I arrived about 11:15 am today. There were no customers in the restaurant when I first entered. I started to order a small order of ribs, but the cashier said they would be ready in about 15 minutes, so I quickly changed my order to Burnt Ends… with baked beans, and slaw, and water to drink.
My order was brought out shortly and I had already sat down in the small dining area. I’ve never had “burnt ends” before, although I know they are desired by some, and only available on certain days at the Redneck BBQ Lab.
The first thing I noted was that my dinner roll was cold. They should fund for a bun warmer, because a warm, tasty roll would add positively to the experience. I just noticed that the slaw in the photo above does not seem as darkly colored, although it was. It was a savory version of slaw with minute black flecks, that I at first thought of as being something like dill seed, but later guessed might be just black pepper. The baked beans were spicy, and very similar to those baked beans I recently made at home.
The very first “chunk” of burnt ends that I tried was entirely composed of fat. Well, burnt skin around a chunk of fat. Something I decided not to eat again, and only found about three other fat chunks in the order. My impression was that I might not like burnt ends, as many do. The BBQ sauce had a vinegar base, with a standard smokey sweetness.
I guess I would say that this combo of meat and sides fought each other. The beans and slaw needed to be taken down a notch, and the dinner roll warmed. I did wonder if I wouldn’t get severe indigestion from the burnt ends, but that didn’t materialize.
No, I probably wouldn’t go back for a meal. They did have some good looking meats, sausage & bacon in the glass cases.
Not sure why I started to fiddle with the packaging for my Thomas “The Original Nooks & Crannies English Muffins” but I think it was because I was looking to make it fit for storage a little easier. And that is probably not the complete reasoning, because the flat, rectangular package is already pretty storable.
But, I was surprised by how easily I could remove some of the unneeded container paper (the two ends, and the white/un-printed bottom of the package) and still come up with a good looking, drum package that even had enough space to view the actual product (6 muffins stacked on top of each other). Here is my prototype:
Note the little bit of space to show an edge of each muffin.
thomasbreads.com is the web site for the company. I saw that their bagels were already packaged like what I am suggesting for their muffins. I sent a suggestion for this packaging change to them with links to the two images shown above.
How would these be presented on store shelves? Would that be a reason to not change the packaging? But, I think that reducing the plastic wrapper by about a third, and reducing the current paper tray without any major changes to the printed package, would be a real cost savings worth looking into. The Thomas logo that is printed on the plastic outer wrapping could be moved to the bottom.
[NOTE 02/16/24]: I love the flavor and texture of an English Muffin, but I will rarely buy them because they are high in carbs, calories & sugar. But split and toast an English Muffin, and then spread Orange Marmalade or Raspberry Jam, with some butter/margarine on the slices, and get a cup of hot tea… that’s a flavorful meal. [end NOTE]
I’m not sure I have more than a couple of examples of SciFi movies that portray small towns (with a Southern feel) accurately, but here goes:
“Dark Was the Night” 2014
Kevin Durand (Sheriff)
Lukas Haas
Bianca Kajlich
“The Crazies” 2010
Timothy Olyphant (Sheriff)
Radha Mitchell
I like the above movies because the small towns they portray, and the small town stereotype characters they portray feel comfortable. They are a “grown up” version of Andy of Mayberry… if Mayberry is attacked by weird creatures or a zombie creating virus.
NOTE [08/28/22]: A short time ago, I came across the 1973 version of “The Crazies”. I tried to watch it, but the remake was so much more interesting, and the earlier version focused much more on the military side of the incident. I did fast-forward to the end of the movie, and wasn’t impressed. The remake is much more interesting having the main characters escape to the big city, but not really, being tracked via satellite.
“The Mist” 2007
Thomas Jane
Laurie Holden
I love this movie for many reasons. The creatures are numerous and bizarre. The military has been working on some transdimensional gate, lost control, and these creatures are crossing over into our World. The personal interaction of those trapped in the grocery is intense. And, the ending, bleak and leaving us reeling as must be the Thomas Jane character. Rescue so close, and yet a step away from being able to rescue in time.
*Netflix has just made “The Mist” available for free viewing and I have re-watched it, twice I think. I started googling and found that the exterior shots of the grocery store as the mist rolls in, were filmed in Vivian, LA. I did a StreetView tour around the Vivian, LA filming location. Two notes, are that the rear loading window (important to the tentacled monster attack upon the bag boy) wasn’t actually located where the movie seemed to place it. Also, there is a King’s Pharmacy shown as the mist rolls in. That building didn’t actually exist, and the structure was added as a testament to Stephen King. It was torn down shortly after filming. * I found that the abandoned grocery store in Vivian is scheduled to be demolished so that a new bank building can be built. Most of the movie’s store locations was filmed on a sound stage.
Depending upon which street you now navigate to (Oct. 30, 2023), in Google Streetview, you can see the Food House location (outside view) from “the Mist” movie (minus King’s Pharmacy) and during the building of the new First Guaranty Bank branch (old grocery store demolished). Recall that interior shots of the grocery store for the movie were from a Hollywood constructed set.
War of the Worlds Burning Train Passing ByThe Mist Gigantic Mist Monster
Above are two “iconic” images, one from “The Mist” and the other from “The War of the Worlds.” They only last seconds in each film, but their “scifi-e-ness” makes them “haunt on” after the movie.
The lumbering six legged gigantic monster even has large flying creatures (in my mind they are some of the larger bird-like creatures that attacked the giant bug-type creatures in the store), very small in comparison to the six legged monster, but definitely imaginable as birds hovering over a cow or moose might do when looking for hovering insects.
The empty burning train just so haunting, without a ‘dead man’s switch’ and all train staff and passengers dead, a train might just barrel on through, with automated railroad signals activating, not dependent upon whether any human being was alive on the train or not.
Not having to do with Sci-Fi at all, but portraying a small town, as I remember it when I was growing up, is the movie, “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.” Those early scenes of the bus (Trailways?) coming into town reminded me of the “feel” of how it was growing up in 1960s eastern North Carolina. I don’t recall if we drove up to Jacksonville each Saturday, or every other Saturday to buy groceries at the Colonial Store in New River Shopping Center. But, New River Shopping Center was the hub of commercial activity in Jacksonville at the time. There was Sears and Roses Department Store, and the Center Theater (25 cents for a movie). Bill Rollis’ Steak House was on a corner, and near it was Ron-Cor (a hobby shop that at some point had an 8 lane slot car track). There was a drug store, and a small US Post Office next door to it. And in one little interior corner was a little room, with a fancy door, that was where Santa came each year before Christmas so that the local children could come stand in line, with their parents in order to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.
There wasn’t the Internet, so you couldn’t go “online” to look at stuff, or buy stuff, and have it delivered “next day.” Sears was an international company and they produced thick “shopping” catalogs with hundreds of pages in each catalog. The catalogs were free. There was a summer and a winter catalog, and maybe even a special Christmas catalog, and the catalogs had men’s and women’s and children’s clothing sections, and you could buy household appliances, or lawn mowers, and loads of toys. This Sears had an automotive section with “drive bays” and mom would go there periodically to have our car checked or tuned up, or repaired as needed.
It was rare that it snowed in eastern North Carolina for Christmas. Christmas was more of a special time back then because it only lasted a brief time, or at least the advertising, and special seasonal TV programs only were shown within a few weeks of Christmas day. “Have a holly jolly Christmas. It’s the best time of the year.” Was that Burl Ives? And I think mom said that Burl Ives had stopped in Swansboro once, as he was bringing his boat along the Intracoastal Waterway, and that he had been “rude” to the locals, who then didn’t think much of him. *Which reminds me of something that I once heard the actor, Ernest Borgnine, say on TV, “Be good to your fans on the way up, and they will be good to you on your way down.” I’m not sure if that always proves to be true, but if what goes around, comes around, then it is added protection for that time you know will eventually happen (to us all).
The Roses Department Store had a cafe counter up front near the check-out registers. Comic books were 10 or 12 cents for the monthly installment, and the inside pages weren’t glossy, hi-resolution images. I might have bought Superman, Batman, Lost in Space, Spiderman and even Silver Surfer eventually from Roses.
I’ve written elsewhere that we shopped at the Colonial Store, and that mom would also buy the “wheat pattern” dishes as they came up for purchase, and you would get “Gold Bond” stamps with each purchase, that you would stick in a little booklet. Once the booklet was filled with stamps, you could take that to the distribution center (I think this was in New Bern, NC.) to redeem for various items.
Mom bought a complete set of children’s encyclopedias. You couldn’t buy the whole set at once, but had to buy one of the 16 volumes as it became available. I don’t recall if they became available weekly, bi-weekly or every month. I’m thinking it wouldn’t have been monthly because it would have taken almost a year and a half to buy all 16 if that was the availability period. *I bought a complete set of these encyclopedias several years ago and the set came with and additional 5 or 6 volumes that represented the continents. Atlases? The shipping, from Alabama, cost more than the cost of the books. **I had in my mind that there was an illustration of an insect trapped in amber in one of these encyclopedias, but the illustration I found didn’t match my memory. Nor did my memory match the blue suede tennis shoes that I actually owned (once I compared a picture I had in my Swansboro High School annual). I did actually have a school outfit that I combined that had white Navy mess pants (with button fly), a red terry cloth short sleeved shirt, red/white& blue suspenders that I added a couple of white stars to, and the blue tennis shoes. I can’t believe that I actually combined this and wore it to school, apparently my Senior year.
I do recall that a local TV personality from Wilmington, named Rick Tash, came up one Saturday and gave out balsa wood airplane toys. **I did find his name, Rick Tash, in some online document once, so I know I didn’t imagine him. These toys probably had the red plastic propellers and you would stretch a rubber band along the length of the toy’s fuselage, wind the propeller and then let it go into the air. The wound rubber band would cause the propeller to spin and propel the toy through the air. Not a long distance, but it was satisfying. And, if you managed to put the toy together successfully, it wouldn’t be long before it crashed into the ground or something else and part of it broke.
The basic construction of this balsa wood toy airplane hasn’t changed much (if any) in 60 years.
Note [05/01/24]: I made some Tuna Salad early this morning. Probably about 2 am. The only thing I do not add if I am making this ahead of time is the tomato. If I am going to put this salad or a Greek Salad in the refrigerator I leave out the tomato because refrigeration affects their flavor negatively. Don’t refrigerate tomatoes! It ruins their flavor. [end Note]
It is the human condition to suffer angst or dread periodically through-out life. It comes at various times, and for various reasons, and to various degrees. *If you take a test, especially in college, the “End of Time” will never come before you get your “bad” grade back, so just “suck it up” and live with the grade you earned. It might be the thought of getting a girl, or losing a girlfriend that generates a degree of angst. It might be something you said, that worries you because you wish you hadn’t said whatever it was. Or, you might dread having to read a report in front of class. I always liked to volunteer early for these oral reports so that there wasn’t anyone to compare me to. I usually wasn’t first to read or speak, but usually by the fourth person.
Definite proof that I am a far leftist… Why would I choose to read an article in The New Republic regarding Tucker Carlson Melting? I was primed for this article having watched a brief segment of Tucker Carlson a night or two before on TV. Whatever he was talking about, I recall making a judgement that he was vehemently wrong.
But, in the last several years, since Donald Trump was elected President, I have seen events happen and when Republicans should have been irate regarding the wrongs being done, by fellow Republicans, instead they turned a deaf ear, and a blind eye to the wrongs. They treated the CORONA Virus as if it was a political opponent instead of a virus. The attack on the US Capitol on January 6th…
SPPL has a clean Men’s Restroom. Of all the libraries I have visited, Post COVID, the Southern Pines Public Library seems to be flourishing as if the Pandemic had not occurred. Well, I am not sure of how many patrons should be visiting, perhaps more.
Today, October 22, 2021, Friday, I stopped by the State Farmers’ Market in Raleigh. My only goal was to see if I could buy some more raw peanuts, and I was able to do that again. This has been a very good year for raw peanuts.
But, as I started to walk up and down the aisle, I immediately noticed some corn on the cob, still in the husk. I thought I had gotten the absolute latest corn on the cob a couple of weeks ago at the Farmers Market, but, no, here was some more. I did walk past this at first. I ended up buying a half dozen of the corn. The sales person was a young Hispanic woman and I told her I thought I had bought the last corn a couple of weeks ago. Asking her where this corn was grown. I think she said it was grown in Johnston County, but whichever, it was NC local. She also said, that you could grow almost anything in NC until the first frost.
I focused on several apple displays and eventually on the way back, stopped and bought several apples/types of apples at one stand. More fried apples;-)
NOTE: Dula Beauty Apples were first grown from Limbertwig apple seeds planted around 1877 by a Julius Abram Dula (1834 – 1915) in Lenoir, Caldwell County, North Carolina. Dula did fruit breeding as a hobby, and introduced fruit spraying in his area. [ https://www.cooksinfo.com/dula-beauty-apples ]
Apples from the State Farmers’ Market Raleigh, NC.
The corn on the cob was great. I microwaved a couple of ears, with husk still on, for about 5 minutes. When you leave the husk on, or wrap husked ears in wet paper towels, the kernels cook in their own steam. The corn wasn’t tough.
Corn, Peanuts and Apples
NOTE [ 10/24/21 ]: I tried the Dula Beauty apple this morning for fried apples. It is a firm apple, sweet but with a tartness. So, I would put the Dula Beauty with the Gala apple as being too tart for the fried apples I like.
I had a piece of lamb shoulder left from a previous meal. I heated it up. I also re-heated some garden peas, and some green beans, potatoes & seasoning meat. I found some Roma tomatoes that I had cooked on the stove top with Balsamic vinegar and sweetener. I left this cold. I sliced off a small amount of Vidalia onion.
Tomatoes, Onion, Balsamic & Red Wine Vinegar & Sweetner
All these flavors came together really well.
08/11/21
Lamb shoulder, green beans, potatoes & seasoning meat, corn on the cob (late in the season, but still a comfort food). *I do love the lamb flavor.
Oh, I bought my first bread assortment at Publix this morning. Beforehand, I had been to the Cumberland County Courthouse. This was the scheduled date (Court Room 002C – AM) for the Vehicular Manslaughter case against Shirley Mae Barath.
I asked for Cyndi at Publix. She was in the middle of putting several trays of bread in the large oven. So, all I had to do was to select several types of bread on the public shelves and Cyndi took it behind the counter and packaged each into smaller units. A bag with two Pretzel Rolls. A bag with four dinner rolls. A bag with a couple of knots. The package with four dinner rolls was only $1. Apparently, they have no trouble selling the odd packages of bread that are left.
I think I met the whole family at the courthouse and a friend.
I was watching old episodes of America’s Test Kitchen, or maybe Cook’s Country and they did a taste test comparison on spaghetti sauce starters. I have used the Hunts or Delmonte starters that cost around $1 for years. But, on the show their winning sauce was a Rao’s sauce, which was very expensive, about $7 per jar, compared to what I normally start with. *But, that did place a question in my mind.
So, I happened to see Rao’s on the shelf in Walmart the other day. The price was a little over $7 for the jar. I didn’t notice that this was “Tomato Basil Sauce” or know that there were other versions. I hesitated at first, but then decided to at least try Rao’s once and put the jar in my shopping cart (der Einkauftswagen).
Tonight I decided to make my spaghetti sauce. I saw the jar of Rao’s on my counter.
So I started with some chopped onion in olive oil in a tall pot on the stove-top. I then added ground beef and after that browned, I added a can of diced roasted tomatoes and then looking at the jar of Rao’s I hesitated and thought, for $7 I am just going to put half of it in this sauce.
As I go, I chop up some orange & yellow bell pepper, open and add a small can of mushroom pieces, some roasted garlic, and a couple of cloves of raw garlic. Now, I have added some salt, some freshly ground pepper, some thyme, marjoram, dry basil, dried oregano, fennel seeds, several anchovies with their oil, and some red pepper flakes. I think that is all that I added to the starter.
But, here is the thing. When I finally tasted this sauce, somewhere during the above process, I was immediately wowed by the different, and most assuredly better taste. As far as I know the only difference in this sauce and the others I have made over the last several years is starting with Rao’s. And, I think I may pay the extra cost and use Rao’s as my starter sauce… or at least until the difference is no longer worth it.
I made a Greek salad, and had angel hair pasta, with an Italian blend of cheeses (just two types) with the finished spaghetti sauce. It was a very pleasing meal.
NOTE: When I say “anchovies with their oil” this is what I mean. After I open a can of anchovies, what I don’t use, I put in a small tupperware container along with the oil they are packed in, and put that in the freezer. The oil hardens and turns whitish. When I want to use this frozen anchovies, I just use a fork to chop out a couple of anchovies and chip off some of the frozen oil. This melts quickly into whatever I am cooking on the stove.
I have used the canned Hunts or Delmonte spaghetti sauce starters for many years. I even recall when those companies started selling their starter sauces in slightly smaller cans. I kept one of their larger cans, and may have even taken a picture of the difference in sizes. That is the way a company can continue to sell an item for about the same price, when in actuality they are selling less of their product for a higher per unit price.
Now, if I had only kept some old yogurt containers because that was a really drastic change in size for the price. The current containers almost seem like thimbles (der Fingerhut) compared to what used to be.
GreenWise Sprouted Multigrain Bread, per slice (43-46g), contains approximately 100 calories, 1g total fat, 140mg sodium, 20g total carbohydrates (including 3g fiber), and 5g protein. It is USDA Certified Organic and made with sprouted wheat berries and millet, but does contain honey and wheat ingredients, so it is not gluten-free.
Here are the typical nutrition facts for one slice (43-46g):
No Artificial Ingredients: The bread is free from artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.
I had a really good visit and experience at Publix this morning. Normally, I walk over to the fresh bread section, walking past the cakes and cookies. There was a baker working at the counter, but I didn’t strike up a conversation although I wanted to ask someone if they ever would sell an “assortment” of breads where I could maybe get a couple of pretzel rolls, four dinner rolls, and a half loaf of Rye bread. I am single and I don’t need a whole loaf of Rye, or four pretzel rolls, or six dinner rolls. Some will go bad before I eat them all, and in fact, I probably wouldn’t eat the dinner rolls, except that I am currently in my “lamb” stage, cooking lamb at home and trying to replicate a good meal that I had when Sherefe would offer a lunch special on the lamb, with a Greek salad and yeasty dinner rolls.
As I was walking over to the bread section, I noticed an employee walking past me leaving that section. I looked at the bread and then walked away from the area. I walked toward the back of the store. I don’t recall why I stopped by a display of “real” bunches of sunflowers, but I recall looking down at them to see if they were real. They were real, but seemed wilted.
I then walked around the corner and as I did the female employee that had walked away from the bread section came around face to face, and we had to step aside. She even said something to the effect that, “Oh we meet again.” She took a few steps, but I turned around and called out to her, “do you work in the bakery section”. She turned and acknowledged that she did work in the bakery. I said, “Can I ask you a question”. I then said that I was single, and that often I did not need to buy a bunch of bread, but could I buy an assortment. The employees’ name was “Cyndi” (sp) and she was very energetic and mentioned that there was another customer that already was purchasing an assortment of breads, and that it was no problem for them to create an assortment for me. I said, “That’s fantastic (or great)”. She said to come see her in the bakery when I want to buy an assortment. I thanked her and walked away.
Now I walk down, past the frozen seafood freezer, past the seafood section, past the meat counter, and then along the packaged meats section. Part way down the area is a small section of lamb. There was one package of lamb shoulder and I picked it up looking at the per pound price, which was about $7.49 per lb. and that was about 20 cents less that the lamb I had purchased there about a week before.
I then walked back to the meat counter. There was a young butcher working at a table. He was in the process of trimming meat, or maybe just cutting it into smaller pieces. He did not look up as I arrived at the counter, and I waited to see if he would look up from his current task. After about 30 seconds, I asked if I could ask a question. He looked up. I asked how often they had lamb. He said they tried to keep lamb in stock, and that they had to cut the lamb up. *I had in another article mentioned that their lamb looked “locally” packaged, which was different from the packaged lamb at Harris Teeter. Now, Harris Teeter had a large selection of lamb. **Almost no one has much lamb in the local grocery stores. It is not something that I have seen on display in “southern” groceries.
I walked away from the meat counter and started up an isle toward the front of the store. There was a young man, store employee, stocking the shelves. I navigated past him, and I think he said something positive toward me, which made me stop, as I was beside the Hispanic section. The area where the Herdez Salsa Ranchera should be was at about eye level with me. Since I had already had two positive encounters with store employees I decided to initiate another dialogue. I asked, “Can I make a suggestion”. He turned his attention toward me.
I went through my “spiel” regarding the Herdez Salsa Ranchera, having been stocked when the store first opened, but was soon discontinued and had not reappeared since. He looked on his phone at an app and suggested that if I could supply the bar code from the can of Salsa Ranchera, that he might be able to see if they could stock this item. I thanked him and headed to the front of the store to pay for my package of lamb.
The cashier was very attentive and asked if I was ready to check out. As I was paying for my lamb, I struck up a conversation with the cashier. I suggested that if she could try the lamb, with some “char” on it it might be very good, since I had a good experience with it. I mentioned Sherefe and that it was closed, and she seemed to be aware of the restaurant and she was surprised that it was closed. Sherefe has been closed at least a couple of years, so she must live in a different direction.
I had a bake at home whole wheat dinner roll (not what they called it). You see how beautiful the lamb shoulder chop was getting on the stove top. The salad had Spring Mix greens, Vidalia onion, Kalamata olives, Campari tomatoes and feta cheese. I used avocado oil, red wine vinegar, yellow mustard, Agave nectar, sweetner, and salt & pepper for the salad dressing. This was a very comforting meal!
][ADDENDUM 01/04/25]: I haven’t completely reread the above posting, so if I am redundant, sorry.
I’ve continued to shop at Publix and have a good relationship with one of the bakers. I don’t know her name, but we recognize each other readily, and I do know she is from Jacksonville, FL originally. But, I can ask, as I did yesterday, if I can have “half a loaf and sliced, please,” and they will do it for me. They will slice the load, separate it into two, at half price each, and then let me choose which one I want. I bought a multi-seeded dark loaf (half) and I saw some sourdough English muffins and bought a bag of those. I had one of the English muffins this morning, with white American cheese, a slice of fresh ham (I bought at a HT across town yesterday, after eating at Pharaoh’s Legacy for lunch) and an egg I prepared in the microwave onion cooker. *I do need to toast the bread first.
I had never been to that Harris Teeter, although I had eaten at Pharaoh’s Legacy quite a few times. It was a very nice HT, and I think it may be the “flagship” HT in our area. Much like the WalMart on the other side of town is probably the best one in Fayetteville. I was looking for eggnog, but I guess that season is gone. I think they (all stores, all brands) either sell out before Christmas, or send it back to the company directly after Christmas. *I just thought, Fresh Market might still have some.
I buy most of my bread at Publix, but also some of the LaFarm Bread at Whole Foods in Raleigh. The two other things I buy at Publix are the frozen Heads/Shells/Tails off medium shrimp, and their Round Bone Lamb Chops imported from New Zealand.
I’ve not had a round bone lamb chop in quite a while, nor have I fixed my Shrimp/Kielbasa/Zucchini dish in some time. I’m almost surprised that I really only have two meals a day to prepare, and if, as yesterday, I bring home half of my lunch (lamb gyro pita & Greek salad) I’ve got to insert that into one of two meals in the next couple of days. [end]
Bill Gibson, II 