or that I had ever told him, “I’m giving this to you.” No, just one of those things not worth trying to hold onto… *I just googled and see that Fred died in Bessemer City, NC in January of 2018. I hadn’t heard the names Lora, Missy and Angie in a long time but saw them mentioned in his guestbook.
Back to Dinwiddie Street, Portsmouth, VA and cleaning the attic: *There was also a table top or box that had a bunch of old campaign buttons on it. They were for Woodrow Wilson. Little round buttons about an inch in diameter with his face and name on them. The owner was going to throw those out and I asked if I could have them. He must have seen my eyes light up because he changed his mind and said just take a couple. There were probably fifty of them. I never sold the one I got, but they could have easily been worth $500. **I just saw that one special button (not shown here) was being offered for $149. I don’t think I would have been savvy enough to make $2,500 by selling all of those buttons, but they would have been worth it.
1960s Sears Silvertone Stereo Phonograph & Radio Console (similar but not ours)
We, my mother and me, had something like this. A Sears Silvertone record player & radio combination console. It was fake wood. No telling what I would have played on this but probably a 45 of “Red Rubber Ball” by the Cyrkle, or “Last Train to Clarksville” by the Monkees. I now remember, I listened to Shirley Bassey sing “Goldfinger” and cranked it up.
Sears Silvertone Phonograph & Radio Controls
I might have listened to WMBL in Morehead City on the radio although that would probably have been more on the car radio.
Mary Ann took this picture in 1960 when I would have just recently celebrated my 6th birthday – Jan. 18th.
The TV was in the front corner of the living room, and the phonograph console was to the left of the TV. I think this was the TV that I watched “Sunrise Theater” from WRAL5 TV on Saturday mornings. In those days there was no “cable TV” and all the television stations went off the air at 12 midnight. They only displayed a “test pattern” from midnight until 6am the next morning and then they came back on. “Sunrise Theater” included two sci-fi/monster/horror movies back to back and they ran from 6 am until 9 am. There was a TV antenna just outside at the end of the front porch and a coaxial cable (flat plastic with wires inside) ran between the TV and the antenna. Our antenna was on an aluminum pole and you could rotate it for better reception sometimes. Each Saturday morning I would finish watching the first movie, but just about 15 minutes before the second film finished the sun began to reach high enough in the sky to affect the TV reception. There were many of these mornings that I would run outside and rotate the antenna to get better reception, but quite a few mornings the sun would win and I wouldn’t know how the second movie ended. Two scarry movies that I recall watching on Saturday mornings were “Invisible Invaders” and “From Hell It Came.”
“Invisible Invaders” involved invisible aliens that inhabited the bodies of dead Earthlings, but were finally conquered by sonic weapons (John Agar, John Carradine and Jean Byron before she became Patty Duke’s TV mom). “From Hell It Came” had to do with VooDoo, and a man came back from the dead and inhabited a tree. The tree killed people, mostly women I think, but the creature had a knife embedded near it’s heart and finally someone shot the knife handle driving the blade into the creature’s heart and killing it.
After this black & white console TV shown above, we had a Zenith B&W portable TV. It was portable by the standards of that day, but I find my 40 inches TV today to be not as heavy as that old Zenith. I’m not sure if the portable Zenith we had was exactly like the one show here, but it was narrower at the top, front to back, than at the bottom, and the carrying handle was exactly the same. I probably would have watched “The Time Tunnel” or “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” on it. And I guess I was still watching “The Wizard of Oz,” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” every year, along with “Rocky & Bullwinkle,” “Yogi Bear,” and “Mutual of Omahas Wild Kingdom” with Jim and Marlin Perkins.
Sunday nights were special because the “Wonderful World of Disney” and Walt Disney almost always had a movie to show us. Might have been “Old Yeller” or “Treasure Island.” What was that Disney movie about the little boy who runs off to the circus? Or maybe “Daniel Boone.”
A day or so later from writing the above, I’m watching a rerun of “Banacek.” The one where a full sized commercial jet has disappeared from a small airport. Victoria Principal is playing the character of a young, good looking flight attendant, and she mentions to Banacek as they are riding in a jeep, that the poor local TV fare includes “The Farm Report,” and a rerun of “Circus Boy.”
Henry Calvin in Toby TylerKevin Corcoran and Friend in Toby TylerHenry Calvin in Zorro
My mind immediately catches on the reference to “Circus Boy” and I do a quick google. Mickey Dolenz, who would later become one of the Monkees Band, plays a young boy who runs off to join the circus. He wasn’t the boy I had in mind, so I’m going to look for another “boy runs off to the circus” movie about that time. Ahh, “Circus Boy” was the TV show, and “Toby Tyler: Or Ten Weeks with a Circus” was the Disney movie and Kevin Corcoran played the young boy in the movie. Henry Calvin would have been the iconic actor that befriends the young boy. Calvin was also in “Zorro.”
There were no children that lived close to where I lived and my mom was at work from about 7:30 am to 5:00 pm so I entertained myself with television programs. I grew up in the country, but I wasn’t a country boy. I watched Sci-Fi, horror and monsters. The Wolfman, the Creature from the Black Lagoon (Julie Adams wow!), Dracula (Hammer Films: Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee). I guess if my mom had listened to country music or played it some or a lot, I might have gravitated toward that, but she didn’t so I watched “American Bandstand” with Dick Clark, or later “Soul Train” with Don Cornelius. And every year I would stay up late on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the new year. I just thought, I was never able to kiss a girl/woman when the new year arrived. Even when I was dating Debbie Sutton, we were never together for New Years Eve.
By 1973 when the Miami Dolphins went undefeated and won the Super Bowl I was watching on a color TV. I don’t recall what company made it, but I do recall that it sat on top of a dresser in my bedroom in my Aunt Sis’s house in Hubert. I recall me standing right in front of it one day, and a very young Jaime looked up at me and asked, “Your Ami.” To which I had to try and explain that it wasn’t My Ami Dolphins, as in they belonged to me, but it was the Miami Dolphins. Not an idiotic question at all.
Not mine, but like it, a 1971 LeMans.
Mom bought me a 1971 Pontiac LeMans, blue with a white vinyl top, for my high school senior year. What a mom!!! She may have “done without,” but she made sure I had.
There was a black teacher who had a blue & white car that looked like mine, but it wasn’t a Pontiac LeMans. I recall one time that I was behind her one morning as we were in front of the Swansboro High School, and she turned in front of a vehicle which hit her. *Okay, I would have been living with my Aunt Sis in Hubert my senior year, so I would have been parking my car at the high school on most school days.
I also recall when I was dating Debbie, that I drove from Hubert down to Cape Carteret where she lived and picked her up. We drove all the way back to Jacksonville, past Aunt Sis’s house in Hubert, to see what movies were playing. Not seeing anything we liked, we drove all the way back down Highway 24, past Sis’s house again, through Cape Carteret and on to Morehead City to see what movies were playing down there. I don’t actually recall if we went to a movie anywhere that day. But I still had to come from Morehead City, back to Cape Carteret to drop Debbie off, and then drive back to Hubert. Now that’s a bunch of miles on the highway, but that’s love. I think Debbie and I saw Barbara Streisand in “Funny Girl” at the theater in Morehead City. That was with Omar Shariff? Later Dr. Zhivago.
My Freshman year at UNC-Chapel Hill I wasn’t allowed to have a car, so my mom took the two year old Pontiac LeMans to drive to/from work and I got a bicycle (from Woolworths in Chapel Hill) which I almost never rode. The 1964 1/2 Prairie Bronze Ford Mustang 2+2 had finally succumbed to the ravages of time. Recall that the first year, or few months we had it, a couple of young Marines had broken into our garage and stolen the Mustang for a “joy ride.” They had wrecked the car at Stella (a place not a person), and while on it’s side, battery acid had leaked across the engine. Mom never thought the car rode as well after the theft/accident. *And the Prairie Bronze color was changed in 1971 to a powder blue with flecks of sand in the paint because the paint had not had time to dry before mom had to bring it down to Hubert for me to drive to my prom. She had been taking the Mustang to the Portsmouth Ford dealer to have it serviced in anticipation of me using it for my prom. Someone had motioned her across traffic, and “surprise” someone was coming and hit her. I’ve never seen a larger bruise on anyone than the almost solid bruise my mom had on the left side of her body. When the other car had hit she was probably thrown severely against the driver’s side door. When she drove up into Sis’s front yard in a powder blue Mustang it was still missing two hub caps. The next day we went to a junk yard and bought two replacement hubcaps. ’71 would have been Debbie, and ’72 would have been Rida Ring. **As I re-read this posting again, I realized that since I had the 1971 Pontiac LeMans all of 1972, that I must have had the Mustang for the 1971 Prom.
I leave this section to try and help me determine the timeline for the Proms I attended and which cars I drove during those times. The Embers were scheduled one year to play at our Swansboro High School Prom, but they came out with a hit in 1970, “Far Away Places” and they backed out of performing for us. I don’t recall who we got to play that year. If I graduated in 1972 and started college classes at Carolina that August, then I would have attended my last prom in the spring of ’72.
My mother worked as a Civil Service “Clerk Typist” for over 40 years, mostly aboard Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. She worked with Betty Brainerd, Robin Short and Rip Jackson (who lived in Sneads Ferry, I think) at Building 66, the Naval Medical Field Research Unit. This unit was where they tested out things like putting a human cadaver’s foot inside a boot and blowing it up to see the effects of a bomb blast on the human body. And, Rip Jackson got me my dog, Lassie, from the test animals. I recall that mom was rated as a GS-4 along with the other women she worked with, but at some point all but her got a promotion to GS-5s. I wonder why? She was a fast reader and a quick typist, and quiet.
Exactly like it, but not mine.
Several years later he, Rip Jackson, also took the money my mom provided and bought me a fishing rod & reel (Penn Peerless No. 9 – which I still have, but not in working condition), and a fake copper colored tackle box. I recall there was a pearly white shrimp lure with the multi-hooks hanging down from it. I think it probably scared more fish away than attracted them. There was also a small vial of scent meant to attract fish. It had an almond/cherry scent so was pleasant for humans to smell. The Christmas I got the fishing gear, mom went out with me to the Bogue Pier. It was extremely cold that morning but there were a few fishermen on the pier.
It exactly, mine for about 55 years.
One old, seasoned fisherman was fishing near where the waves broke, and he was pulling in fish, one after another. I wasn’t catching anything, so after a while mom suggested that we move down next to him. We did and I still didn’t catch anything, but we did make him move away from us… twice I think;-)
Regarding the picture with the fishing reel and the the little colorful wooden carved characters of fishermen & sea folk/ I’ve had them for years. I bought them for a dollar each. Repeatedly I have thought that I would like to create a chess set using these characters, but I don’t have enough of them, and I never came up with all the distinct pieces. One idea was to have the rooks be made of mooring posts maybe with one or more seagulls sitting on a post. And unlike several images on this page, this is a picture of the actual Penn reel that I got as a Christmas present many, many, many years ago. Possibly 55 years ago.
Several years later when mom was living with Aunt Pete (Zeta Littleton) in Portsmouth, Virginia, Aunt Pete’s boyfriend, Irvin Wilkins, took pity on a fatherless boy and took me out fishing on his small boat. Is that the Elizabeth River? Aunt Pete allowed him to keep his boat tied up at her dock which was in front of her home at 521 Riverside Drive. One morning the tide had already started to go out, and we had started late. When the tide was completely out, the little bay in front of her house would be just mud. We pushed off from her dock and maybe got out about 10 yards before the boat became stuck in the mud. The little channel of water was quickly disappearing with the tide, but Irvin finally got us out into deeper water and on to fishing. Not sure if we would have had to stay in the boat until the tide came back in, several hours later, or if we would have tried to get out of the boat and walk back to the dock. No telling how far down you might sink in that mud.
On another fishing excursion into the Elizabeth River, we made it out and both of us threw our fishing lines out into the River on different sides of the boat. At some point we both got a nibble and both started reeling in our catch, but at some point my line began to go around under the boat and then it became obvious that our fishing lines had become entangled. I don’t recall if there were two fish, but I recall the one fish, an ugly Toadfish, and that Irvin had to take his pliers out and cut the hook from it’s mouth. That was easier than trying to fight the fish for the hook and the tangled lines.
Aunt Pete & Ervin & Boat 521 Riverside Drive Portsmouth VA 1970 – I took this picture.
Aunt Pete must have died my Freshman year at Carolina (1972 Chapel Hill). I came home on Thanksgiving and went back until Christmas break (less than a month I guess) and when I got back at Christmas they told me Aunt Pete was dead. I said, “Why didn’t anyone tell me she had died.” By the time of her death, Aunt Pete and I were not close. In fact, she hated me, and that hate had caused my mother to move out of Pete’s house and take an apartment. I think the body language, Pete with her arms folded, sitting on Irvin’s boat, says it all. She didn’t want to be there with me taking a picture.
I think mom lived in two different places before she came back to Jacksonville, NC to live and work on Base again. She lived for a short time with an old woman in Craddock. Later she moved to Dinwiddie Street and had a larger bedroom and a private bathroom (that was probably opulent in prior days).
But, I heard that Irvin lived another couple of years and then one day they found him dead in an alleyway in Norfolk (just across the river from Portsmouth). The alleyway was so narrow that he had died standing up. Norfolk, like Chicago is famous for it’s frigid downtown weather. Irvin was an alcoholic, and I guess the loss of Aunt Pete had left him all alone. But, I loved the man and have visited his grave in the Olive Branch Cemetery a short distance from 521 Riverside Drive.
*Some years ago I went looking for Aunt Pete’s grave. I recalled that I had visited it many years previously, probably shortly after she died. But, I couldn’t find her grave and the caretaker, with his thick book of the recorded graves couldn’t find her either. Only later when I came back home and googled for it, I found that she was buried in a different cemetery. Irvin is in the same cemetery as Anna Kathleen Morton Hughes (d.12/54). She was married to Earl Booker Hughes. They have a double headstone. I’ve seen it. Pete was married to Everett Littleton briefly. ***It was Lyde and Hurley Jones that were married.
I have a picture of Lawrence and Thalia Morton when they were visiting in Virginia. They are standing in front of an automobile and the passenger side door is open. If you look through the door window, you can see Hurley Jones looking at the camera.
It was from this picture of Lawrence and Thalia that I got the image of “the Poor Farmer.” I never thought of him as a poor farmer. I knew how much he was loved by the way all his children, and Mary Ann, talked about him. I had cut his image out and printed it on several envelopes. I happened to show my waitress the envelope and to my surprise she made the comment, “that poor old farmer.” I had to take a second look, and yes, I guess he was a poor old farmer, but I never knew the man, and that appendage would never stick with me.
Irony? Well, recall that I said that my family did not tell me when my Aunt Pete died, in 1972, while I was away at school. Now many years later, and I find from Mary Ann earlier this year that Dot Pefley, the daughter of Aunt Pete died in March of 2012. That was forty years between the two deaths, and 12 years ago. She had a living son, Charles, who never contacted us to let us know. I find that rather “rude.”
Dorothy “Dot” Littleton Pefley was married to Bill. She and her husband were both successful realtors in Virginia (Virginia Beach) and North Carolina (Elizabeth City). They lived at Munden Point, and at some point even donated the property which became Munden Point Park and Pefley Lane runs through this area.
Where Dot and Bill Pefley lived, and just up this path is Munden Point Park.
I got online on the Cumberland County (NC) Public Library website and found that I could upload a document for printing, then go and print it at the Library. I had a shipping label for my return to Audien but I didn’t have my printer hooked up at home.
I went to the Main Library on Maiden Lane.
I just noted that the next “Friends of the Library” Book Sale is on November 22, 2024 (a little over a month from now). The book sale is held on the lower level of the Main Library. There is a large adult section and also a separate children’s section. I have bought quite a few cheap books. Some I’ve read, but I’ve also given them to various Little Lending Libraries (from South Carolina and all the way to Raleigh, and points in between). *I was just reminded that I bought a hardcover copy of Michael Connelly’s “The Poet.” This story was the introduction of the Jack McAvoy character. I purchased a couple of novels at “New To You” in Lillington, NC.
Usually when I am passing through Lillington, I will stop at their new Library. It is very nice! They have a small section for books that they are selling. Prices are from a donation up to about $2. This facility also has a nice bathroom, and I’ve also read in the upstairs adult area where they have comfortable, cubby holes.
The Google Street View above is where the new Harnett County Library building now exists.
I bought a 6×10 shipping envelope at the Post Office over on Oakridge Ave. on Friday.
I see according to the Tracking site that my Audien Hearing Aid replacement is now in Butner, NC. It is being returned with UPS. *My hearing aid replacements have been listed in Butner for at least a couple of days. I thought I might get them by Wednesday, but the arrival date is still showing Friday, October 25th. I have no idea why it is taking so long to travel the hour and a half from Butner to Fayetteville. Looks like the delivery service may be switching from UPS to USPS. What? Can’t they work together more efficiently?
I’m not sure if I have mentioned this elsewhere, but the Audien 2 Pro hearing aids that I had and just returned because one stopped working completely, have only been really effective while watching TV. These hearing aids have 4 modes and one of those (#3) is for TV. It works pretty well and I can reduce the TV volume noticeably, but the other three modes are pretty ineffective. One mode is supposed to be for being in a restaurant setting, one for having discussion with someone, and the other for outside. The outside mode is pretty much like turning the whole thing off. I was hoping that one of the modes would work well for responding to those persons handling the checkout counter/register say at the grocery store or WalMart, but I didn’t find the hearing aids useful for those situations. *I need to go online and see what feedback there is. I’m guessing I’m not the only one, or maybe I’ll find some hacks or ways to make these aids successful in those situations.
**Well, I am finding it very difficult to find any customer reviews from sources other than on the Audien web site. I find that unusual. I want to read some reviews from customers who aren’t posting to the Audien site. I will now try Facebook, although I rarely go to Facebook directly.
[NOTE]:I hadn’t thought to mention this, mainly because I don’t think anyone else besides myself is actually reading what I write here but, the reason why I’m not illustrating my postings with images is that I’ve run out of free space on WordPress, and I haven’t chosen to buy more storage space. That is unfortunate because I like to take a lot of pictures with my phone so that I can illustrate what I write about. And, I like to write first to visualize my point, and then check the photo(s) to see if the image matches up with what I’ve written. *As a temporary solution, I’ve started linking to my images on Amazon.
This reminded me that as much as I would like to think that I’ve never been wrong in my memory, I have had many examples brought to the fore that were irrefutable. I don’t always remember or perceive things as they are. **In high school, for my Senior picture I had an outfit that I had put together. It may have started because I had bought a pair of Converse Blue Suede tennis shoes. I paired these shoes with white “Mess” pants (the Navy bell bottoms with button fly), a red terry cloth short sleeved shirt (with a few narrow white accents around the sleeves) and Red, White & Blue suspenders on which I had glued a small white star on the front of each suspender. Oh yeah, I think I also had red socks. I astill have a black & white picture of this outfit where I am sitting on a table top, with the female version of me. I was “Most Studious,” although I would have preferred to be “Wittiest.” But the point is that for years I remembered my blue suede tennis shoes as having a white star on the side of each. I did look online at some point and see that these Converse Blue Suede tennis shoes did have white stars (on some), but the pair I had only had white stripes. And, this was one example of where I had remembered something incorrectly. Not a big thing, but important to the overall image of my past. [end NOTE]
I noticed these smoked oysters on a shelf in Lidl. They were only $1.29 a can, and although I had never tried this brand, that was a good price if they were any good. And, when I tried them, “they were good.” Good flavor and there were fewer of them in the can, but that was because they were slightly larger than those in the other brands I’ve tried. I see they are 140 calories for the whole 3 oz. can.
When I think of smoked oysters, I usually think of making hummus at home. I like the flavor of hummus made with garbanzo beans, whole cumin seeds, lime juice and some avocado oil (olive will do). A little water if needed to make it a little smoother. The problem with hummus is that it is high calorie.
I think the only other meat that I like with my hummus is the hard salami, like the Wegman’s Black Pepper Sopressata Salami. *Wegman’s no longer sells the pepper salami. I like olives with my hummus: Castelvetrano or the Ripe Green Olives that come in a can at Whole Foods.
I like to make an “Almost Vegetarian” Meal out of my hummus. I’ve mentioned salami and the smoked oysters above, but the rest of things that I pare with my hummus include: sweet onion, carrot, tomato and sweet (colorful) bell pepper and I might even want to add a few pickles (either Ranch Dill spears or the Sweet Bread & Butter Chips).
I don’t recall the exact results, but I think my hummus meal affects both my blood sugar level and my weight. I could probably eat less hummus, with all the other good stuff.
Oh yeah, making hummus is relatively inexpensive. A can of garbanzo (chickpeas) beans, a little lime juice, some oil and a few cumin seeds (you could also use ground cumin). Looks like a 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans cost anywhere from $.85 to $1.69. I could make two or three helpings of hummus from the one can.
This is where I could type about the Braun Kitchen Multi-Tool (stick blender, chopper, wisk) that I have. For several years I had the smaller version of this tool and it just wasn’t powerful enough to blend a whole can of garbanzo beans into hummus. I had to blend half a can at a time. Finally I bought the larger version and now can easily blend a whole can of beans at a time. *This chopper also works great for making salsa and guacamole.
And as I’ve written previously, I would suggest buying this kitchen multi-tool for a “growing boy” going off to college. It does so much without having to cook anything, although if you can roast some poblanos or jalapenos to go in your salsa and guacamole that adds greatly to their flavor. But, filling a growing boy, cheaply can be done with this. Veggies to go with homemade hummus. Chips for all the salsa or guac he makes. And he could become the hub of his dorm with others supplying the veggies or the chips and he making the hummus and/or salsa. Now that I think about it, making guacamole is relatively cheap if you can get medium avocados at WalMart for about a dollar.
[NOTE 10/19/24]: I was in an IGA yesterday and was passing by the chicken section when I saw a container of chicken gizzards. I stopped and picked them up, and noticed that they were quite large and fresh looking. I bought them.
So good that I went back for more.
Later at home, I googled for how to season chicken gizzards. This isn’t the first time I’ve fixed chicken gizzards, and I have enjoyed them in the past. I know that they need to be cooked a long time in order to tenderize them sufficiently to eat. And normally, I would cook them with rice, but I always end up with too much rice, and I don’t need the extra starch to mess with my blood sugar. *I happened upon a cooking web site and the authoress focused on how to make “dirty” rice, a New Orleans staple. I love the flavor of dirty rice, but I haven’t had it in several years. For some reason I am reminded that I had dirty rice at Clark’s Inn and Restaurant in Santee, South Carolina. I even stayed once for a night at Clark’s Inn, but have eaten at the restaurant a few more times.
I think the food is overpriced, but you are paying for ambiance. I do recall having an experience there in which I thought my waitress was incredibly rude. Rude, how? Well, I was looking at the menu, and holding it in both my hands. The waitress came to the table and put my drink down in front of me. But, when I say in front of me, she reached inside my arms to place the drink between me and the menu I was reading. It’s one of those things where, when it happens, I am immediately flabbergasted. And then as she walks away, I am left to ruminate upon the experience and ask myself if she intended to be purposefully rude. She wasn’t a young waitress, older, and she didn’t seem inexperienced, but I definitely thought “rude.” So rude, that I still, to this day, and this day is maybe 10 years later, think of her rudeness.
Interestingly, to me at least, I’ve come to Santee, SC from at least three directions and one of them from Columbia, SC, the State Capital. And several years ago, I enjoyed a visit to the South Carolina State Museum when they were hosting the Titanic Exhibition.
**Santee is not too far from the smaller town of Bowman, and the first time I passed through Bowman, I must have been on Hwy. 178. I was passing an intersection and looked to my right and to my surprise I thought I saw a shiny flying saucer. I was so sure that I had, that I drove about another block and turned right to come back around, and after the third right, I was now passing a shiny UFO, the Bowman UFO Welcome Center. I admire people who think “outside the box” and even if they are considered crazy or eccentric, hats off. I’ve been back to Bowman at least once and the UFO hasn’t worn well, and I see from Google Street View that it may be in even worse condition in the present day.
As I was looking over this page again I noted that the UFO was missing in the Google Street View. Sure enough, it is gone. I just read online that it was destroyed by fire in 2024. The owner was 73 then, and may or may not rebuild the UFO. *It was a fun thought.
I put some bacon grease in a pot and then the chicken gizzards. I had some celery (normally I don’t have any on hand) and chopped up a stalk for seasoning, and added some chicken stock also. Garlic powder, savory, ground long pepper, and later some chopped onion. I didn’t add rice directly to the pot, but had a small amount left over from breakfast. I later mixed the rice and cooked gizzards just before eating.
Let me say this, “Those gizzards were delicious!” And, I just had some more of those gizzards for dinner tonight, and “they were still delicious.” But, instead of fixing some more rice, I had a small white potato that I diced, boiled and then mashed into mashed potatoes. I added some margarine, sour cream and garlic powder to these. I reheated some of the gizzards and there was a little a gravy produced. I used just a little of this on the mashed potatoes. The gizzards were once again delicious, with the mashed potatoes. And later when I noticed that there was still some gravy in the small plate on the stove, I reheated an end piece of rye bread in the microwave. And the warm rye bread was excellent for sopping the gizzard gravy… D E L I C I O U S again!
As I was moving items around in the fridge, I found the container of seafood chowder that I had made recently. This chowder has bay scallops (which look like little mini marshmallows), chopped clams, shrimp and some cod fish. I only added one small Campari tomato, diced, and some celery chopped. I didn’t add any Half-n-Half or Cream of Celery soup as I often have in the past. I wanted to keep this chowder a little lighter. I think I also chopped some red jalapeno pepper, and added some powdered cayenne to the mix. This chowder turned out well also.
These had been reduced to $1.39 per pound and so I bought 4 chops for about $5 total.
And today I drove up to Lillington, to the Harnett County Library and bought a couple of books. I then went back into town and looked around the used stuff store. Then on to Campbell University and drove a residential section that I hadn’t gone through before (I think.). Then on to Lee’s Fresh Market. It was after 1 pm and there were many customers inside so I went around directly to the Pork section and bought a couple of thick cut pork chops. They were only $1.99 a pound (A few weeks ago they were less, $1.79 a pound.) and I fixed one for lunch after I got back home. A late lunch. They are so big that I only need about 1/3 of the cooked meat per meal, so I have enough for two more meals. They were very good once again. ***My current political comment, which I made to the check out woman, was that when I hear the ads on TV that say we have such a bad economy, I say, “Well, I know where I can buy pork chops for $1.99 a pound, and I bought some a few weeks ago for $1.79.” I also bought a package of their Pepper Bacon. The flavor of the last I bought there wasn’t completely pleasing, so I started cooking some regular bacon.
[end NOTE]
[NOTE 10/22/24]: And finally, I finished the chicken livers tonight for dinner, with another small mashed potato. If I could fix chicken livers as good as I did this mess, I would mess every week. The flavor was so good that I would actually say they were as good as any that Mary Ann has fixed, and that is a great compliment, both to me and to her.
I drove to Goldsboro today for lunch at LongHorn Restaurant. On the way, I made a detour to Nature’s Way Farm, Inc. which is listed as being in Faison, NC. I had already been there online using Google Street View, which definitely gives a feel for how things are laid out. I gave them a donation check to use as they saw fit. They have said that they make a weekly delivery to the NC Food Bank and that some of that would probably go to the Asheville area for Hurricane Helene Relief. Maybe they could use it for gas to make their delivery.
I cut a couple of slices of sweet onion and added 4 or 5 small slices of sweet Bread & Butter pickles to add to my lunch. I ordered their cheeseburger with a side of Shrimp & Lobster Chowder. My sweet onion was much better than the tough slice of onion that came on their burger, and I didn’t even try the slices of dill pickle that they provided. I cut the appetizer bread in half (I normally eat the whole thing at lunch, but leave off the burger bun that comes with the meal. I brought the half of loaf of bread home with me and ate just a little for dinner with some margarine.
Oh, forgot to mention that before I left Fayetteville this morning I went over and “early voted.” There was no one in front of me in line and I breezed through the process in just a few minutes. I think I voted for 3 Republican candidates and the rest except for maybe one Libertarian were Democrats. I don’t necessarily agree with Democratic philosophy, but until Republicans get some sense and get rid of this overpowering Trump mentality, I’ll continue to disrespect them as much as they are disrespecting our Country. [end NOTE]
[NOTE 10/23/24]: I told you I voted yesterday, and I had heard on TV that several people had reported getting unsolicited emails regarding the validity of their vote shortly after they voted. This got me to thinking so I checked the voting history web site later yesterday and it already had recorded that I early voted on that same day. I think that’s pretty neat, but I tried to check on a few other persons to see if they had already voted and couldn’t find them. But, I actually have to enter my first name as “Billie” which is my name on my birth certificate. I did see Jim Sharpe’s record but noted that his history has been disabled. I guess that is what happens once they know you are dead. *I wonder what logic Jim would have for voting for Donald Trump, if he were still alive. I’m pretty sure the logic would involve voting for the candidate that would provide the most support for the policies and beliefs that I hold dear, but the problem I have is that I don’t want a man in office that might bring America down while nixing Roe v. Wade. I don’t need Donald Trump telling me that I can’t trust our Electoral System (he still says he was cheated, and I heard him on TV just about a week ago saying it again) when it has been repeatedly proven that significant cheating didn’t occur last time. Donald is just a sorry assed, poor loser and I wouldn’t go to him to provide me with “the news and truth.” How gullible can people be to trust this guy over the long established news system? I’m not saying they don’t color their news in various ways, but if you listen to enough, different news sources you can begin to think for yourself and determine what the probable truth is.
When the Trump ads are telling me how bad our economy is, I just “look out the window to see if it is actually raining.” What do I mean? Well I don’t see the signs of a bad economy. I see two new WAWAs opening recently in Wilson, NC. I see a new SHEETZ open where I40 and Hwy. 24 cross and I bought gas for under $3 there. And I’ve been paying less that $3 a gallon for gas for over two months. *Not saying it won’t go up after the Election, because it usually does. I heard on TV about three weeks ago that the Rooms to Go Super Center (located on I95 above Dunn) was planning to expand their facility next year. And, I have bought thick cut, bone in pork chops at a local (Benson, NC) butcher for under $2 a pound twice in the last month, and these chops were delicious. Having said all of the above I question how bad the Economy currently is. All these businesses aren’t acting as if it is a bad Economy, or as if the Economy is going to worsen. Stick your head out and see for yourself. It’s a damned good time to be living in America and not the “gloom and doom” vision that Donald Trump is dishing out in an attempt to defeat Harris [end NOTE]
I see that I have a tendency to say or write “chicken livers” when I am actually thinking, “chicken gizzards.” I like livers & gizzards, but currently love the flavor of the gizzards.
Today the rental agents were supposed to come around to the Longhill Pointe Apartments with a “mortgage” inspection. I decided to leave my apartment for the day, read more of “The Black Ice” at the Main Cumberland County Library in the morning, then go across town for lunch at Pharaoh’s Legacy for a Lamb Gyro Pita and Greek Salad, come back across town to the parking lot, for my cardiologist appointment, and then read some more until my 2:15 pm appointment.
I had been up early most of the morning before having breakfast at home, showering, dressing and leaving for the day, so when I went to the library and started reading, I was sleepy.
I was at the restaurant a little before noon and ordered soon after entering and being seated at a table directly in front of the entrance door. Unfortunately, the Greek Salad wasn’t as good as it normally is. The red onion was thin, the Pepperoncini skin was tough and there wasn’t much Italian dressing. Several previous visits to the restaurant, had delicious salads and the Kalamata olives especially had good flavor. *I even learned how to make the Italian dressing at home satisfactorily. There are things I don’t like in my Greek Salad… cucumber and sweet bell pepper. The basic dressing is easy to make at home: red wine vinegar, olive oil, Italian herbs, S&P, Dijon mustard and some sweetener. I’ve started using Romaine Lettuce (I buy the whole head because it lasts much longer than prepared, chopped Hearts of Romaine, which turns brown quickly.). I have several jars of Pepperoncini, and just bought more Kalamata olives from the Olive Bar at Fresh Market in Fayetteville.
I ate most of the salad, except for some of the tough Pepperoncini, and a bit of Romaine. I ate just a little of the pita bread, and then got a box for the remaining Lamb Gyro in the pita. I was in the doctor’s office parking lot about an hour and a half early, but eventually backed into a spot and started to read my book again. I went in to the office a little after 2pm, and at around 2:15 a nurse came out and directed me back, for a weigh-in, and some other tests. She commented on my loss of weight, as did the doctor later. He set up an appointment for another year from now. *I’m feeling good, but know that at my age, 70, a serious illness (even terminal) might jump out at me, unannounced. And, although I currently am healthy and able to easily take care of myself, cooking, bathing, grocery shopping, etc., if I lose my mobility that would seriously affect my lifestyle.
I don’t really want to move back to Jacksonville, Hubert or Swansboro, NC even though Mary Ann and her family are in Hubert. I am alone in Fayetteville, but I would be pretty much alone wherever I went now.
[NOTE 01/09/25]: When I remember, I take a sandwich baggy with me, to the restaurant, that has some pepperoncini, grape tomatoes & sliced sweet onion, and I now ask my waiter/ess for an extra cup of their Italian dressing. Usually, the restaurant’s pepperoncini has a tougher skin but their Kalamata olives, which I normally can’t find in my refrigerator, have a better taste.
I’m currently reading “Magic Foods For Better Blood Sugar.” Three of the ingredients they suggest for lowering blood sugar include: red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and olive oil. These are all included in the Italian dressing.
I haven’t been making many salads for my meals, and most of those are not Greek salads, but I do have some Romaine lettuce in the fridge.
Well, Friday started off with a visit to the cardiologist’s office to have an echocardiogram. I had forgotten that I had this scheduled at 9:30 am on Friday. I originally was planning to get up a little earlier and make it to Greenville, NC by 9:00 am to be one of the first in the Library Book Sale at the Greenville Convention Center. But, no, I knew the doctor’s appointment was more important, and I hadn’t remembered that visit until the 24 hours advanced notice time was past. But, the echocardiogram went quickly and I was on the road to Greenville before 10 am.
I had decided to take Hwy. 13 all the way to Greenville instead of going up I95 and then taking I264 from Wilson to Greenville. The Wilson to Greenville route was a few minutes quicker, but I have driven that route many times through the years, and wanted a more “scenic” trip.
You turn onto Hwy. 13 at Berkley Blvd. to head to Greenville. The Berkley Mall is within sight of this traffic light. I had driven this route at least once before, because I remembered Snow Hill and had taken a picture of a string of old buildings in downtown Snow Hill on a previous “pass through.” Hwy. 258 intersects Hwy. 13 at Snow Hill. I know Hwy. 258 from my old stomping grounds in Jacksonville & Onslow County years ago. I also recall my NC Driver’s License number because part of it has the number 258 in it. I was 24 in ’88 and there is a Hwy. 258.
Even though I had gotten a late start on my trip because of the echocardiogram, I knew I needed to stop and take a “walk around” break from driving. When I was younger it was nothing for me to drive for four hours straight, and stop only to refuel my vehicle. I might not even have to take a “pee” break back then. Now it is the opposite, I usually have to plan for a pee break, whether I need to or not, because I at least feel like I need to. *But, this was the first time that I came up with the idea to go into a grocery story and walk around there. I saw a Piggly Wiggly and drove into the parking lot, got out and went into the store.
I walked through the store, first looking at a spice section, and eventually around to their meat section. The meat section had good looking cuts of meat, and I noted that some of the pork chops appeared to have a good price, per pound. Didn’t really plan to come back to this store on my way back to Fayetteville, but that is what I did do, and I bought a package of pork chops for $1.59 / pound. **I may have even bought the same package of pork chops that I had taken a picture of on my first visit of the day that morning.
The book sale was a little disappointing. I did end up buying two Michael Connelly novels that I didn’t already have, “City of Bones” and “The Lincoln Lawyer.” “City of Bones” is an earlier Bosch novel. Although I like the “Lincoln Lawyer” TV series, I wasn’t enamored with the Haller story I started to read, so I put it down. A note on the book cover for “City of Bones,” is that I have seen that cover before. Probably at one of the book sale visits somewhere. Part of the cover has a raised letter grid that was memorable. Don’t know why I didn’t buy this novel when I saw it at the earlier sale. Also don’t know what happened to “The Overlook” novel that I recorded as having bought in Little Washington, but couldn’t find when I got home, still… to this day.
I bought the two Connelly novels and about 4 other, German Language, books. One of those language books was a novel with a title, in German, meaning something like “The Snowmaiden’s Secret.” Another larger book has a title meaning something like, “First Men” or “People.” And, the check-out woman said my total was $6, so I gave her a $20 and told her to “keep the change as a donation.” She asked me if I was sure, and I said, “Yes.” After all, a donation to most libraries is “a good cause,” and where else can you buy a book for a dollar, or three, or even @$10 for a book that probably originally cost $35?
So, I’ve read eleven of the Bosch novels so far and am currently reading the first, “The Black Echo.” Definitely hadn’t planned on reading any of them, but have enjoyed most of them, and really like the characters and story line differences from the TV series. ****e.g. Irvin S. Irving is white in the novels and black ( played by Lance Reddick ) on TV. It is necessary for him to be white and prejudiced in the book, “The Closers,” for the comment, “Irving is a Jewish name, isn’t it,” to make any sense. I never really noticed the animosity between Irving & Bosch in the TV series, although I do recall an office scene between the two where Bosch has realized that Irving “planted evidence,” shows him the archived photo that proves it, and Irving shreds the evidence in front of him. It is a shame that Lance Reddick died. I liked him in whatever I saw him in, especially “Fringe.”
All through my adult “working” life, I never read much for entertainment. I read a great deal for work, and enjoyed much of that, but I wasn’t interested in “wasting my time” reading fiction, sci-fi or detective novels. I wasn’t interested in historical fiction. If it’s history, I want it to be historically accurate. But, from my historical research on the Cape Fear River steamboats, I do realize that sometimes the researcher/writer has to draw items together, when there is no written evidence as proof. You have to do this just to make the story “come together.”
When I got home, I took one of the pork chops out of the package. They looked good, and they were cut a little thicker, but not actually a thick cut chop. I decided to dice up some onion, jalapeno, poblano, red bell pepper & a couple of small tomatoes and fry the pork chop up on the stove-top. I also added some cayenne pepper and a chipotle pepper and some of the adobo sauce, with sweetener & a little agave nectar. I didn’t fix anything else with the pork chop. No rice, or sweet potato, or even tortilla chips. No slaw or cucumber & onion salad. Any of these extras would have been good with this spicy hot pork chop. It did turn out very well. ***Part of no sides with this meal was because I had eaten a bunch at lunch time. I had a Shrimp Po’Boy sandwich with coleslaw and a side of fried okra. The sandwich and the okra were “good again,” and this time I noted that they had put extra fried shrimp on my plate around the sandwich, and there was a very generous portion of okra. There were so many okra, that I asked for a “to go” box, and a “to go” cup of water with ice. In retrospect, I may have gotten a few extra shrimp and a bunch more fried okra because it was “late” lunch-time and maybe the chef was trying to get rid of these items so as not to have any left (or perhaps not enough for one more plate).
Looking out the back door of Down on Main Street.
I was seated at a slightly different angle my last visit to Down on Main Street, and I think the black throw rug was in a slightly different position, but here was the kitchen door where the waitress came out of and did her dance with the woman customer coming out of the nearby Women’s Bathroom, and spilling some items. But note the man sweeping. Several of the men were in what I would call “a cleaning mode” which is definitely something I don’t have. I’m nasty, but it doesn’t mean I don’t recognize “clean” people, and even appreciate them.
As I am getting ready to pay my bill, and I had already taken my VISA card out (as I normally do), I looked at the ticket and noted that there was an extra charge (less than a dollar) if you didn’t pay by cash. I realized what this meant, but I did verify the meaning with my waitress a short time later. Yes, an extra charge if you paid with a credit card. So I fished around for enough cash and only included a $2 tip. The meal and unsweet tea were about $16. $1.60 would have been a 10% tip, so is that a 12.5 % tip? I think so. This waitress got the job done, but I didn’t really feel that she had “invested” enough in our brief relationship for me to be generous and give her a $3 tip. $2 felt cheap, but cheap I am, and I wasn’t going to pay a credit surcharge if I had enough cash.
Bill Gibson, II 