[ 05/07/22 ]
Was just fixing dinner and came across a couple of modifications to what I was cooking that were pleasing.

I wanted to make some of my “tomato chutney” in which I have been using Roma tomatoes and some chopped up onion. In a pot, on the stove top, I add Balsamic vinegar, some Agave Nectar, some sweetner and perhaps red wine vinegar, with S&P. I added some dried Basil.

Recently, I have been fixing “glazed carrots” on the stove top. I don’t want to use honey, or sugar because of the Type 2 Diabetes, and I guess carrots have plenty of sugar just by themselves.

But, not too long ago, I had the thought to add the “sugar free” pancake/waffle syrup that had been sitting on my counter for a long time. I just hadn’t made pancakes or waffles at home in a long time. I can now get my pancake fix almost any morning that I eat at Zorba’s. Zorba’s gives you the option to have 2 pancakes or 2 slices of toast with your egg/meat/grits breakfast. I normally only order one pancake and only eat about half of that with sugar free syrup. Well, the sugar free syrup that I have has a “maple” flavor. I’ve also found that the syrup does not get sticky when I put it in a hot pot. Instead it becomes thinner and becomes the cooking liquid. To this I add dried Tarragon, sweetener, and S&P. But this time, I looked over and saw the soft margarine. I took out a scoop of it and put it in the cooking carrots. I thought, “yeah, this will give the carrots more of a sheen.” *The carrots were still a little crunchy, but letting them cook a little longer might have been better. Still, cooking longer means the bright orange carrot color begins to fade.

---

🥕Butter-Maple Glazed Carrots (Sugar-Free)

Serves: 2 | Prep Time: 5 min | Cook Time: 12–15 min

Ingredients

• 2 cups sliced carrots (½-inch coins or sticks)
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 ½ tbsp Cary’s Sugar-Free Syrup (is maple flavored)
• ¼ tsp salt (optional)
• ⅛ tsp cinnamon or nutmeg (optional, for warmth)
• Fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Cook carrots: Boil or steam carrots until just tender, about 7–8 minutes. Drain.
2. Glaze: In a skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat. Stir in Cary’s syrup and optional spice.
3. Coat: Add carrots and toss until evenly glazed. Cook 3–4 minutes, stirring often, until liquid slightly reduces and coats carrots with a glossy sheen.
4. Season: Add salt (if desired), toss once more, and serve warm with a sprinkle of parsley.

---

🧮 Approx. Nutrition (per serving)

Calories	Fat	Carbs	Fiber	Sugars	Sodium
~85	5 g	10 g	2 g	4 g	60 mg

(Depends on portion and syrup amount.)

---

💡 Variations

• Add a pinch of crushed red pepper for a sweet-spicy version.
• Replace butter with olive oil + dab of Dijon for a savory maple-mustard glaze.
• Use baby carrots, roast them first, and drizzle the syrup-butter mixture over just before serving for more caramelized edges.

---

Back to the tomato chutney. Normally, I just use the Roma tomatoes. I knew I still had a few of these, but they had been sitting, in a plastic bag for a while. I went looking for them and then realized that at least one of them had gone bad. I pulled out the good ones, rinsed them off and chopped them up, putting them in a pot. I only had two Roma tomatoes. Fairly large tomatoes, but not enough. It was then that I remembered the picture of the Tomatillo chutney that I had from my favorite summer veggie meal (corn on cob, sliced raw tomato, fried okra and the tomatillo chutney [including tomatillos and chopped onion]). “Yeah, that would work!” The two are just slight variations on the theme… tomato, onion, vinegar and sweetener.

I found my Tomatillos, and chopped up 3 or 4 of them adding them to the Romas and adding a little onion that I had left. I added the Balsamic vinegr, some sweetner and cooked it all down. Came out fine! Would not hesitate to do this again, even if I wasn’t running short on ingredients.

I had thawed out a couple of round bone lamb chops. I normally don’t like to freeze the lamb I purchase. I usually buy two round bone chops in a package and cook them up within a few days on the stove top. I like the flavor of the lamb fat in this piece of meat. But, I must have bought a couple of packages of lamb and put one in the freezer. *I hate to freeze items because I am always reluctant to pull them out a day or more in advance, to let them thaw. **I still have some raw hamburger that I bought a couple of days ago, and have to keep reminding myself to use it before it starts to turn grey. I’ll cook a couple of hamburgers, and package up the rest in resealable plastic sandwich bags and put in the freezer. ***I am accustomed to taking out a single frozen hamburger, putting it in my microwave under the 2.0 Defrost setting (runs 15 minutes) which not only thaws the item, but cooks it satisfactorily, without drying it out. This defrost setting also works perfectly for my frozen shrimp that I use for my kielbasa, zuchinni, shrimp, onion, tomato, and pasta shells. Not too much tomato, and some red pepper flakes and powdered Cayenne.

Earlier in the day, I had baked some Jiffy cornbread. You get a small package of the mixed cornmeal, to which you add a third of a cup of milk, and one egg. This cornbread cooks in about 15 or 20 minutes and comes out slightly sweet. *Maybe it is very sweet, but I like many of my foods to be sweet.

I still had some bright red, raw Jalapenos which I had bought a week or more ago to go in my salsa. I sliced up a couple of these red Jalapenos and mixed them in with the cornbread batter. I used margarine on the glass pie tin, and poured the batter in. At first you think there is not enough batter to fill the pie plate, or that the finished cornbread will be paper thin. But, you end up with a cornbread that is a little over an inch thick, and light, and slightly sweet, and in this case with beautiful red chunks of Jalapenos providing a slight heat.

I bought a small package of “pig’s feet” the other day and fixed them. You have to boil them a couple of hours for all the cartilidge and meat to become tender. Your fingers will stick together after eating these. I guess that is why you sell horses for glue. I wanted to mention the pig’s feet because I have become aware the last several times I have fixed and eaten them… I become lethargic. I suppose it is the great quantity of pork fat in this, that just isn’t good for the human body.

But there were just two pig’s feet in the package, and they had been sliced in two. I think it was under $5 for the two feet. Put the feet in a pot, and put enough water in to cover them completely, checking to make sure the water does not cook down and expose any of the cooking meat. Add a little vinegar to the water, and S&P. Too much vinegar, and when the water cooks down, it will become bitter. A little vinegar will provide a “clean” taste. After a couple of hours, the tough hide and cartilidge will have softened. I suppose this is an acquired taste. There is some dark tender meat, but not a lot. Some pleasantly chewy sinews, and the tough hide is now tender and deliciously flavored. *But then, I also like chicken gizzards cooked a long time and put in white rice soup. Or, raw oysters or clams. Greens such as collards or spinach. Very, very good!

I’m not kidding about your fingers sticking together after eating pig’s feet. You will either have to knaw most of it off of each finger, or find some detergent or dish soap that will dissolve most the the fat sticking to your fingers.

I never met my mother’s father. He had died (1950) about 4 years before I was born (1954). But, I have seen pictures of him, and through the years his children all spoke especially lovingly of him.

One time, I had used a graphics program to cut a black & white picture of “Papa” (Lawrence deLafayette Morton) out. I used his image as a logo, and printed him out on several envelopes, even large ones that I used to mail my Resumes. I was proud of this, and at breakfast, I showed my waitress his picture on a large envelope. *And, I was completely surprised by her response.

My waitress looked at the picture and said, “What a poor old farmer.” She didn’t know that he was my grandfather… but her impression was that he was a “poor old” farmer. And, I took the envelope back from her and looked at it “differently”. Why yes he was a “poor old farmer”, but I guess what was special was that HE was MY “poor old farmer”, and I would always find it difficult to see him as a “poor old” anything. I knew from my mother, and her sisters, and Mary Ann (Aunt Sis’s daughter) that they all “loved” Papa. And, they all knew that he loved them.

Maybe it was because he was a “poor old” farmer, that his family had to eat things that poor old farmers could provide. They ate pig’s feet, and chicken gizzards with rice, and maybe ham soup, or fixed “a mess of” collards, or added pastry to their white or green lima beans. Or potatoes to their blackeyed peas. And they seasoned these foods with “fat back”, ham bone/hocks, or Crisco. And, living this close to the Coast, they learned to love to eat various Seafoods. Raw oysters, clams, shrimp, crabs and various fried fish (mullet, flounder, trout, etc.). Baked flounder, with sliced potatoes and onions and a little bacon for more flavor.

**And mullet “roe” (caviar) which had been baked in the oven, taking on an orange hue, and being a crumbly, salty delicious treat. This happened to me one time when I was attending UNC-Chapel Hill. Mom had brought some mullet roe, in a “homemade” gift basket. I got hungry, and found it. Not something that I would usually seek out, but had tried growing up… and now it became “delicious”!

---

And now for something entirely different…

I like the “Oriental Flavor” Ramen Noodles. I think it is now called “Soy Flavor”. And, I’m finding that it is difficult to improve on the flavor of this basic, soy, noodle soup. I’ve tried adding onions to the broth. I’ve tried adding hamburger. I’ve added soy sauce, and some other oriental flavorings, but it does not add positively to the flavor of the soy flavored noodles. Maybe going a different direction using chunk chicken and chopped spring onions might be the way to add to this soup.

I am reminded of a salad using the “Oriental Flavor” packet to flavor the vinegar, and I think some sweetner. You also crumble the dry noodles to spread over the torn Napa cabbage. Cider vinegar, avocado oil to the dressing. Toasted almond slivers, sesame seeds, Mandarin orange slices and chopped spring onions. I love the flavor of this salad, but it throws my blood sugar all out of whack. I think it is the noodles mainly that affects the blood sugar. Although, in whatever form I consume the noodles, they will turn from starch to sugar quickly and act negatively on my body.

There is an old recipe (well, maybe 1960s or 70s) on how to make a potato chip dip using the Onion Soup Mix (a powder, added to cream cheese & sour cream). I liked it 30 years ago. I like that flavor today. But, here are some insights. The “Soy Flavor” packet that comes with the Ramen noodles, can be added to sour cream & cream cheese to make a similarly flavored potato chip dip. Maybe add some dried onion flakes to this for a closer rendition. But, also just adding soy sauce to cream cheese & sour cream, and a few onion flakes, will also make a similarly flavored potato chip dip.

And toward repeating myself, I successfully made another old-time (60s or 70s style) cheese ball chip dip. It is made with sour cream & cream cheese, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (non-Buttermilk version) some diced red bell pepper, diced water chestnuts, drained spinach, chopped sweet onion. Don’t recall if this suggests a little hot sauce or not. But, the items mixed produce a very pleasant overall flavor. Pass a few more chips please.

I found this “smaller” bag size of wavy potato chips at IGA for $1.33. This was the perfect size, for me, because I will eat ALL, whatever the size. This size provided just about the right amount of chips for two “messes”. My last spinach dip came out much darker (more spinach to sour cream/cheese) and I found that the Ranch Dressing was necessary for the correct flavor of this dip.

I may have seen that one of the flavorings for fried rice was “toasted” sesame oil on Cook’s Country or America’s Test Kitchen. The first fried rice I cooked at home was a couple of years ago, and I only used Soy Sauce for flavoring, which didn’t make the fried rice flavor that I was accustomed to. But, I could only find regular sesame oil for my first try, but the finished product was close enough, and I bought some toasted sesame oil and yes, this is the flavor I was looking for. Amazing that I have not fixe more fried rice at home, since my first success. I think part of the problem is that I ended up with a bunch of fried rice and didn’t want to freeze a bunch of it. Also, you need to cook the white rice first, and then cool it in the refrigerator or freezer to keep the rice kernels separate when you cook it again in the wok.

Another note that I make when looking at the fried rice above is that I couldn’t find frozen vegetables without the green beans. The frozen veggies included garden peas, carrots, corn and green beans. The scrambled egg was just cooked in the wok along with the rice & veggies.

When I go to Maguro’s, I try to take a small vial (old test strips container, which has a air tight seal) of toasted sesame oil. I add this to their fried rice which kicks it up several notches! *No telling how many new chefs have cooked the Thai Basil Chicken dish for me since I first tried it there a couple of years ago. But, sometimes it doesn’t have mushrooms, egg plant (baby ones) or jalapeno peppers. I don’t like mushrooms in this dish, but definitely want the jalapenos and the egg plant (if cooked to tender). *I also take a vial of hot Chinese mustard along for the egg rolls.

NOTE [05/19/22]: I had lunch at Maguro’s. The chef left out the mushrooms, but had all the other “necessary” ingredients. I especially want the Thai Basil, Jalapeno slices & tender Egg Plant.

Interesting that the Google StreetView doesn’t show the new businesses/residential units in front of the Islander.

Now is the time…

.

---

Interestingly, maybe only to me, is that I only took two pictures with my phone during the Reunion. I took a picture of the food ticket, which ended up not being used, and the highlighter pen, which was on the table. The reunion was both enjoyable and painful. Some people looked like they were 68 years old, many unrecognizable, and I hoped I wasn’t in the awful looking group. But, they did help me remember many things.

Earlier in the day I took one of my favorite rides, upon the auto ferry running between Minnesott Beach and Cherry Branch. It was a little stormy and I can see some of the rain that has already fallen on the black railing of the ferry.

I hope this utility cart works well. I ordered it from Amazon and it arrived in 2 days, although, I had to go pick it up at the Post Office. They attempted to deliver the first time, but the box would not fit in the receptical. I was home, but they did not attempt to deliver to my door. When I saw they had a problem with delivery, I went to the mailbox and saw the notice regarding why the delivery problem. It was about 20 minutes before five o’clock so I rushed down to the Post Office. I made it inside the door before they closed. The box had been brought back, so I managed to get the cart on the delivery day.

I wanted to get the cart, especially that first day because I was planning on driving down to Hubert the next day to deliver a bunch of cookbooks that I was planning to give to Jacqueline.

All the books that I wanted to give to Jacqueline fit in the cart. They were heavy, and might have been close to the 150 lbs. capacity of the utility cart… maybe not, but they were heavy. There ended up being about 41 books and a DVD Case with a digital cook book. Hauling the books out to my car worked great! One trip instead of six or eight trips. The books fit in about 4 rows across the back seat of the Camry.

Tuesday afternoon was very hot. Mary Ann and I had gone out to Watkins Flooring, then to Logans Roadhouse for lunch, and then to Target, where I lost her after the first few items that we placed in my cart. It didn’t dawn on me to call her until much later, and I had waited patiently near the front at the Starbucks section.

We got back home and I think it was after 6 pm, maybe just after 5 pm, and I said I needed to get the books out of the back of my car. I had hoped that Jacqueline or Ray might come over to Mary Ann’s house, so they could help with the migration, but when I mentioned this to Mary Ann, she was pretty sure we couldn’t rely on that happening, as she didn’t know when they might come home. I started moving the books from the Camry and to the front/side porch. I made four stacks of books and counted them (I think there were 41, or close to.). Mary Ann brought a Rollator to the door (Jim said he had taken the utility cart out to the garage, at her request, which she denied.) and I stacked 6 to 8 books at a time and she would roll them inside and put them somewhere.

The only problem with my utility cart so far is that when I went to fold it back up, the pull tab came loose in my hand. I saw that it was a black Velcro strip that had come undone, and I did not try and fix this problem, because it was in the morning as I was beginning to start my trip down to Hubert. I was able to fold the cart up, without this pull tab and it fit behind my driver’s seat in the Camry. Or, I might put it in the trunk.

This cart cost about $97 including tax. The wheels are large, but not wide. They roll easily on the floor, sidewalk, or asphalt pavement. I think they might have a problem rolling through soft sand, but I don’t intend using the cart in that environment.

NOTE: I came across this photo from June 22, 2012. My white 2011 Honda Civic (got it in January 2011) is in the picture, but note the size of the trees at the entrance to the walkway. I have two pictures above that show the current size of the trees. Ten years, amazing!

I just noticed something really interesting. Look at the photo from 2012 and the 2022 photo from the same perspective. Look at the sidewalk difference. Apparently, the tree roots have pushed the concrete up severely.

NOTE [05/28/2020]: And, “Yes, the cart is a useful tool, that I should have bought years ago.” Especially now, for the way I shop. I may visit three or four grocery stores (Walmart, IGA, Publix, Sprouts, Harris Teeter, Food Lion) and end up with a myriad of plastic bags full of various items. And, if I purchase milk, or sodas, or orange juice, and several cans of somethings, then carrying the many plastic bags becomes cumbersome, quickly. So, yes, this was a good purchase.

My mother and I both suffered from leg cramps at night. She has been dead for over 40 years, but she died of Leukemia and not leg cramps. Maybe you awake from sleep with your toes curling painfully down, or your calf muscles tightening, causing you to sit up in bed, trying to manually cause the pain to go away. Sometimes hopping up, so that you can put your curled toes flat on the floor.

My mother nor I ever figured out the cause, or a good remedy.

I rarely have night-time leg cramps any longer. But, some years ago, I had a revelation, at night, in bed, and I started developing a simple remedy, which for me, has worked very well.

I attributed my nightly leg cramps with having too much salt in my diet the previous day. I use some salt in my cooking, at home, but if I eat fast food, or eat out that day, I may not have much control of the salt in my food. Also, I have not paid attention to how much liquid I consume during that time.

Growing up, salt and pepper were about the only spices we used on our food. Needless to say, my mother was not a good cook. My “Aunt Sis” was a very good cook, but mom had not gravitated toward those skills. My mother liked working outdoors, in the yard, mowing and grooming the yard (although I wouldn’t say our yard would ever win any awards). She also bought a Singer Zig-Zag sewing machine and through the years made many of her dresses from “store bought” patterns from companies such as Butterick, Simplicity, etc. *She also would save up and I think about twice a year, or whenever Pik-n-Pay would have their sales special, she would buy several pairs of shoes for work and home. She did not skimp on me or my clothing, but she was quite frugal on herself. **I even recall that one time, after years of wearing the same prescription glasses, she absolutely had to spend the money on a new pair. And, when she put them on, she started acting like a child who was seeing things for the first time. After several comments from her about things she could now see, I said something to the effect that, “Mom, you should have bought new glasses when you first needed them.”

Sis was a good cook, but that is not to say that she used spices to flavor her food other than salt & pepper. She used fatback, and ham hocks, bacon grease. I don’t recall her ever using garlic. Pepper vinegar on collards. But her food was delicious. She would normally have two different meats prepared, and three vegetables (on the stove top), and maybe biscuits. But, she would cycle through what she had prepared. She might make soup out of the remainder of the week’s earlier vegetables (e.g. green beans, potatoes, tomatoes) at the end of the week. I don’t ever recall having broccoli, asparagus or Brussel sprouts, but blackeyed peas, green or white butterbeans, green beans & potatoes, corn on and off the cob, mashed potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, and turnips or rutabagas, and all the various tops/”greens” that could be “cooked down” with a little seasoning meat, including collards, turnip greens… Oh, and assorted seafood, fried fish, or crabs, etc. Chicken -n- pastry! Bacon/sausage and eggs (scrambled or over easy), grits or rice. A big hunk of pork or beef every so often. How about some sliced cucumber and chopped onions in sweetened vinegar? Beets!

My favorite dish, and one that I often said I would prefer as “my last meal” would be: Blackeyed peas, with ham hock, and some sweet Vidalia onion chopped up. Now, we did not have Vidalia onions when I was growing up, but I now use sweet onions for many things that just need a pleasant, sweet, raw onion. But, in almost everything that I cook, I start with sauteing a regular onion (“Any onion is sweet once it hits the heat.). *And, if seasoned well, sometimes a mess of large white butterbeans really hits the spot.

Now mom could fix fried chicken well, add a few sides, corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, or potato salad and dinner rolls (store bought). Sweet tea. The potato salad included large diced white potatoes, onion, sweet relish, mayo and some sugar. — A pot of diced ham in white rice, or chicken was deliciously filling. Corned beef, potatoes & onion in a simple stew (S&P). And, from the really brief time, when the paycheck hadn’t lasted and mom had me scrounging in the rear floor board of the old, gray/tan Chevy, “Saltines & Yellow French’s Mustard”. **I still love the flavor of Saltines and mustard to this day. We liked Kraft Sharp Cheddar cheese.

The above picture was taken by Mary Ann Kellum (Sharpe) a little after my 6th birthday. This is the back porch of the old two-story house that mom and I lived in, which was on one corner of Hwy. 24 and Queens Creek Road. Many things in this picture: chain off the new Roadmaster bicycle from Western Auto; Wisteria bush; front end of tan/light gray Chevy; little house that Lyde lived in (because she had TB); mule on other side of ditch, tail to us; beyond the mule and across Queens Creek Road was an old tobacco barn that burned down. I note that the edge of the porch is a fine straight line which means this porch had probably been recently replaced. The wood at the edge of an old porch would begin to wear away and become jagged. The kitchen would be to my back and the porch to my left would lead to the door of the main house & its hallway.

So, what do I do when I wake up with leg cramps at night. I hop up, go to the bathroom, and drink a bunch of water and the cramps go away… I go back to sleep and the cramps do not return that night. It might take about 5 minutes for the cramps to fully subside, and if the cramps seem to want to persist longer, I drink a bunch more water. But, for quite a few years now, drinking the water has worked for me! Oh, I have a friend that said her remedy was to eat some Yellow Mustard. I see online that this is a suggested remedy. If I ever need to I might try the mustard in addition to the water.

Now that I think of it, eating the Saltine crackers with French’s mustard should be sort of a checks -n- balance, shouldn’t it?

NOTE: There was a manual, hand crank, ice-crusher mounted on the wall near the back door (kitchen in Sis’s house). Like this one.

Oddly enough, when I checked online as to what might cause leg cramps, I surprisingly found that one article said that not having enough salt, or magnesium, could cause the leg cramps. One article talked about athletes that have leg cramps (during a game). One article said that athletes were sweating out the salt they needed. But, this goes entirely in the wrong direction for me. Sure you may be sweating out liquid & salt, but I’m saying that too much liquid is leaving, and leaving you with too much salt in your blood. *Drink more water!

[05/04/22]: I awoke between 1 am and 4 am, and realized that I had a minor leg cramp. Actually it was just at the top of my right foot, but I knew from previous instances, that this was the start of a cramp. I jumped up and drank about two cups of water and went in the living room to sit. The soreness, as it hadn’t developed into a full cramp, started to subside. Sure enough, in about 10 minutes, the cramp was gone. Cause: Well, I had a Country Ham breakfast at Helen’s Kitchen… I had a hamburger and baked potato at Logan’s and then, I had a hamburger and onion rings (which I salted) at Hwy. 55 on the way back to Fayetteville. A bunch of eating out during the day, and with salted foods.

I took the above photos of the Pepper Palace in Smithfield, NC on January 2nd of this year. They were closed at the time. Previously the site location was for a kitchen store, which I had visited many times.

Yesterday, they were open, for my first visit and I had a fun time with Acey, the store manager. She directed me and led me around to different hot sauces and spice rubs. And I tried quite a few. I ended up buying a couple of the sauces/marinades that she had mixed together (Asianxxx and a “Sweet and Spicey”). Later, last night, I heated a couple of egg rolls in the microwave, and got some Chinese Hot Mustard out, and used the above mixture as a sort of a hot Duck Sauce. It was all good!

This is going to be eclectic because I came across my Flickr account online, and there are over 8K of photos I’ve taken and posted, but these are older, going back to 2009 with my first photo of the boat landing down on the Cape Fear River at Elizabethtown, NC. This is a photo of one of my favorite food combinations, in the Summer:

Corn on the cob, fried okra (I don’t usually bread them), a freshly sliced tomato… and I see here that I had used Tomatillo with some onion (probably with some vinegar and sweetener) that I now might call a chutney. And you have to wait until the early corn comes in, and okra & tomatoes are available. I like meat, but this is super satisfying meal without meat.

The collage of photos below includes some from the State Farmers Market in Raleigh (different visits) and focused on the various peppers, some tomatillos & dried chilis at Compare Foods in Fayetteville, and various shots of Tiger Sauce.

NOTE: I hope to finish this later, but I need to get to a late breakfast. Want to find pictures of hot peppers at the Raleigh Farmer’s Market. **I realized it was Wednesday, and I like the Turkey Club Sandwich Combo at Subway (with the Onion Teriyaki Sauce), so I will eat a lite breakfast at home and then get an early lunch at Subway.

The photo of me with the Tiger Sauce: I had purchased a couple of bottles of this at the Harris Teeter in Cary, NC. I have since bought Tiger Sauce Original and the newer Tiger Sauce Habanero & Lime through Amazon. I like the Habanero & Lime version better.

Recognize the white tag as those used at Sprouts to label and close the plastic bags for nuts, flours, dried fruits, etc. You only have to use one side of the label, and the twist-tie is long enough to attach to most items I wish to label, such as headphone or USB cables, or chargers.

Catalina

• Ketchup
• Avocado Oil (Grapeseed)
• Honey / Agave Nectar
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Red Wine Vinegar
• Soy Sauce
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Smoked Paprika
• S & P

I found a recipe online and made a small test batch, not using the suggested ratios of ingredients, and it turned out really well. I used Avocado Oil which has little flavor. *For years I have confused this sweet, red salad dressing as being either Russian or French… and maybe that is because I think I have seen it mislabeled on various restaurant salad bars. But, I do like the sweet, red Catalina Dressing.

Thousand Island

• Mayonnaise
• Ketchup
• Onion – diced
• Pickle Relish
• Hot Sauce
• Vinegar
• Garlic – minced
• S & P

This may not be the original online recipe I used, but it is close enough to the ingredients. I made this dressing at home to go on my Pastrami Rachel Sandwiches and it “turns” the Sauerkraut just right. I have made this recipe several times and it turns out well.

Curried Mayo Remoulade

• Mayonnaise
• Curry Paste
• Small Capers

I first made this at home after having visited the Water’s Edge Restaurant for the first time several years ago, and having a Shrimp Po Boy Sandwich that had a curried remoulade dressing. I’m not sure of the actual ingredients, but these three items came close enough. At one time, I kept a small jar of this in my refrigerator regularly and put it on various sandwiches, not just seafood.

CATALINA DRESSING

The first time I made this I used the wrong amounts for several of these ingredients but it made the dressing better. I think I used twice as much smoked paprika as designated and this made the finished product a deeper red color. It looked beautiful, a shiny ruby red.