02/24/25: Asheboro Trip

February 4, 2025February 5, 2025 bgibson135

So, David’s has discontinued their breakfast special, but it still cost about a dollar less than many other breakfast restaurants.

I stopped by a health foods store, and then drove to Farmer. Yep, not much there. I then rode past the NC Aviation Museum and came back to Food Lion to buy some Apple Cider Vinegar and Splenda sweetener packets. The Ginger/Lemon/Honey drinking vinegar I bought just wasn’t vinegary enough, nor sweet enough. Then I headed up to Replacements, Ltd. to see if I could find the young woman who had given me a great deal of her time, my first (and only up to this point) visit. She left before I bought the Lennon Golden Julliard patterned seafood fork, so any commission she should have received was lost. In our brief visit, I got the impression that the young woman was divorced and that she had at least one child. But, she wasn’t there yesterday, even if she still works there.

I then drove directly back to Asheboro to No.1 Chinese Buffet and had lunch there. My first plate I focused on the chicken on a stick, the green beans and the wonton & egg drop soups mixed, with chopped green onion and fried wontons. And, I think I also had a small slice of banana, very little rice and some fried chicken livers. The livers had chopped jalapenos. One dish, maybe chicken had fried jalapenos, and the livers had fresh chopped jalapenos.

As I was paying at the counter, there was an older Chinese gentleman (perhaps the owner) and I got to thanking him for the good good, which I mentioned specifically: chicken on a stick, the green beans and the wonton soup. He thanked me, and we actually shook hands.

I then drove over to the Library. I had a strong desire to just drive home, but thought it would be a waste not to at least stop in to see what new things they had.

I took the slightly longer way back to Fayetteville, staying on Hwy. 421 from Sanford over to Lillington and then back down home. I did this because of the lateness of the day and that I knew there would be a bunch of traffic on Hwy. 87 around Spring Lake.

About four miles from Siler City, on Hwy. 64, they are furiously building the Wolfspeed manufacturing facility. They were paving some roads nearby but still working on the gigantic facility. The size of this complex is massive and impressive.

I stopped at the Food Lion in Lillington to buy 2% Milk and then headed home.

I made almost a quart of the Ginger/Lemon/Honey Vinegar, but instead of honey I used a combination of Splenda, Agave Nectar and Sweet n Low, and I used ground powdered ginger and reconstituted Lime juice. Still, it came out tasting surprisingly similar to the “store bought.” Oh, just thought, I used both Apple Cider Vinegar and Red Wine Vinegar. I like the flavor of Red Wine Vinegar and use it a lot in my cooking & eating. And for portions, I used two part of the Apple Cider Vinegar, about .25 Cup of Red Wine Vinegar and 1 Cup of water.

Chinese Stir Fry Green Beans

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[NOTE]: I have first been steaming the green beans from 7 to 10 minutes, and then putting them in the wok in a little Toasted Sesame Oil. The idea is to tenderize the beans before you actually crisp them up on the outside.

As they fry, I add some soy sauce, garlic powder, and white sesame seeds. I might add a little ground ginger also. Just thought, I have’t tried red pepper flakes yet. Maybe lemon juice and zest? And, a little sweetener.

I had some of these with a sirloin hamburger, and also had Asian Steamed Cabbage (just add the flavorings for Asian Cucumber Salad, except for the vinegar, although…). Would go well with rotisserie chicken, or a pork chop. *I might add them as a side to my stir fry, but I usually have way too much stir fry and don’t need anything else. [end NOTE]

I recently bought some green beans at Food Lion and a couple of days later I looked and about a third of the beans had some kind of whitish moldy growth on them. Threw them out. But a day or so ago, I saw some good looking green beans at the IGA and bought them. They appeared to be cheaper than the fancily packaged versions, and all looked good.

Lentils

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I was browsing the Web and happened to see this photo of a soup. I immediately said to myself, “That’s lentils.” And after I clicked on the image I was taken to a page with the title, “Red Lentil Soup Recipe with Vegetables.”

How many times have I made a lentil soup/stew that looked like this? A bunch, and, the lentils, almost always cook down to this “baby shit” color. My simple recipe is to use Andouille Sausage, mixed lentils (red, green, black), carrots, onions, hot pepper flakes (or fresh hot peppers) and some type of greens (Dandelion, Parsley, Chard) and chicken broth. A basic recipe that works. I love the earthy flavor of the lentils. I like the spiciness of the Andouille and other sausages, like Polska Kielbasa or even Hot Italian Sausage do not quite rise to the level.

I like a few tomatoes, just a few
with my Lentils

Lemony Lentil Vegetable Soup with Rosemary & Fennel

*I made this, in the early morning, and ate two helpings. It is vegetarian. It looks really good. Nothing to write home about. I did try it with the Spicy Chili Crisp and it did taste much better, but It wouldn’t be worth the trouble, or the extra cost of the ingredients, each time. Of note, it didn’t increase my blood sugar, or not that much. Yesterday’s “resting” was 104 (which is low for me), and this morning it was 125 (still good for me), and my weight had gone up to 251.2 (after about seven days below 250).

Ingredients & Instructions

Beef & Lentil Soup

It’s not the coughing. It’s the coffin they carry you off in.

February 3, 2025February 4, 2025 bgibson135

I heard one of the characters say this line in “The Jetty” movie, with Jenna Coleman, a British film. It’s one of those “British detective” stories. *And, I just realized, “why am I not watching the end of this movie,” because the episode just ended, so this must be a series and not a movie.

They are in a hospital hallway, or near a waiting room, and there is a woman coughing and the young woman’s partner says the following to her, “It’s not the coughing. It’s the coffin they carry you off in.” A neat little turn of the phrase.

I’m not really paying much attention to this movie. It is like all the hundreds of British detective movies and TV shows I have watched over the years. I wonder if it might not be closer to a thousand shows because I have watched most of the “Midsomer Murders” (136 episodes), all of “Inspector Morse,” “Inspector Lewis,” and “Endeavour,” (which was Inspector Morse’s first name, hated by him). And how about “Shetland,” “Broadchurch,” “Prime Suspect,” “Father Brown,” and all of those versions of “Agatha Christie” stories? “Poirot,” (70 episodes with David Suchet) “Miss Marple,” “Luther,” “The Tunnel,” and “Foyle’s War.” How many episodes & movies, and how many different actors have played Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson? And there have been few, if any, actors playing Sherlock Holmes that I haven’t liked. Which probably says I like the characters of Holmes & Watson, more than the actors. I do recall not liking a Romanian version of Holmes. It may have not been a Romanian actor, but it was some like country. I even liked “Enola Holmes,” although it was probably the young actress, Millie Bobby Brown that I enjoyed more than the character. Do “The Falcon” and “The Saint” qualify?

I like British humor and the way Brits tell their stories. But, after enjoying many years of Midsomer Murders, I no longer want to revisit any of those episodes. I wish there were more Agatha Christie stories, because the few that are rehashed I know well, very well. I love “Ten Little Indians,” or is that “And Then There Were None?” I even re-formatted the entire script of “Ten Little Indians” that I found online. Whether she intended for her story to be acted out on stage, in a movie, or were TV shows even a possibility when she first wrote this (and no they weren’t), she wrote the dialogue of this story as if.

I actually liked the last version of this story that I saw with an ensemble cast, although I am partial to the 1940s B&W version. Why did I like this version? Because Vera Claythorne had committed the vile act of intentionally encouraging the little boy she had care of, to swim to his death, because she was in love with his older cousin (father/cousin/father/cousin)? And with this vile act, she did deserve her own death, no matter how good the sex might be with Philip Lombard.

I recall the first version that I saw where all of the Indians, but one, were actually killed off or died, was a surprise. I seem to recall that ALL died in her original story, but later, depending upon whether the young lovers trusted each other, one or two might survive. Then I guess the story title should have also been changed to “Ten Little Indians Died, All But One.”

I do like “The Lady Vanishes.” What? The bad guys were trying to keep her quiet, or possibly even kill her, to keep her from offering witness to the killing of someone by a Royal (from a country other than England).

Would “North by Northwest” qualify? Or how about, “Frenzy?” Yeah, I think they might. And the image almost comes back to me of the crazed serial killer (did they even use that term when this movie first came out) had to track down the woman’s body riding in the back of a lorry, and pry his “stick pin” from her dead, nude body. And who was that actress? Anna Massey, (daughter of the actor, Raymond Massey) who was actually married to Jeremy Brett, for a time (Anna, not Raymond). Brett played Sherlock Holmes in 41 episodes during the 1980s and 90s. About twenty years earlier, a much younger Brett (dubbed) sang, “On the Street Where You Live,” to Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady.”

Several years ago, I was binge watching the Sherlock Holmes episodes with Jeremy Brett, and at some point I recognized that the actor must actually be sick, in real life. So, I googled about the actor, and yes he was both mentally & physically ill especially in the last 10 years of his life. He died of a heart condition, but also suffered from bi-polar disorder.

Bob’s Your Uncle

February 1, 2025February 1, 2025 bgibson135

I don’t actually know where this posting is going, but I just read in an earlier post that I wanted to write an article under the title, “Bob’s Your Uncle.” So, here goes…

The phrase, “Bob’s your Uncle,” means you have an “inside connection” that is going to give you an advantage in some endeavor. I haven’t googled for the meaning and origin of this phrase lately, but seem to attribute the phrase to the English. I also have a mental image of the speaker touching their nose with their Index finger as they are saying, “Bob’s your Uncle.” I also think of this touching of the nose as meaning “we understand each other” about the meaning of something.

So, if someone was suggesting that I go somewhere for a job interview, and they said to me, “Bob’s your Uncle,” I would take that to mean that perhaps the job interviewer, or the employer that makes the hiring decisions liked me, or maybe was related to me, and that unless I was really stupid during the interview, I should easily get the job being offered. So, “Bob’s your Uncle,” might also mean, “a sure thing.”

Morton Family Cemetery @ Queens Creek Elementary School

Now, I did have an Uncle Bob, but I don’t think he gave me any advantages in anything I did. Robert Preston Morton was just a bit older than my momma, (Vivian Inez “Mick/ey” Morton Gibson) who was the youngest child of Lawrence & Thalia Morton. She was born on February 22, 1915 and died on December 16th of 1980. Uncle Bob died 10 years after my mom (1990) and is buried beside her in the Morton Family Cemetery which is located on the Queens Creek Elementary School property. The current Swansboro High School and the Queens Creek Elementary School are both located on the old Morton family farm, which mom’s parents wanted her to have, and she willed it to me at her death.

Fayetteville: Apple Crate Naturals

January 26, 2025December 14, 2025 bgibson135

Kamut Berries (3106)

I had not gone into this location of the Apple Crate Naturals store in Fayetteville before today. I looked around, and bought three items: Kamut berries (like a large grained brown rice), a bottle of Fenugreek and a bottle of white sesame seeds.

I came home and fixed a small amount of Kamut Berries. I just put them in a pot and added some homemade chicken broth and water and got them to simmer for a while. I did later add some butter. Not sure how long you have to cook them, but they became chewy and I mixed in some of my black eyed peas and that turned out pretty good. Different because of the chewiness (rubbery in good way), but the flavors worked well together.

Apple Crate Naturals

Phone: 910.426.7777

Street Address: 3983 Sycamore Dairy Rd, Fayetteville, NC 28303

Hours: Sunday – Saturday: 8am – 9pm

Dried Fruits, Nuts & Cheeses.

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Dried Fruit

Apricots (Turkish)
Cranberries
Dates
- Deglet Noor
- Medjool
Prunes (pit less)
Raisins

Nuts

Almonds (24 in a 1 oz. serving = 165 calories)
Cashews (18 in a 1 oz. serving = 160 calories)
Peanuts (35 in a 1 oz. serving = 163 calories)
Pecans (15 pecan halves in a 1 oz. serving = 196 calories)
Pistachios (49 in a 1 oz. serving = 160 calories)
Pumpkin Seeds (Roasted – 1 oz. serving = 140 calories)
Walnuts (14 in a 1 oz. serving = 185 calories)

Seeds

Chia Seeds (hulled)
Hemp Seeds (hulled)
Sesame (white)

Cheese

Herve Mons 1924 Bleu
- Best flavor
Bucheron (goat – Wegmans, discontinued)
- soft, mildly tart
Capricho de Cabra (goat)
- Fresh, soft, tart – paired w/ jam
White American (Wegmans)
- Most flavorful
Cello Smoky Pepper Rubbed Fontal Cheese (Wegmans) X
Got Your Goat Brie (Wegmans)
- Soft, good flavor
1916 (Wegmans) X
- firm
Brie de Paris (Lactalis – Whole Foods)
- Soft & good flavor

Exotics

Nueske’s Smoked Liver Pate
Castelvetrano Olives
Dolce K Sweet Olive & Fruit Mix
Okra Chips
Peppadew Peppers
Ranch Corn Nuts
Ranch Dill Pickles
Raspberry Jam
Smoked Oysters
Vegetable Chips (especially with tomato)
Wakami (Seaweed) Salad

Bread & Crackers

Rice Crackers
Black Sesame Rice Crackers
French Baguette
Hummus

NOTE [08.06/25]: Three of the four items shown above are NOT diabetic friendly. Although I enjoyed the rice crackers, I later found that they turn to sugar fairly quickly as does the French baguette. [end NOTE]

More Good Food…

January 19, 2025January 29, 2025 bgibson135

Rotisserie Chicken, Bean Salad
& Corn on the Cob

Thin Cut Pork Chop, Okra
& Corn on the Cob

I made some really good black eyed peas, with potato & seasoning meat today. I’m thinking that the homemade chicken broth may have been the determining factor. I’ve made this same meal several times before and although good, they weren’t “really” good.

NOtE [01/29/25]: I baked the pork chop in the oven in my large Guy Fieri oven proof frying pan. I added some onion to the pan and it charred some. The total cooking time for the pork chop is about 9 or 10 minutes. I already had pickled beets in the fridge. I had made them by adding some Balsamic Vinegar and Red Wine Vinegar with a little Splenda sweetener. I left them cold. I also had some Asian Cabbage. I’m calling it that because I used the same flavorings I do for the Asian Cucumber Salad., but the cabbage is steamed so it remains hot. I put the steamed cabbage in a Rubbermaid container, added some “Spicy Chili Crisp” (in this case the “Fried Chili Oil” which has toasted peanuts), toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, white sesame seeds, and some Splenda sweetener put the lid on and shook it all together. On the plate, I threw in a few halved yellow grape tomatoes for color & a savory hint. I added a small tollip of the Fried Chili Oil on the cabbage and the peanut appears as a reddish pea in the photo.

Everything about this worked together for a delicious meal. *This is about the third time I’ve made a version of the Asian Cabbage. I’ve liked it each time. The first time & last time I did not add any Red Wine Vinegar, but it is also good with the vinegar. [end NOTE]

Select Photos Until I Move Them Elsewhere…

January 18, 2025 bgibson135

Lyde was one of the Morton sisters which included Kathleen, Carrie, Zeta and Vivian “Mick/ey”. Lyde had been married to Hurley Jones. She lived in the little “logger” cabin off the back porch.

This is a poor photo of the Morton Cemetery, but mom and I were down, probably on a Saturday morning and she was mowing.

Mom sitting on the hood of the Old Mercury. I don’t recall the exact story about the Mercury, but I think it was wrecked by someone who drove into it while it was parked in front of the house at 204 Johnson Blvd. in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

When Less is More…

January 15, 2025 bgibson135

Several years ago, on national TV, perhaps on ABC’s “Good Morning America, and I’m thinking the interviewer might have been Charlie Gibson he had an interview with a U.S. Postal Service representative. The purpose of the interview was so that the public could be notified that the U.S. Postal Service was going to change their goal of 2 day delivery to that of 3 day delivery. Seems they had not been able to meet the two day goal, so now they are going to guarantee three day delivery. And, the U.S.P.S representative was almost giddy with this change because now the Postal Service was going to be able to meets its stated goal. But, the ignored “Elephant in the Room” was that, they weren’t going to find a way to improve their service, but just lessen their goal and be able to meet the lesser goal. That’s idocy!