• 

• 

These go good together on steak or pork chops.

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Arnold’s makes good, moist bread. I like their 12 Grain, Whole Wheat and Rye breads. I just made a simple sandwich of Kielbasa (sliced in two and heated in the microwave), some sweet mustard (Frenches with Agave Nectar added), a little sweet onion, and a little taste of relish with some of it, and a slice of 12 Grain bread. This is such a simple “comfort food” but one that I remember, every so often. The warmth of the sausage, the moist bread and the sweet mustard… mmm.

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And how I would handle this now. I would use “Knock Your Sprouts Off” or “Ezekiel 4:9” sprouted grain bread. I also make my own sweet, horseradish mustard, adding some Agave Nectar and/or Equal, and mix it in an Inglehoffer container. I’ve found that the Hillshire Farms Beef Polska Kielbasa is available for about the same price at Walmart and LIDL. I might also throw in a “Ranch Dill Pickle” with some extra dill seeds for flavor.

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I ran the below image through the Pixlr Background Editor and within a second or two it had removed almost the entire background. I think it left a wisp of the image of the sauerkraut & thousand island dressing near the fork. I used the lasso select tool and that portion was removed instantly. Original photo was taken with my Samsung Galaxy S10+ phone.

I took this photo outside of my hotel room in Lynchburg, VA.

I think it’s fantastic how quickly the software removes the background. This might have taken almost an hour previously and it is done in seconds now. The automatic background removal did remove the front parking light, so I had to use the lasso tool and Keep option to add this back and then remove the extra portions.

My visit to Hamlet today was on the “spur of the moment.” I had just finished breakfast at J.K.’s in Fayetteville and asked myself how long it would take to drive to Hamlet. It was a little over an hour, one way. It made no sense to drive to Hamlet today. Also, it made no sense to be in Hamlet at lunch time, and not visit Seaboard Station Restaurant, having just shortly finished a “late breakfast.”

But, I arrived at the Seaboard Station Restaurant about a quarter till noon. There were few spaces left around the old house, but I found a spot on the far side of the house. I walked around the front, walked up the steps, and entered the front door. A couple of guys were sitting on the front porch talking.

A waitress asked me how many, which was “Just one.” She directed me into a backroom, which had several tables, and one table, just for two. I unwrapped my cutlery and headed back over to the buffet.

I chose a white melamine plate and waited for an elderly black man to continue loading a take-out box, and move down the line. Before the black gentleman had finished, and at one point, he actually began to “tamp down” some of the food around the edge of his take out box with a fork.

I got a small scoop of scalloped potatoes (cheese), I got a couple of scoops of black eyed peas. I got a drum stick of fried chicken, and reached over and took the tongs that the black gentleman had moved from the lightly breaded thin sliced porkchops over to the cornbread, and got a pork chop and left the tongs in that tray. I got a couple of scoops of steamed cabbage. I didn’t get a biscuit or cornbread, nor any desert. I walked around the corner where the salad bar was located, and got a few sweet pickles (I hoped they were sweet, and they were), a pickled okra, and a small scoop of potato salad, and some chopped sweet onion.

I went through one dining area and through a door into the back dining area and sat down. The waitress may have already brought my water. She brought it either as I was getting up to go to the buffet bar, or as I was just returning.

The scalloped potatoes needed a little salt as did the black eyed peas and the steamed cabbage. I added some of the sweet pickles to the potato salad, which is exactly what it needed, and this would be a winner that everyone wanted. The black eyed peas seemed to be unseasoned and probably were cooked this morning. I say this because I do know how to cook black eyed peas. You get some kind of seasoning meat, but the real secret to excellent black eyed peas is to let them cool, refrigerate them overnight, and re-heat and serve the next day. This gives the beans time to incorporated their flavors and they become something magical the next day, even for a mediocre cook.

I got a drum stick of fried chicken, and yes, the chicken parts were smaller, which someone mentioned is intentional, and maybe smaller (younger) chickens make for better fried chicken. The coating was flavorful, and not heavy, and the fried chicken was really delicious. But, I also got a pork chop, and this too was very delicious. It was a lightly breaded, thinly sliced, bone-in porkchop. I’m not sure of the seasonings in the breading, but this pork chop was very good.

After lunch, I drove over to the Hamlet Public Library. I saw a couple of people coming out of the Library, so I parked, put on my mask, and went in. I did notice a sign on the door that said masks were encouraged for those who had not been vaccinated yet. I looked to the left and the small alcove that had magazines the last (only) time I had been in the Library, only had green, barren shelves. No magazines. *I went up to the counter and asked if this was a temporary outage due to COVID, but the librarian said, that they were no longer going to have magazines as these could be accessed online. She did say the newspapers were over in another area. I thanked her and went to the bathroom.

As I walked out, I noticed some Federal Tax Forms & Instructions, and I got a couple of these.

ADDENDUM [01/27/22]: The Seaboard Station Restaurant photos are from my Monday trip, but most of the food descriptions are the same. The fried chicken on this day was exceptionally juicy, maybe the best fried chicken I have ever eaten. Not just at this restaurant, but ever eaten in my whole life! However, the pork chop was dried out. Not a bad pork chop, but not the best I have had here. If I just glance at the food photo, I might think I am looking at a banana pudding in the wooden bowl, but it isn’t. I used the wooden bowl this time to make my modified potato salad… with sweet pickles, sweet onion, hard boiled egg and some sweetener. They sweeten the steamed cabbage just a little, but perfectly. I don’t think there is any seasoning meat used in either the cabbage nor the black eyed peas. The black eyed peas do need seasoning meat, and as I stated earlier, really good black eyed peas require you to let them sit for a day for the flavors to meld. I try the scalloped potatoes almost every time, but they have not yet reached perfection. Not sure what they need. More cheese? More salt? Don’t know. They have pickled okra on the salad bar, and I get a couple of them usually. Their carrot cake is my favorite dessert.

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NOTE [10/10/22]: On the way to Hamlet, NC I came past a new facility, the James A. Leach Aquatic & Recreation Center. Previously I had thought this was going to be a new school, perhaps high school, but now I saw the writing on the wall, literally. I googled for more info. A full sized swimmng pool & two basketball courts, with an indoor track, and I think I read, a price tag of $20 millions. *The negative part of me, which I’ll admit is very prominent, immediately started to question how many people you could get it the pool (around the clock) and how much basketball you could play on two courts (around the clock) and how much it would cost in the day to day operations for staff & heating/air, water and trash, to keep the place running. “Leach’s Folly” if a bust.

Had lunch at Seaboard Station again. As I picked up a small drumstick and brought it to my lips, I immediately was made aware of how tender their chicken was. My lips told me it was tender, and once chewing the chicken I also realized how moist it was. Immediately I was thinking or asking myself if they marinated their chicken with something… like buttermilk? The pork chops they had were also incredibly moist & tender. Sometimes the pork chops are a little dry, but usually flavorful.

They didn’t have any Sara Lee “Carrot Cake” on the counter, and I didn’t ask for any since they did have a wide variety of desserts. I also did not “feel like” making my souped up potato salad from their “starter”. I normally add some of their chopped sweet onion, some crumbled hard boiled egg, some sweet pickles and even a little sweetener over the whole mess. I just put some of their macaroni salad on my plate and added a few diced tomatoes. The tomatoes looked good, but as most tomatoes do “now a days” had little flavor. The canned Diet Coke cost $1 and I think the buffet was $11 tax included.

I drove back from Hamlet, the “back way” taking various secondary roads (38, 381), making it into and out of South Carolina, and eventually coming out on Hwy. 74 in Laurel Hill, directly across from where I got onto Hwy. 74 earlier in the day.

I drove into Laurinburg, by the high school, and into the Scotland County Memorial Library parking lot, parking in the shade. Clean bathroom. I went over and got a magazine that caught my attention, Consumer Reports. The cover had something to do with choosing TV channels & streaming services cheaply. I read a little, and slept a little, and read some more. Most of the streaming services I was already aware of, or had used at some point already: HULU, Netflix, Paramount+, Acorn TV, HBO Max, etc.

I finished the magazine, saw nothing else I was interested in, and walked up & down the Non-Fiction aisles looking for a book that I might have donated. I did not recognize any of my donations, but did see they have quite a few cookbooks.

I drove back to Fayetteville, needing gas, but having checked my Gas Buddy app, thinking that Fayetteville might have gas cheaper. There was a Circle K which proved NOT to have cheap gas ($3.48 / gal.). I did a circuitous route back to another Circle K at the corner of Glensford Dr. & Raeford Rd. This location had gas for $3.30 /gallon. I filled up.

I was planning to stop at Taco Bell for dinner but made a trip down Bragg Boulevard and then something caught my eye. Just off Filter Plant Rd. there was construction blinds along a fence, but it was obvious that many trees had been cleared and heavy equipment was clearing a large portion of this corner. I turned around and came back to take pictures. I don’t know what the plans are, or if the city has sold this area, or is planning to develop it, but this is a major change (after 24 years of working at FSU). I took pictures.

I headed on to Taco Bell. I complimented the two workers there (probably the manager & a regular employee) for their efficiency and good work.

[end note]

Although the title does not seem to apply to my recent mini-vacation excursion through mid and western Virginia and western North Carolina, it was during this trip that I came to embrace the spirit of these phrases. “Only an ogre… go away!” The online language learning site, Duolingo, includes a section for stories. As you read through the story, you learn the language and phrases by responding to questions, and making verbal responses. These two phrases are in one of my favorite stories, a pared down version of “Puss in Boots”, “der gestiefelte Kater”.

I think I was in my hotel room in downtown Asheville when I thought of the “only an ogre” “nur ein Ogre” which is said with a gruff ogre voice. This is just before Puss tricks the ogre into changing (apparently ogres are able to shapeshift) into a mouse, and quickly gobbling up the mousey ogre. “Geh weg” apparently is the standard ogre greeting to those that knock on his door. How appropriate is that for me;-?

My room was on the 5th floor of the hotel in downtown Asheville. It was an older building, but the room was clean, comfortable and quiet. Well, except for a loud motorcycle that revved its engine up about 6 am. I awoke from my sleep and it seemed that the room had actually vibrated from the bike, which I thought was part of early morning traffic on the other side of the hotel. *Later, as I walked out of the hotel entrance, I noticed a motorcycle parked in a reserved spot. I then thought that the morning hotel desk clerk might have ridden in on that cycle about 6am.

I had thought that I was going to walk over to Dobra teas which was a few blocks away, but as the day unfolded, I realized that I would probably check out of the hotel, go for a short ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, visit the WNC State Farmer’s Market and then come back to Dobra for some hot “Assam Bhramaputra” (with sweetner, this time). But after doing the first two items, I decided to “pass” on the morning tea.

I did however come back through downtown Asheville, and actually rode down Merrimon Ave. all the way through downtown Weaverville. I have a route where I then weave up through a residential area and eventually take a winding road up to the Parkway coming out by the visitor center near Hwy 70.

WNC State Farmer’s Market Visit

I parked outside of the Coates section and went inside. I walked up to the nearest end of the building to what I now know is “Cara’s Corner”. About the time that I saw on the far wall, a bunch of spices, I also noted Cara sweeping the floor. And, the dust did make me start to cough, but eventually she made it far enough from me so that I didn’t respond negatively.

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I guess that I am looking for items and spices that I’ve not tried before. I saw a “Gumbo File” which apparently is finely ground Sassafrass leaves. I googled on how to use this, and found that it was an ingredient in gumbo (soup?). I bought some marjohram and some pearled barley.

As I walked toward the cash register, I noted some dried beans in boxes near the floor. I bought some Speckled butter(beans), Yellow eye ( a play on black eye peas I guess) and October beans. **I have since gone online to figure out how to cook these beans.

Above, I am cooking the Yellow Eye beans as I would Black Eyed Peas. The more they cook, the closer to the “look” of Black Eyed peas they become. But, they do appear to be plumping up larger than Black Eyed peas would. The peas were plumper, but I’m not sure of the flavor. But, with Black Eyed peas, they are usually better if you let them “sit” in the fridge for a day. They flavors meld and can become quite good. I am hoping these peas will do similarly… but I don’t think they will. *** The October beans, and the Yellow Eye peas seem to not have the distinctive flavors of more established beans & peas. I am guessing that white Butter beans, and Black Eyed peas have thrived because they were the most distinctive of their counter parts.

Cooking October Beans

I cooked a pot of October beans this afternoon, adding ham hock and chopped onion as they cooked. It took a little over an hour and a half, on stove-top for the beans to become completely tender.

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I took some beans out and used the blender on them, returning the crushed beans back to the pot.

Their cooked texture and flavor reminds me of a Pinto or maybe a Kidney bean. And, look at the dried beans above. Some are red like a Kidney bean, and the rest become a solid brownish, with a slightly white interior when cooked. The cooked flavor is somewhat reminiscent of the refried beans that you can get at Taco Bell in their bean burrito. So, I would suggest flavoring the beans not with ham hock, and maybe adding jalapenos and maybe some Southwest Seasonings. Cilantro, cumin, paprika, sour cream, jalapenos, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese and sweet onion, hot sauce… ***I did blend the cooked beans and they are very good “refried beans”. But, since you can buy a can of refried beans fairly cheaply, I see no need to cook them from scratch.

Cooking Speckled Butterbeans

I did not add salt to the beans, and the seasoning meat was the same as used in the other two beans, but these appeared much saltier. It may be that the bean itself has an almost “acrid” flavor which seems to have heighted the salty flavor. They are distinctive in flavor, but perhaps with a slight butterbean aftertaste… that flavor you get from the inside, mealy part of the butterbean. During cooking the beans go from speckled to a solid, deep brown color. The “pot liquor” is delicious when hot. *I think there might be some other seasoning(s) or additions (e.g. dandelion greens) or serving these beans with rice or pastry. I fixed some chicken gizzards & rice at the same time, and ended up eating both together, and the bean/rice combo worked fine.

LYNCHBURG – Quality Inn

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Note that I brought a Bigelow Raspberry Royale tea bag with me so that I could have a hot cup of tea in the location where I first was introduced to this tea. They didn’t have assorted flavors of tea this time, just one standard tea, but it was still Bigelow.

SALEM, VA – MACADOS – PASTRAMI REUBEN (RACHEL)

I did make it to Macados in Salem, VA for lunch on Wednesday. The sandwich was pretty good, but I’m not sure if it was Thousand Island dressing or Rye bread.

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I bought the fixings to make a Pastrami Reuben at home. Rye bread, pastrami, Swiss cheese and cheap sauerkraut from Publix. I made the Thousand Island dressing at home from a recipe that I found online some time ago. It is simple and consistently good. Basically mayo, ketchup, relish, sweet onion, and hot sauce.

I first buttered the outside of each slice of rye bread and toasted them in the oven. I then flipped them and placed a slice of Swiss cheese on each and toasted that. I put some pastrami on one slice of bread, and then put the sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing on the other slice of bread. I added some sauerkraut and a dollop of dressing on the plate beside the sandwiches. The sandwiches were good, and I was surprised at how easy the process went this time. I think it was the toasting process for the bread. I did the buttered bread and the cheese toasting both in the oven.

TUESDAY – Seal Coating the Parking Lot

On Tuesday morning they were supposed to start seal coating the parking area at my apartment. The notice said we should all be out of the lot by 7 am, but as I left there were still many cars still parked there. I called and left a message asking if they were still going ahead with the paving.

I made it to Sticks and Stones Pizza in Greensboro before noon. I think I might have been the first customer, but others came in before I was through eating and left. Several years ago I think I heard about Sticks & Stones Pizza as being one of the top three restaurants for good pizza. This is probably my 5th or 6th visit, even having a group (the UNC-G Blackboard staff) that worked with me for the FSU Blackboard System, have a “wrap up” lunch when we transitioned over to Canvas at FSU.

I took some good photos of the inside of S&S, but I am surprised that I didn’t take any photos of the pizza I ordered and ate. They have a pizza titled, “To Be the One,” a Margarita style to which I added roasted peppers and red onion. The pizza was thin crust, and it was still a good flavored pie.

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[NOTE 08/25/24]: All sorts of notes to make about the above article:

I was at “Sticks -n- Stones” in Greensboro and had my favorite pizza, and it just wasn’t as good as I had recalled. It hadn’t been as good the previous time either, and as I am driving back home the idea comes to me that “they probably have a new chef that doesn’t know how to make those ‘really good’ artisan pizzas… I probably won’t be able to get a good one there, ever again.” So, I don’t plan on making a special trip there for another “To Be the One.”

Once again, they were repaving some problem parking areas at my apartment, and Monday, August 20th (2024) was the day I needed to move my car by 8 am and so I decided to make a quick trip to Asheville. I was wrestling with either going to Asheville or Salem, Virginia, but finally decided on Asheville. *A good choice!

I thought I could get “the second best Pastrami Reuben” from the East Village Grille, as I had back in 2017 when I had “the best Pastrami Reuben” at Macado’s in Salem, Virginia. But when I arrived in Asheville, about 5 pm Monday afternoon, the waitress said they had stopped serving Pastrami some time ago. So, I ordered their Philly Cheesesteak with ‘steak fries’ and it was a good sandwich also. I first tried “Tiger Sauce” at the East Village Grille while eating one of their Cheesesteaks. *So, another mini-tradition comes to an end. No more Pastrami Reubens at the EVG in Asheville.

While visiting Cara’s Corner at the WNC Farmers Market, I saw a new (to me) type of dried bean called “Anasazi” so I bought a small amount. They were good, but ended up tasting like a kidney bean, so now I am 4 for 4 for not finding a new bean I like from Cara’s.

I had a really good stay at a Quality Inn on Tunnel Road. An old motel, very nicely renovated and still reasonably priced. I saw two black bears crossing the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the next morning saw a couple of wild turkeys at the edge of downtown Asheville, near the downtown tunnel.

[end NOTE]

die Tasse	Ist das Geld unter der Tasse?	Is the money under the cup?
der Teller	Ist das Geld unter dem Teller?	Is the money under the plate?
das Handy	Ist das Geld neben dem Handy?	Is the money next to the cell phone?
die Stühlen	Ist das Geld auf den Stühlen?	Is the money on the chairs?
die Tür	Ist das Geld hinter der Tür?	Is the money behind the door?
die Wand	Ist das Geld an der Wand?	Is the money on the wall?
der Fernseher	Ist das Geld vor dem Fernseher?	Is the money in front of the TV?
die Zeitschriften	Ist das Geld unter den Zeitschriften?	Is the money under the magazines?
der Supermarkt	Ist der Fahrradladen neben dem Supermarkt?	Is the bike shop next to the supermarket?
der Teich	Der Frosch sitzt neben dem Teich.	The frog is sitting next to the pond.
das Bücherregal	Das Buch steht im Bücherregal.	The book is on the bookshelf.
das Schloss	Ist der Schlüssel im Schloss?	Is the key in the lock?
der Schrank	Ist die Erdnussbutter im Schrank?	Is the peanut butter in the cupboard?
die Erdnussbutter	Ist der Löffel in der Erdnussbutter?	Is the spoon in the peanut butter?

a) Location: Wo …?

Two-case prepositions in / an / unter / über / auf / vor / hinter / neben / zwischen + dative

b) Direction: Wohin …?

Two-case prepositions in / an / unter / über / auf / vor / hinter / neben / zwischen + accusative

 

	Accusative	Dative
Masculine
(der)	den/einen	dem/einem
Feminine
(die)	die/eine	der/einer
Neuter
(das)	das/ein	dem/einem
Plural
(die)	die/ –	den/ –

These looked good and were under $5 for XXX. Nuff said, that I would rarely buy these because I wouldn’t have any idea on how to cook them. But, there is the web. I was really looking for a way to fix pork & jalapenos, because China II (out of business for several years now), and I loved the flavor they had.

I ended up just putting the pork in the bottom of a small glass dish, and cut up a bunch of jalapenos and some onion. Added olive oil, and some seasoning, Marjoram, Salt & Pepper and a little Agave Nectar.

I Broiled these, first on HI and then for a short time on LO. The jalapenos had protected the meat and many of them had turned black, but they had not lost their flavor. In fact, this turned out really, really well.

I ate a couple of these with some Rays Sugar Free BBQ Sauce, and that was good.

Next day I finished the remaining ribs off with a Mircowaved Baked Potato and some onion. I was afraid that the potato wasn’t going to go well with the ribs, but I was sooooo wrong. The potato & sweetness of the onion soaked up the juice from the ribs & jalapenos. This is a keeper. I even had to look in the trash can to see what the cut of meat was actually called. This was really good, and took a short time in the oven.

I learned this simple recipe for making a good onion soup chip dip years ago. It has probably been about a year since I made some dip using a Toasted Onion Soup Mix for the dip. You normally just add the dry ingredients from the package to sour cream, and then mix thoroughly.

A few days ago, I came across a “simple sour cream dip” recipe. The two ingredients were sour cream, and soy sauce. Hmmm… is that all?

I had a little sour cream left, and I had a partial bottle of soy sauce also in the refrigerator. I had no chips, but I didn’t let that stop me.

I mixed the two ingredients together, thoroughly, and tasted. Oh, my! It was almost the same flavor as if I had added the onion soup ingredients to sour cream. It then came to me that the onion soup mix probably mimicked the soy sauce flavor. I added some salt, although I could have added more ‘salty’ soy sauce. I also tried some garlic powder, and I had some dried onion flakes.

Another time, I ground a single clove of “pressure cooked” garlic and added it to this dip. *Pressure cooked, is a process by which various ingredients are cooked at a low temperature under high pressure. Usually some sweetner (sugar) is added and you end up with a “light in weight” version of the pre-cooked item. I love okra cooked in this way. They look like okra, but they weight almost nothing (all the moisture has been cooked out) and they disintegrate in your mouth (almost like little shards of glass, that don’t cut, but melt into okra flavor… not slimy at all).

So, I would say that with some sour cream, soy sauce, and some onion flakes you could quickly whip up a delicious chip dip at a much lower price than buying the onion soup mix.

• 

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• 

Note the single clove of garlic on top of the chopped onion flakes. This is not raw garlic, but ‘pressure cooked’. It grinds easily to a flavorful powder.

Further exploration: So, if soy sauce is the flavor that comes from the onion soup mix, then wouldn’t the flavor packet that comes with the Oriental Flavor of Ramen Noodles provide the same flavoring? And, I think crumbling up the dry Ramen noodles and adding them to the Chip Dip Mix would add another positive texture. At least, I will be surprised if the flavor packet doesn’t provide the same flavorings as soy sauce, or the onion soup mix.

• 

• 

Okay, so it’s not the Oriental Flavor, but you don’t know how difficult it is to find a picture of the foil flavor packet online.

ADDENDUM [04/17/21]: I bought a few packets of Ramen Noodle Soup – Soy Sauce (changed the name from Oriental Flavor) Flavor. Sure enough, when you add the ingredients of the flavor packet to sour cream, you get that same “soy sauce” flavor that made the original Onion Soup Dip delicious. I’m not sure how much dip you could make using 1 packet from the Ramen Noodles, but I noted that the mixture was extremely salty.

**It just came to me. Maybe some of the other noodle flavor packets would work with the sour cream also. Shrimp, Beef, Pork, Chicken, Chili, etc. There might be at least one other flavor that “hits the spot.”

Many years ago, when I first came to Fayetteville to work at Fayetteville State University, there was a Chinese restaurant located near the corner of Ramsey & Tokay Streets. I’m not sure there ever was anything directly on that corner, since I have lived in Fayetteville. Looks like it might have been a gas station, at one time.

The Chinese restaurant was called “Good Luck”. I don’t think it had much seating, but what I remember was a delicious, large egg roll. It had a crispy, flavorful outside. I think someone said that they were cooked (fried?) twice which gave them this extra texture and flavor. The business had a large sign, which I don’t recall if I ever saw it rotating. but it was a large Chinese Take Out Box on a pole. I don’t recall if there was anything written on the box, like “Good Luck” but I think that was on the sign.

“Good Luck” went out of business there, and I am guessing the owner died (by now, I am pretty sure of it.) Eventually, the building was demolished and a combo-store was built there: Dunkin Doughnuts and Baskin Robbins Ice Cream. I don’t think I have ever been there since that change. But, those egg rolls were delicious!

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Hunan Garden, in Fayetteville, was a very good, “go to” place for most of the years that I worked at Fayetteville State. I might even go once a week. After many years there, a Bojangles was built across the street from it (Raeford Road). They had good egg rolls, and they had good lunch specials, and this worked even after an ownership change… but, then there was another ownership change, and the flavor of the food decreased greatly, and the ownership wasn’t as attentive to meeting customer requests. e.g. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2012 so I stopped eating sugar (unless someone put it in the food, at the restaurant, where I was eating). And, I tried to stay away from a lot of potatoes, rice, or bread.

For many years Hunan Garden had no problem with substituting the large amount of rice in their “specials” with steamed veggies… They did this so many times that I lost count. And then one day, I made this request again, and the waiter/waitress told me that could not do this substitution. It caught me off guard, I thought is this waiter new, I have made this substitution many times before, haven’t I. Yes, I had. I even asked at the register and was told, they could not make that substitution. And I realized that there was new ownership that had made this change.

I also realized after about two visits that I didn’t like the flavor of the egg rolls. I asked myself about this also. Didn’t I like the egg rolls at Hunan Garden before? And, the answer finally came to me, “Yes.” But these eggrolls are not the same as the old ones. And not good either.

So, I stopped going to Hunan Garden. They moved the front door from the side of the building to the front, facing Bojangles, and I don’t think I have returned to Hunan Garden since. It would be nice if these owners would die or go elsewhere and new owners arrive and return Hunan Garden to it’s former glory.

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Wendy’s Restaurant for many years had a single hamburger that was different from any other fast food chain. I think they steamed the burger, and the bun, and I’m not sure if the bun had sesame seeds or not, but the burger was soft and delicious. I ate many of these burgers through out the years. Then I didn’t go to Wendy’s for a while, and when I returned, I ordered the Single Combo. I stared to eat this meal, and the burger bun was the first thing I noticed that wasn’t the same. I asked myself, “Didn’t you used to like the Wendy’s Singles?” And the answer was, “Yes, I did, but it was made differently.” I came back to work, and googled regarding the changes and sure enough, Wendy’s had made a burger/bun change about 3 years previously. I don’t think it had been that long but the change was finally at the Wendy’s which was nearest to where I worked.

I have been back, but the Single is no longer my favorite. I will order a baked potato, a salad, and chili, and maybe a small chocolate Frosty for desert, but the day of eating that comfortable hamburger is gone.

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There was a “China II” restaurant (maybe two of ’em) in Fayetteville that I liked eating lunch at. They had a buffet, and the buffet had a spicy pork/jalapeno dish. I loved the flavor of the jalapenos with the chunks of port, but later that night I didn’t love the pain. Still, the flavor kept me coming back. I even had entertained the notion of being able to reduce the heat from a Jalapeno so that you keep the flavor. I have since found Tamed Jalapenos in a jar, which I change out the salty brine for a sweet vinegar, but I never found a recipe for making the Jalapeno Pork dish. Eventually, a large Chinese buffet came to town and put the smaller China II out of business. But Hibachi Grill never put Jalapeno Pork on their menu. And, after several years I started eating lunch at the Hibachi Grill and enjoying it… until the Pandemic which has closed this restaurant.

	brauchen	to need, to require
Present	ich brauche du brauchst er/sie/es braucht wir brauchen ihr braucht sie brauchen Sie brauchen	I need you need he / she / it needs we need you need (plural) they need You need
Imperfect Subjunctive	ich brauchte du brauchtest er/sie/es brauchte wir brauchten ihr brauchtet sie brauchten Sie brauchten	I needed you needed he / she / it needed we needed you needed (plural) they needed You needed
	suchen	to look for; to search for
Present	ich suche du suchst er/sie/es sucht wir suchen ihr sucht sie suchen Sie suchen	I’m looking for you search he / she / it is looking for we are looking for you search they are looking for You are looking for
Imperfect Subjunctive	ich suchte du suchtest er/sie/es suchte wir suchten ihr suchtet sie suchten Sie suchten	I was looking for you searched he / she / it was looking for we searched you searched they were looking for You were looking for
	bringen	to bring, to get
Present	ich bringe du bringst er/sie/es bringt wir bringen ihr bringt sie bringen Sie bringen	I bring you bring he / she / it brings we bring you bring they bring You bring
Imperfect Subjunctive	ich brachte du brachtest er/sie/es brachte wir brachten ihr brachtet sie brachten Sie brachten	I brought you brought he / she / it brought we brought you brought they brought You brought
	stellen	to place, to put
Present	ich stelle du stellst er/sie/es stellt wir stellen ihr stellt sie stellen Sie stellen	I put you put he / she / it provides we provide you ask they ask You ask
Imperfect Subjunctive	ich stellte du stelltest er/sie/es stellte wir stellten ihr stelltet sie stellten Sie stellten	I put you asked he / she / it posed we posed you asked they asked You asked
	lernen	to learn
Present	ich lerne du lernst er/sie/es lernt wir lernen ihr lernt sie lernen Sie lernen	I am learning you learn he / she / it learns we learn you learn they learn You learn
Imperfect Subjunctive	ich lernte du lerntest er/sie/es lernte wir lernten ihr lerntet sie lernten Sie lernten	i learned you learned he / she / it learned we learned you learned they learned You learned
	haben	to have
Present	ich habe du hast er/sie/es hat wir haben ihr habt sie haben Sie haben	I have you have he she it has we have do you have they have You have
Imperfect Subjunctive	ich hätte du hättest er/sie/es hätte wir hätten ihr hättet sie hätten Sie hätten	I would have you would have he / she / it would have we would have you would have they would have You would have
	sein	to be
Present	ich bin du bist er/sie/es ist wir sind ihr seid sie sind Sie sind	I am you are he, she, it is we are you are they are You are
Imperfect Subjunctive	ich wäre du wärest er/sie/es wäre wir wären ihr wäret sie wären Sie wären	I would you would be he / she / it would be we would be you would be they would be You would be
	kommen	to come
Present	ich komme du kommst er/sie/es kommt wir kommen ihr kommt sie kommen Sie kommen	I’m coming you come he she it comes we come you all come they are coming You are coming
Imperfect Subjunctive	ich käme du kämest er/sie/es käme wir kämen ihr kämet sie kämen Sie kämen	I came you would come he / she / it would come we would come you would come they would come You would come

• brauchen
• bringen
• haben
• kommen
• lernen
• sein
• stellen
• suchen