I was driving in Goldsboro, North Carolina yesterday and I saw a simple sign on a pole: Sheetz / Diesel. There was nothing else on the sign, and I laughed and said to myself, “Sheetz Diesel, well that’s good, but when they Sheetz Propane, let me know because I need some for my grill. It’s almost the 4th of July.
After lunch, I drove over to the SJAB air field to see if any planes were taking off or landing and they were. There were a few other people stopped along this “dead end” farm road. Depending upon the time of year, and the crops that are being grown, you can either see all the activity, or the tall corn will block your view.
A lunch @ Longhorn, but not this last one.
I’ve done the lunch at Longhorn, and then SJAB view routine quite a few times, but as I was leaving this time, I decided to turn down a country road heading further east, with the idea of looping back around to Hwy. 70 to come back by Wilber’s and then back in Goldsboro, and finally to the Wayne County Library.
I had probably driven a couple of miles on this road when I looked ahead and saw what appeared to be an automobile accident. It was a white car, and I could see what appeared to be bits of a car strewn on the highway. I just stopped as another car drove up to the accident. I finally decided to turn around rather than drive through the mess. I flashed my lights and turned on my flashers periodically as I saw vehicles coming toward me. I ended up taking the next road up and “hopefully” back toward the accident, but not blocked. Sure enough, I saw a fire engine with it’s emergency lights flashing and as I neared it, there was a fireman standing by the back corner of the engine, directing traffic. I waited and he motioned me on after several other cars came from the other direction.
I passed near a new white automobile that had major damage to it’s passenger side front grill. But as I passed by, I looked over across a ditch into the woods and there was a severely damaged smaller blue automobile. I would imagine that whomever was in the blue car probably suffered the greater injuries.
This is where the accident occurred, and there were many more vehicles and people when I came through the accident scene. The firetruck had an “El-Roy” on it.
After I got on Hwy. 70 heading back to Goldsboro, I noted the El-Roy Fire Department, probably where the firetruck had come from.
On the way to lunch, a car passed in front of me and I noticed the carrier on the top. But, it was just the shape of the storage container that intrigued me. I thought that would be a great shape for an e-foil. You could sit on it and straddle it with your feet resting on some kind of stirrups on each side. I know this would add too much weight for the e-foil to easily lift off of the water. I saw the carrier from the side, and then was never able to get up beside the car to take an image of it length-wise. It had an organic shape. When I zoomed in on the carrier I saw the company name as YAKIMA.
YAKIMA carrier.The library, but not this last visit.AI ResourcesBright afternoon light.Bill frowning, in the bright afternoon light.
There is a nice, private community in town, which has a LLL. I didn’t note the “private” sign the first few times I stopped by the Little Lending Library, so I ignore it. If they want to “press charges” and stop me from visiting, okay. But I left a copy of “A Cook’s Tour of the Azalea Coast” cook book that I had gotten some time ago. I figured this was the type of neighborhood that might appreciate this.
I drove back to the Wayne County Library. I looked through a couple of magazines and one had an extensive article of using AI for various functions.
On my way back to Fayetteville, I stopped in the Wilson Store near Spivey’s Corner. I had never been in this store and wanted to see what it was like. I was surprised. It was much more than a mom-n-pops country store. At the front were several coolers and glass display fridges stocked with various soft drinks. But I walked around the corner and there began a well stocked hardware and agriculture supply store.
There were brand new hammers, shovels, hoes, post hole diggers and then I turned another corner and headed back into the depths of the store. There was an assortment of different sized cables, and ropes. They had marked the concrete floor with distances. I didn’t note how long, but probably more than 100 feet in length. There were nails, screws, bolts & nuts, PVC piping and connectors in bins. I even saw and picked up a PVC check valve, which reminded me of the RAM pump I built about 1984 while in Alabama. There was a plumbing section, and an automotive or small engine section, which took on the aroma of a car engine, or maybe a lawn mower, but I didn’t see any lawn equipment.
They did have several easy chairs up front near the cash register and several gentlemen were sitting in them, one on the phone, one seemingly catatonic, and a black gentleman that smiled as I walked past him. There was a younger woman at the register talking to someone.
This was what I would consider a well stocked hardware store. No need to drive all the way to Goldsboro, Clinton, Fayetteville or Dunn to get most of the things you might need.
I just realized that the above entry about Wilson’s Store was the perfect “lead in” for me to mention that I just “bummed” a bolt cutter and a saw from Jeff. I’m glad he asked if I wanted the saw also, because it has helped me cut up an old chair so that I can easily get rid of it. I have an old La-Z-Boy easy chair that began to disintegrate, after years of use. The wooden braces beneath the chair splintered, but all the rest of the chair is still “rock solid.” The bolt cutters helped me remove the wire bracing on the bottom of the chair, and the saw is making it easy work of cutting through, I’m guessing the “oak” frame.
I think these are “slick looking” electronic labels. Do you have to touch each one with a device that has an app, or can it be done via blue tooth? I just noticed that these labels look like they have a connector at their upper left also.
I was in a Publix, or maybe it was a Harris Teeter grocery store a few months ago. If it was Publix, I was looking for some Roadrunner Raspberry ice cream and I found a store manager who was busy changing out product labels. My search for ice cream was briefly interrupted by a discussion of how much time, and effort was spent by store clerks in changing out these pricing labels. I think I have a picture of one of these electronic labels that I saw somewhere (not necessarily a grocery store). Now that I look at the label, and the boxes of “Matzo Ball & Soup Mix” that it represents, I was in some grocery store.
I was in LIDL today and finally noticed all their Electronic Shelf Labels. There was an electronic label laying on a display for Mrs. Field’s cookies. I flipped it over and took a picture of the label so that I could try to determine the company and what the name for this specific label might be. (Solum and Newton).
I thought they were just putting these out, but when I asked the check out girl, she said they had had these labels for about 4 months. How did I not “see” these labels? I took several photos of their labels and later did a google search and the company (industry leader) is probably Solum. Oh my! You can use up to 7 different primary colors, and even display things like QR codes, or make these labels interactive. Apparently, the customer can place an order and pay at the label. (I think I got that right.)
Apparently the Newton System requires at least one Gateway (at about $300 per gateway) which uses 2.4 GHz proprietary wireless protocol to communicate with the ESL. The ESL’s in bulk cost from $5 – $10 per ESL, but you can buy a 20 pack of ESLs for about $17 each. There is also a $500 annual fee for setup and software maintenance.
There are less expensive alternatives, which do not use wireless connections. The gateway-free, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth e-ink display options that you can use without expensive infrastructure or recurring fees. LilyGo, Waveshare, Inkplate and M5Paper are possible options.
If I’ve already suggested this elsewhere, sorry. You can actually display a bar code or QR code on one of the ESLs and that would allow someone to scan the QR code and possibly go to a web site with further info.
NOTE: What if the wireless connection is blocked by hackers? Or, the connection is lost and all the labels go blank? What would a grocery like Publix do if all 25K labels suddenly went blank? Is that possible? I think I saw that the batteries for these labels will last two years. How much time would it take to change out the batteries in 25K worth of labels? [end NOTE]
This label looks like it has an electronic connection at the upper left of the tag. Maybe touch the tag there with the updating device?
Several years ago I had the idea of using QR codes to label storage boxes for home goods. One box might contain dental care products such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, dental pics, etc. Another box might be hair care products including combs & brushes.
I printed out several large QR codes and placed them on the ends of these plastic storage “shoeboxes.” But shortly, I came to realize that the QR code means nothing to a human being who is looking for an item, and doesn’t want to have to pull out their phone to scan a QR code on each box to reference a web page with the info about what is stored in that specific box.
It would be productive to have both a QR code pointing to a specific web page that could be updated with copious amounts of info regarding the inventory of each box, but you also need to put the words on that same label: [ DENTAL HYGIENE: toothpaste – toothbrushes – floss – dental picks ].
I just had a mental image of some photos I took of these storage boxes with the various items in each box. I possibly could use an AI to look at each picture of the contents and then list those items for me, so that I could print a label with those items & QR code.
Not sure why I’ve been doing this with my phone and AI, but I’ve taken multiple photos of items in grocery stores, and then had the AI generate a text list of those items with their assigned prices. It works pretty well and quickly give a fairly accurate list (if the photo is not blurry or the items are not too far away from the camera. I’ve done the cheeses at a local IGA, and wines at the Publix, and I think I did spices at a Walmart across town. *And I seem to recall showing a librarian at the Library near Lillington that I could quickly take a photo of a row of books on a shelf and then it would generate a list with book titles and their Dewey Decimal Number (they use a different identifier now).
If you are taking pictures of a great many items, then you might take two pictures at slightly different angles. That way the AI can more accurately guess at things that aren’t completely clear, or may not be unviewable from one angle, or in shadow. AI does not handle blurry well. And it often can’t zoom in a detailed photo, even though we can. You have to make sure the text is clear and viewable for the AI to read it.
If I were wanting to track pricing for many store goods, this would be an easy way to take a photo of the shelves, and let the AI quickly generate a text list of the items and their prices, that could be pulled into a database easily. You could then have one person for each of the major groceries in your area walk through photographing the current inventory and then post to a single site with everything up to date for that day and maybe only a few hours old.
I uploaded the image of the cheese section to the AI and here is what it quickly generated:
Okay, this image is very clear! It’s a cheese aisle, predominantly shredded and block cheese. I can read most of the product names and prices.
Here’s the breakdown of the items and their prices:
Top Shelf (Partial View):
Kraft Shredded Cheese (Various): Prices are $2.98 each.
Borden Shredded Cheese: Price is $2.98.
Second Shelf from Top:
Kraft Cream Cheese (Looks like Creamy Melt): Price is $2.58.
Kraft Shredded Mild Cheddar: Price is $2.98.
Kraft Shredded Colby Jack: Price is $2.98.
Kraft Shredded Mozzarella: Price is $2.98.
Signature Shredded Mozzarella & Monterey Jack Blend: Price is $2.58 (or 2 for $5.00).
Signature Shredded Italian Blend: Price is $2.58 (or 2 for $5.00).
Borden Thick Cut Ultimate Pizza Blend: Price is $2.98.
Kraft Shredded Mexican Style (looks like) or Triple Cheddar: Price is $2.58.
Kraft Shredded Colby Jack: Price is $2.58.
Signature Shredded American Blend: Price is $2.58 (or 2 for $5.00).
Borden Shredded (Orange bag, likely Cheddar or Mexican): Price is $2.98.
Borden Shredded (Yellow bag, likely Cheddar): Price is $2.98.
Bottom Shelf:
Kraft Shredded Pizza Cheese: Price is $2.58.
Kraft Shredded Sharp Cheddar: Price is $2.58.
Kraft Shredded Cheddar Jack: Price is $2.58.
Kraft Shredded Mild Cheddar: Price is $2.58.
Signature Shredded Cheddar Blend: Price is $2.98.
Borden Shredded Cheddar & Monterey Jack (2 for $6.00): Individual price is $3.35.
Borden Shredded (Various): Prices are $2.98 or $3.35.
It appears many of the Kraft and Signature brand shredded cheeses are on sale for $2.58 each, or 2 for $5.00. The Borden products are generally priced at $2.98 or $3.35 (or 2 for $6.00).
Unfortunately for this test, I didn’t realize that ALL the cheese was basically on sale for the same price.
Might refer to cattle that are raised outside and allowed to munch on grass and therefore the butter made from their milk is healthier.
Greek Yogurt
Greek Yogurt is filtered or strained to remove much of the liquid whey, making it more nutrient dense.
Because of the straining process there are less sugars and carbohydrates, especially for “plain” yogurt.
Low Glycemic
“Low glycemic” refers to foods that have a low score on the glycemic index (GI). The GI is a ranking system (from 0 to 100) that measures how quickly the carbohydrates in a food raise your blood sugar (glucose) levels after you eat it.
Examples of Low GI Foods: Most non-starchy vegetables (broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes), many fruits (apples, berries, oranges), legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas), whole grains (oats, barley, quinoa), some dairy products (milk, plain yogurt), nuts and seeds, lean proteins (meat, poultry, fish, eggs – which have a GI of zero as they contain little to no carbohydrates).
Choosing low GI foods can be beneficial for: Managing blood sugar levels, weight management, and reducing risk of chronic diseases, such at type 2 diabetes.
Non GMO
“Non-GMO” stands for “non-genetically modified organisms.” A food product labeled as non-GMO, means that its ingredients have not been altered in a laboratory using genetic engineering techniques.
Pasture Raised
Might refer to chickens that are left outdoors to feed. Supposedly more healthy for us.
Resistant Starch
Resistant starch doesn’t break down into sugar as it passes through your system.
Beans (pinto, black, fava, kidney, white beans, baked beans), lentils, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), and peas (especially green peas) and some nuts such as cashews and peanuts.
Sprouted Grains Bread
Theses are the breads made from sprouted grains, which are supposed to be more nutrient dense., instead of wheat.
They have a lower GI, and because of the break down of of some of the starches into simpler sugars and complex carbohydrates, there are less of these to raise blood sugar.
There is increased fiber content which controls blood sugar because it slows down the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates.
With the Mother
When you see “with the mother” on a vinegar label, it means it’s a living product with the beneficial bacteria that made the vinegar still present. It’s the murky “gunk” that settles to the bottom of a vinegar bottle.
Producing vinegar is a two step fermentation process. You need to start with sugar which is first turned into alcohol. Then add “the mother” to it to the alcohol, and the mother will turn the alcohol into vinegar. This process takes several weeks to complete.
One reason to eat healthy, a story. Many years ago a favorite cousin of mine, and I decided to pay a visit to a distant cousin of mine (a closer relative to her) who was now in a nursing home, having suffered the effects of diabetes over the years.
It was a sunny afternoon in Wilmington, North Carolina, when we arrived at the nursing home. This home was located between two one way streets, each going the opposite direction.
We went into the facility and found the sick cousin’s room and walked in. He was awake, sitting up in his bed, but we found he could not talk. I’m not sure if that was caused by the diabetes or some other disease. But, this is what I will always remember, unless I go nuts before I die.
He had no hands or feet. I do not recall how far up his arms and legs the amputations had gone, but the negative effects of diabetes had required that the doctors amputate his diseased limbs. Now, here was a man, laying in bed, unable to talk, or feed himself, or even go to the bathroom on his own. And the thing that I recall was the look on his face. I can only describe it as the look a puppy dog might give you asking for help. “Please help me,” begging for relief. And neither my favorite cousin, nor I could help him. What a helpless feeling for all three of us.
Of several images in my life of important events, I recall this one more often that I would like. So, please take my very unpleasant experience as one of your reasons for eating healthy, and if you have diabetes, or type 2 diabetes (the precursor to “full blown” diabetes), pay attention to what you eat… and keep all your limbs in working order.
OBITUARY (from the Brunswick Beacon, November 25, 1992):
MAURICE HARLEE KELLUM Maurice Harlee “Smiley” Kellum of Leland, died Nov. 18 in New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington. He was retired from Kenan Transport Company. The funeral was Nov. 20 in Andrews Mortuary’s Market Street Chapel, Wilmington, by the Rev. Wilbur Teachey and the Rev. S.L. Doty. Burial was in Gracelawn Memorial Park. He was born in Hubert on Feb. 27, 1919, the son of the late Luther Warlick and Edna Williams Kellum. Kellum was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church. He was a World War II veteran of the Pacific Theatre. Survivors include his wife, Lida Elsie Lewis Kellum of the home; two daughters, Patricia Ann Kellum and Amanda L. Maggard, both of Leland; his brother, Garland W. Kellum of Woodstock, Ala.; his sister, Daisy Sullivan of Winnabow; and a granddaughter. Memorials may be made to Leland Rescue Squad, P.O. Box 234, Leland, N.C. 28451, or to Trinity United Methodist Church, Wilmington, N.C.
St. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
(A cheap used book, but great read on paying attention to the foods that hurt & help blood sugar, and even includes a simple test to see how well you are eating well regarding blood sugar.)
I find that my favorite AI is extremely helpful in making various recipes “more diabetic friendly.” I can take a picture of a recipe in an old cookbook. Upload the pic to my AI and ask it to list the items it sees and the quantities. It is usually pretty good at this translation of an image of text, to actual text that I can paste into a word processing document or a web page, or even an online recipe program. I can also ask the AI to suggest ways to “make this recipe more diabetic friendly.” Once it makes the suggestions, I can agree or disagree, and tweak the recipe even further, either adding other ingredients or removing some. I can also ask the AI to convert the number of servings to maybe just two helpings (since I don’t want a bunch of left overs in the fridge). And the AI can guesstimate the nutritional values for the recipe such as calories per serving, and sodium/carbs/sugars, etc.
ChatGPT
Gemini
MyFitnessPal
My Fitness Pal is an online tool (basic features are free, extra features require a subscription). I use this online app for two main things: I record the foods I either have eaten (for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Snacks) or plan to eat each day. By being able to add foods & meals I plan to eat, I can try to provide a changing meal rotation that doesn’t bore me, and that also takes into account that I need to eat the “left overs” at some time in the future.
Once you start recording your meals, it quickly becomes obvious that you only have 21 meals in a week, and you have limited snacks. If you eat out somewhere, that is one less meal to prepare, or possibly some left overs that will need to be thrown out later, because you just can’t eat everything you prepare.
When adding foods to a meal, I can search for foods that others have already added to the database, or I can add a recipe with the exact ingredients I have chosen. e.g. I could add a recipe that I’ve copied from an old cookbook, and had my AI help me make it “more diabetic friendly.”
Oh, I also record my “resting blood sugar level” each morning, and my weight. My Fitness Pal generates a pretty little line graph for each of these items and it helps me see if I am going in the right direction over time.
I’m watching the movie, based on the Agatha Christie novel, “Murder on the Orient Express.” I’ve watched this version (2017 – Branagh/Dench/Depp/Pfeiffer/Cruz) several times but this is the first time I’ve recognized two actors. *Re-reading an earlier note, I had realized previously, that Boynton was in this film.
It started just now in that I recognized Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. I’ve enjoyed him in several seasons of “the Lincoln Lawyer.”
BoyntonRuflo
Then paying more attention, I just recognized Lucy Boynton. I think I first became aware of her when she played in another Christie story, “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” Boynton reminds me of a better looking, Kate Beckinsale. [Boynton / Beckinsale]
Murder on the Orient Express (1974 – Finney/Bergman/Widmark/Connery/Gielgud)
Murder on the Orient Express (2010 – Suchet/Atkins/Chastain/Bonneville/Jones)
Murder on the Orient Express (2017 – Branagh/Dench/Depp/Pfeiffer/Cruz)
I’m rewatching an old Philip Marlowe “detective” movie, “The Lady in the Lake.” Robert Montgomery is playing Marlowe, and this is the movie where much of it is seen from the perspective of Marlowe. I guess you could call it a “Marlowe Cam.”
*Robert Montgomery was the father of Elizabeth Montgomery, who played the witch, Samantha Stevens in “Bewitched.” *And I just finished watching a beautiful, young woman, Elizabeth Montgomery, in the movie, “Johnny Cool” who was played by Henry Silva. **Henry Silva being the bad guy who betrayed the American soldiers in “the Manchurian Candidate.” I guess I would classify “Johnny Cool” as a “film noir.” But, I also recall Elizabeth Montgomery in an episode of the “Twilight Zone” in which she played opposite Charles Bronson.
“Bewitched” was probably loosely based on “Bell, Book & Candle.” There may have been more than one of those movies (without me checking online). Seems Jimmy Stewart and “the blonde” Kim Novak, did the later version and I think Veronica Lake (an early goddess) played the original. **Of course Stewart and Novak played against each other in Hitchcock’s “Vertigo.”
So in part of the banter between Marlowe and “the woman” (played by Audrey Totter) he says, “Why eat? You’re only gonna get hungry again.” I caught it, and thought it funny.
Now Fredric March played the President in “Seven Days in May,” which is a classic movie I like to watch, and rewatch. Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, and an assortment of well known supporting actors. I like Andrew Duggan when I see him, and Edmund O’Brien, but there are a bunch more familiar faces.
This reminded me of a film, that I only saw the ending of, but thought that I would like to watch the whole thing at a later time… as opposed to looking at it at an earlier time. “The List of Adrian Messenger” from 1963 had an all star cast: Kirk Douglas, George C. Scott, Dana Wynter, and cameos by Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra & Tony Curtis. I only caught the ending where several well-known actors peeled off heavy make-up to reveal themselves.
Every once in a while I will find an old movie and as I watch it, more and more actors & actresses that I am familiar with will show up, in really small parts, or even uncredited roles. *Not small films, but with many actors in each: “12 Angry Men,” “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World.”
For several years when my office was on the top floor in the H.L. Cook Building we (several offices along the same hall) had a problem with the acoustics. The ceiling was extremely high, the walls were made of a smooth cubicle material, and the floors were hard and smooth but the ceiling was a standard “drop” ceiling. People on the other side of the building could be carrying on a normal conversation at a communal table, and it sounded like they were just outside my office wall. The sound bounced off all those smooth surfaces. I tried to come up with cheap ways to block the sound.
I once thought you might drop several dowels from the ceiling and hang a towel from the dowel. The thought was that the towel material would muffle the sound. I still think of that problem when I see some kind of hanging item from a commercial drop ceiling. That is why I took pictures of two ceiling hangings.
I included the picture of the blood glucose meter batteries that I bought from Batteries R Us. There is a little icon of a hand with a finger pointing up, which actually means press this with your finger to cause the batteries to pop up for replacement.
I wanted to be reminded that Dollar Tree has the Sharpie Permanent Markers, which I use to label cans and other groceries that need to be dated for use.
I think the picture of the cheap milk was at LIDL’s.
The thick cut pork chops from Lee’s Fresh Market near Benson, NC are always delicious, and almost always below $2 a pound, so two really big chops have been less than $4 repeatedly. If I ever came in and they were $3 a pound, I probably wouldn’t buy them, although that would be a deal. *I do the London Broil for the chops, which is HI heat in the oven for about 20 minutes, and then flip for about 5. They always seem to be cooked through, yet moist.
I diced some fresh okra, and a little onion, and dropped in a few roasted garlic cloves, and sauteed them in a pan with a little olive oil and some bacon grease. I drained the liquid from a can of sliced beets, and added back some Balsamic vinegar, some red wine vinegar, some sweetener, a little salt, and then added a few of the pickled peppadews and the red pearl peppers. To the squash casserole I topped it with some crumbled vegetable chips, which included some yellow squash, zucchini and an okra chip. Another really good meal, and for some reason it even seems that the “Light of God” was shining upon the squash casserole on the plate. *I took two pictures of the same plate, but the highlighted area wasn’t in the other picture.
The day before I drove down to Jacksonville/Hubert/Swansboro I drove over to Benson, to Lee’s Fresh Market, and bought four packages of thick cut pork chops, two to a package. The price was $1.89 a pound, but here’s the clincher. There was a large sticker on each package, “Buy One, Get One Free.” Wow! That’s why I bought four packages. I kept one, and ended up giving three to Ray (one for Mary Ann).
I’m not sure how they make money, because I’ve always seemed to have paid less than $2 per pound for these thick cut pork chops, and they are always delicious. I use the London Broil method, HI heat in the oven for about 20 minutes, turn them over, uncovered for about 5, and they are done. Cooked thru, but moist on the inside, and with a little char on at least one side. I cover the chops with tin foil for the twenty minutes, and oddly, to me, they brown on the down side, next to the bottom of the pan.
I like the Sanderson Farms chicken livers and gizzards. I’m not sure if I have ever bought them from anywhere else but Carlie “C” IGA. The Wayne Sanderson Farms headquarters is located in Oakwood, Georgia, but it has regional processing plants in various states and there is one north of Lumberton, in St. Pauls, North Carolina.
I had to cook them, because if I leave them in the refrigerator past a few days they may start to smell, or I imagine they start to smell and I throw them out just in case. *I guess chicken livers and gizzards fit in the same category, for me, as avocados and English cucumbers. They are all relatively cheap, and I treat them as such, ignoring them often until they have reached the point of rot and I throw them away. No telling how much money has been wasted on these items in my life time. Can you imagine someone walking along pulling out $2.50 and just throwing it in the trash without thinking every so often? Well, in essence, that’s what I do with these.
Avocados are difficult to buy. If you wait until the day you want or need one, then all the stores have “rock hard” unripe avocados. Or you can be in a store and reach for an avocado to find it is extremely “smushy” and you know it is either already brown on the inside or will be by tomorrow. I don’t buy smushy, and often don’t buy rock hard in the hopes that in several days I will have a need of it. Elsewhere I’ve written about the analogy of having an avocado cemetery much like Arlington in Washington, DC.
Carly “C”s doesn’t always carry the Sanderson Farms brand, but I saw some a few days ago and bought a package of gizzards. My mind kept coming back to, “I’ve got to cook these before they spoil,” so I pulled them out yesterday, tore open the package and cut them all into smaller chunks.
Originally I was just going to boil the gizzards and the onions, no rice (although that is a delicious combo, but the rice is bad for my blood sugar levels). But then I started to add other things and I had things that I had bought, but never used in any recipe before. And, because I had half an avocado, I even scooped the flesh out and added it to the broth. Now that was a bold move. Avocado with chicken gizzards? I was surprised that the avocado did not break down completely. And later, I realized it had been a brilliant move. The soothing cooling fattiness of the avocado, floating in this murky greenish peppery, spicy hot stew was a perfect choice.
“THE MURK”
I must have been in a green mood because I added three odd ingredients two of which had a Hispanic influence and one that had a Thai leaning. The cilantro paste and the basil paste had a dark green tint, and the black pepper sauce was a murky dark brown.
chicken livers, (can be left out for a veggie soup)
Polska Beef Kielbasa (another alternative meat)
onion,
chicken broth,
lentils,
avocado, (absolutely necessary),
bay leaf,
cilantro leaves (chopped – optional),
basil paste,
cilantro paste,
black pepper sauce,
jalapeno,
okra, diced (optional, but good flavor),
chickpeas (optional, but I think would look neat floating the the dark green murk).
cumin (ground),
garlic (powder),
fenugreek seed,
turmeric (ground – optional),
cayenne (ground – optional),
bacon fat (not necessary, but good flavor),
avocado oil (optional).
S&P
Yeah, this turned out really well. A pleasing, spicy, peppery hot, savory lentil soup with chunks of chicken gizzards floating amongst the dollops of avocado. I didn’t add too many lentils as I often do, which kept this soup brothy, but I did add both red and brown lentils. I don’t have a problem with adding red, brown, green or black lentils in a mix because I always cook them until they are all tender, and it doesn’t matter to me that some may have “broken down” by the time the rest are fully cooked. Lentils have an “earthy” flavor. *I probably could have even added carrots or used cannellini beans instead of the lentils in this gizzard stew. The white beans would have looked neat floating in the murky dark green liquid.
I visualized the white beans in the green liquid not as cannellini beans, but as a dish I made several years ago using “Lady Cream Peas” and mixing them in with green split peas. The green split peas broke down into a bright green broth, but the Lady Cream Peas stayed whole, and each whitish bean was floating in a sea of bright green.
[06/21/25]: I just made this again and it is delicious. I am going to call it “the Murk.” This time I left out the chicken gizzards, but I did put in a couple of small tomatoes, diced. I also added some diced okra, but did not think to add the garbanzo beans. I think they would look and taste good in the murky green broth. Also, I think chopped cilantro leaves would look and taste good in this. I’m already using the cilantro paste, so we know the flavors work.
I don’t see how this can’t be “diabetic friendly” even with some bacon grease.
Why do I think that the avocado is absolutely necessary? Well, the cool, creamy, fat of an avocado contrasts well with the spicy (peppery) hottness. I’ve made the simple “Chicken, Chipotle, Avocado” Soup for several years and I was always interested in how the avocado went so well with the hot chipotle peppers.
540 mg High Sodium10 mg Low SodiumBraun MultiQuick Kitchen Tool
Black Beans & Quinoa
As an option to refried beans as a base for the Mexican themed meal, I found a recipe for “Black Beans & Quinoa.” This recipe takes about 25 minutes to prepare and includes the following: quinoa, black beans, cilantro (leafy), whole kernel corn, cumin (ground), chicken stock and S&P. This base is very flavorful and works well with salsa and guacamole. Just add some Blue Corn Tortilla Chips, or add the other items in a Blue Corn Taco shell. *You could also add chicken to this.
Guacamole
Avocado
Cilantro (green leafy)
Cumin (ground or whole)
Tomatillo (optional)
Refried Beans
I pretty quickly realized that if you wanted to control the amount of sodium (salt) in your “refried beans” you would need to buy low sodium beans and make the refried beans yourself. This is super easy. Pintos are the classic bean, but I prefer Black Beans. *Puree 2/3s of a can of beans, and then mix the whole & pureed beans on the stove top, mashing some of the whole beans to get a “rough chop.” Avocado oil or even water work well, and a smidge of bacon grease might even provide extra flavor.
Salsa
Bell Pepper (Sweet, Y/O/R)
Cilantro (green leafy)
Cumin (ground or whole seed)
Sweet Onion
Tomatoes (Diced Fire Roasted/Garlic)
Green Chilies Diced (gv WAL)
Ground Beef & Diced Tomatoes w/ Chilies
As an option to salsa, this is cooked. Brown ground beef, dice some onion, colorful bell pepper, jalapeno or poblano, diced tomatoes w/ green chilies, add cilantro and season with garlic powder and ground cumin.
Pollo Sofrito
Shred some chicken tenders, dice some onion, colorful bell peppers, jalapeno or poblano, diced tomatoes w/ green chilies, add cilantro and season with garlic powder and ground cumin.
Adding other types of peppers (hot or other flavors – aji, jalapeno, poblano, Trinidad perfume, biquinho) to the salsa offer variety. The Aji Dulce is a mild pepper with some flavor. I’ve bought it at Compare Foods (a Hispanic grocery chain). Add some Blue Corn Tortilla Chips, or combine the other items in a Blue Corn Taco shell. Warm the shell first in the microwave.
Black Beans & Quinoa
A few ingredients and easy to follow steps to make this perfect every time. The quinoa cooks for 20 minutes and if done according to the recipe, it is tender and moist without being watery right at 20 minutes. If you use frozen corn, you have to give that about 5 extra minutes to heat through at the end, and the black beans and cilantro don’t need any extra cooking time. This is just a good base for salsa and guacamole.
I mentioned adding chicken to this, and you might buy a rotisserie chicken at Harris Teeter and shred part of it and mix it into the Black Beans & Quinoa. Recall that a whole rotisserie chicken, for about $8 is an excellent deal. You could make about 5 good meals out of this one chicken, and then use the carcass to make homemade chicken stock. Recall also that you save and freeze the following for making stock (beef, chicken, pork): onion, carrots & celery.
Whether you make your own stock, or buy it at the store, stock flavors beans and soups so much better than just water, and homemade stock usually adds even more flavor.
Hummus (made from ground chickpeas, black beans, navy or cannellini beans) can be the foundation for a vegetarian meal. Cut up various veggies for dipping in hummus: sweet, colorful bell pepper, onion, carrots, celery. I also like Smoked Oysters & olives with hummus, and maybe even raw diced okra.
I stopped in to the First Citizens near the Mall to cash a check yesterday. I took the paperback book I had gotten from Chappell’s Peaches a few days ago, with the intent that if the young cashier, with the 3 star tattoo on her hand (a reference to Harry Potter, on each page of his books), was still working as a cashier there, I would give her the book. “She’s a reader.”
I didn’t recognize her, but when I asked if the girl with the 3 star tattoo on her hand still worked there, she lifted her hand to show me the tattoo, and smiled. I said, “Well then,” as I held up the book and handed it to her, “this is for you.” It may have been almost a year ago that I first met her in First Citizens. Actually 3/4s of a year, because I think I was telling her about the Cumberland County Library Book Sale that was going to be in August, and now the next one is going to be in August. I think it was probably about three weeks ago, last year, so maybe July 2024.
Anyway, she said it “made her day” and it added to mine. I really do like performing these little vignettes where I surprise someone by remembering something special about them, and maybe even leaving a little gift. I have no dark ulterior motives, no sexual undercurrents. It’s just fun “playing” with people.
As I was walking out to my car, I stopped and looked across the parking lot to a cigar shop. There was also a line of people waiting outside the ABC store next door to the cigar shop. I tried to make the analogy of people standing in long lines, overnight for the latest Apple product or updated gaming system, but I couldn’t quite name everything correctly.
I went into the cigar store, and it was a large open space, but I saw a customer and a young woman clerk talking in the back. I stopped and started looking for the image of the red Avanti Cafe Mocha package on my phone to show the clerk. I finally found the image and walked up to the clerk. The other customer, a woman, had already left the store.
The clerk said they didn’t carry that brand. I asked if they had another coffee or chocolate flavored cigar, and she did find me one. A regular cigar, not small but about $6 and I did buy it. It didn’t have the same flavor, but it did burn well.
But, here was the fun part. Somewhere in the start of a brief conversation, I mentioned Clint Eastwood, and to my surprise I saw a blank look on the girl’s face, and I recognized that she had no idea of who Clint Eastwood was or is. After all, he is 90 years old or so. That’s funny, but not the first time that I’ve begun to realize that my heroes are dead or dying at an extremely fast rate (as too will I, but hopefully not too soon – 82?).
I went on to try and “catch her up.” Clint Eastwood, he played a detective, “Dirty Harry.” He had a really big gun and said something to the bad guy like, “Make my day.” *I’m trying to recall the first example of who he was, before I started on Dirty Harry, but I don’t at the moment. Rowdy Yates? No, but that would have been a good start. I guess the young people don’t watch Rawhide either. Or the Twilight Zone? **And now I recall, I mentioned “the Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” and there wasn’t much recognition on her part for that movie either. Oh well.
I was watching an old Tab Hunter movie yesterday, “Lafayette Escadrille” and here was a young Clint Eastwood playing a “bit part.” The movie was released in February of 1958, and portrayed a group of Americans that fought in WWI in French uniform & flying French airplanes, prior to America entering the War. David Janssen co-starred. And Tom Laughlin, who later would play “Billy Jack” was playing Arthur Blumental (actually Bluethenthal). Arthur Bluethenthal was born in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1891 and died on a bombing mission in June of 1918. On Memorial Day, May 30, 1928, the Wilmington airport was named Bluethenthal Field in his honor.
So I stopped and asked her, well who is the macho, leading man in movies for you. She said Chris Hemsworth. I asked, “Does he have several brother’s that are also actors,” and “yes” was her reply.
I also briefly mentioned, or tried to think of several actresses that I just didn’t like. Nicole Kidman for one, and the clerk recalled her name. I then tried to think of Melissa McCarthy, but could only think of Sandra Bullock (who I do like), but I mentioned that she attended ECU. Another blank stare and that got us on the question of where she was from.
I asked where she was from and she said Michigan originally. I told her I had a friend who’s son had just recently married up in Pontiac, MI. That was a familiar place to her. But she said she had moved to Georgia, and I asked where. I don’t recall the exact town/city, but it was in north Georgia. I didn’t think of Flowery Branch (my half sister Donna), but instead thought of Stockbridge and then we had a short conversation about the airport and jets flying out about every 30 seconds or so.
I then asked if she had ever been as far south as Thomasville, and we hit on the Florida Panhandle, and Florida State. I then mentioned that as you travelled south you came to a change in the “road kill” along the road. In North Carolina the road kill might be a possum or a raccoon, but when you got that far south, the roadkill became armadillos. And I also asked about pink flamingos, and mentioned St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay and Bradenton where I had seen pink flamingos… like we might see seagulls here.
Ask your favorite AI about why birds will in a high wind, often orient themselves to face into the wind. I don’t recall, but my guess is the wind was coming from the left to right in the above picture and the seagulls were orienting themselves accordingly.
Okay, now that I rehearse this encounter, I was long winded, but it was interesting to me at how I needed to get a new “frame of reference” of idols & symbols for the current generation. I guess I really don’t since I could probably live out the rest of my life, content with my own heroes, and not having to learn new ones. I do like Millie Bobbie Brown.
If you don’t watch TV or movies, how do you get your extended frame of reference? Online, and that probably only on the phone. I’m not sure that young Americans are cohesive enough to weather the storm. Especially since I’ve seen Donald Trump almost single handedly… well not alone, he’s had a bunch of help by a bunch of “new school” Republicans and he has dismantled some major institutions, and questioned or ignored the courts & legislators, and the media. He’s knocked out a bunch of these things that are absolutely necessary for a society to continue and thrive… and he hasn’t got a better idea, or sometimes apparently any idea of an equal or better replacement to what he has destroyed.
I just looked over at my little avatar, with his gray hair, yellow/green long-sleeved shirt and rust colored shorts. I actually have the shirt and those shorts, but I now wear black suspenders with them.
A day or two ago I was listening to an Economist, an educator, and he may have been talking before a group of young people, or people that worked with young people. The camera was focused on his chair at a table and there was no sign of people near, or behind him and the camera never panned around to show if or who he was actually talking to.
Toward the end of his talk he made a statement that we would have to change the fundamental goal of our society, from working for monetary “profit,” to something more sustainable. I don’t think we will make that change, and I see a bleak future for America, or even a future in which America, as we know it, doesn’t exist. Donald Trump and the “new” Republicans are cutting costs, lowering taxes (except for the Big Beautiful Bill in which it adds a trillion or more to the Budget Deficit).
Since 2016 I’ve seen the World turned upside down and there is little on this Earth that you can put your trust in. It may have been that way all along, but Donald Trump has “put it in your face.” Don’t trust the Media. Come to me for your news. *He said that, and it was recorded on YouTube, at one time. How stupid is that suggestion? I’d prefer to listen to multiple sources, and make my own decisions about which ones to trust, or how to combine it all to come to a truth that no one of them is purporting.
As President, during his first term, he sat on his fat ass in the Whitehouse as those sorry pieces of shit Republicans attacked the U.S. Capitol. He actually wanted them to force, along with V.P. Pence performing unlawful actions, a reversal of the valid Election results, in which HE LOST! IT WASN’T STOLEN. HE’S A POOR LOSER!
Kennedy has presented the phrase, “Make America Healthy Again.” And my first thought was, is that fat assed, McDonald’s hamburger eater in the Whitehouse going to stop eating unhealthy, as a start of this MAHA Campaign? No telling how many people will die because Donald Trump appointed Kennedy to this position. There may have been waste, but there are idiots in the World that are worse than waste.
President Trump was the wrong person to have in leadership when Covid hit, and there were a bunch of people, mostly (maybe all) Republicans that followed his ignorant leadership regarding Covid as if they were lemmings, going happily over the cliff, waving their masks in their hand, instead of wearing them to protect themselves and others. He made wearing a protective mask a political statement, and one which Republicans weren’t going to have “the Government” forcing them to wear masks. And, “the Government” wasn’t to be trusted and they weren’t going to be taking any Covid injections, because loyal, good Republicans stand together. *Please, please stop the band from playing “God Bless America.”
That’s just stupid to make protective mask wearing a political issue. I grew up in a society that trusted Science and medical doctors. And now it’s almost as if we’ve taken a bunch of steps backwards into an age of voodoo and witch doctors. Donald Trump and his Cabinet member, Kennedy, don’t trust science nor medical doctors, or their years of scientific research. What in the hell is an “anti vaxxer?”
I knew there were people, often women, who totally distrusted vaccines, and would never have one of their children injected with anything. *I’m not saying that certain medicines can’t harm or kill you, but with a bunch of research, that’s how to reduce the risks, and humanity, at least in recent years, has managed to pull itself out of the Dark Ages. That is until now, and now it seems that you’ve got the inmates driving the bus. *I know it’s the inmates running the asylum., the crazy person driving the bus.
The only trouble with giving them enough rope to hang themselves, is that the decisions they are making will take themselves AND a bunch of others down at the same time. If their decisions only screwed themselves, then let them have at it. But if their decisions are going to mean that research doesn’t continue regarding protecting the Public from infectious diseases, and that MY insurance company isn’t going to pay for me having an updated Covid booster shot (which I’ve never had any serious negative reactions to the Covid shots or boosters I’ve had), then I’ll definitely have a problem with that… until they succeed and I am dead.
And even if “they” don’t succeed, I will still be dead in a few years, but just not at THEIR hands. On one hand, “I don’t want to die,” but on the other hand, “I don’t want to remain past my ‘Sell by Date.'” I’m enjoying my retirement because I have enough money & time that I can pretty much focus on whatever I deem important. *I may die before, but the age of 82 came to me several years ago, as the age at which I would die. Not sure why, but “82” has been the number for quite some time. But, I’m also aware that if I live to be 81 (and that’s only 10 years from now), I might get a little antsy, and want to renegotiate with God. But I really don’t want to live beyond my usefulness. I’ve had a productive work life, with computers and the Internet at an institution of higher learning for many years, and hopefully during that time I helped professors, admins and students provide & receive a better education using some of the tools I was in charge of.
When the time comes that I’m no longer reasonably healthy, and am stuck at home or in a “care” facility, then I definitely want to go on.
I added some Agave Nectar as I had seen a slightly different recipe that added sweetener (optional). Still, I’m not happy with the finished product. The peppers aren’t distinctive, and I may have toasted the garlic or nuts slightly too much.
Unless I find a “store bought” version of Salsa Mancha that is more pleasing, Spicy Chili Crisp wins, “hands down.”
Bill Gibson, II 