Well, well, well…

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The past few days spent mostly down and around Hubert, NC was interesting. I jumped off of an “out of control” golf cart and rolled on the ground rather than wait for it to crash into something or go into a deep ditch. I was unhurt, and not sore later, but I had to ask Ray to help me get up. *Oh, they have a large mirror that covers most of the wall in their bathroom and it is usually there that I realize how grossly fat I am, and have been for many years. And, that is even after I’ve lost about 15 pounds in the last year and have been hovering just about the 250 lbs. mark for several months.

Switching to Ozempic has corralled my rising resting blood sugar levels. I had taken Trulicity for several years and then at a point about a year ago, I could no longer get my prescription filled in a timely manner, and eventually after two months unfilled, I considered “couldn’t get it filled at all.” I attributed the lack of this medication to all those persons who are beginning to use it to keep their weight under control. However, I still feel I should have had “first dibbs” on this medication because I had been taking it, as I said, for several years. But now, I wouldn’t want to return to Trulicity. Ozempic appears to be slightly better in controlling my blood sugar. **However, the injection mechanism is slightly less sophisticated that Trulicity. But, you also reuse the Ozempic pen for several injections, replacing the needles several times until all the fluid has been used up. Last week I completed my first rotation of six injections. I started with four, once a week, injections at .25 dosage, followed by two more weeks at .5 dosage. The needle is small and does not hurt going in. You just have to count to six after the dosage counter has reached “0”.

I think I eat reasonably healthily most of the time. I like brussels sprouts (with balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard and agave nectar as a sauce). They prepare and cook quickly and it is an excellent side dish for something like a pork chop. But, I’ve also fixed some delicious chicken gizzards and had them with rice, once, and with mashed potatoes several times.

Oddly for me, I found myself without much food “in the house” Saturday night. At least food that wouldn’t be bad for me. There were hotdogs and some baloney, and potato salad, a loaf of white bread, some peanut butter & nuts chocolate fudge, cinnamon candy and ginger ale (not sugar free). I had one hotdog, and a slice of baloney on one slice of bread, some potato salad, I ate a few olives and one small piece of fudge, and no ginger ale, just ice water. I don’t know what happened to the pork roast, but I didn’t see it in the fridge. I went to Burger King on Sunday morning, the one that stands on the spot where the old Morton Family home stood on the corner of Queens Creek Road and Highway 24. I told the young woman who took my order that I had lived on this spot and that the first day they were opened, a Sunday, I had come in and sat over in one of the booths thinking about where the old kitchen had been located. *I had a Ham, Egg and Cheese Croissandwich, some tater tots, and coffee. I also had one container of honey mustard, catchup and I went out to the car and got a couple of containers of the curry mixture I make that works good on potatoes. It was starting to sprinkle a little. I hadn’t had this breakfast in quite a while, but have had it many times in the past.

Looking out the Burger King Drive-Thru last week, and my kitchen from 64 years ago.
As the inside of Burger King looked last week.

Above: Note how clean and straight the lines on the edge of the wooden porch are. This porch probably hadn’t been replaced too long because as the wood ages, and wears, the edges break off and become slightly ragged, but that’s not the case here. Also, the chain is off the bike. We were trying to remove the rear tail of the bike and this loosened the chain. The front of the car is of a Chevy painted beige, which was probably a Marine Base relic. Uncle Bob had a Ford approximately the same age as the Chevy and the same color. The little house off the back of the porch was what Lyde had stayed in because she suffered from Tuberculosis. Because I was around it, I still “show positive” for TB and I guess if I had a weakened condition, TB might become a problem for me. The little house formerly had been a logger’s cabin. No bathroom, just room for a bed and a table and a place for a hot plate or coffee pot. The mule, with his tail to us is just across the ditch, and between him and the tobacco barn past him is Queens Creek Road. The tobacco barn burned down not too many years later, and the mule was sold also.

I did stop briefly on the Swansboro waterfront to read a small portion of “Becoming” the Michelle Obama memoir, and later in Jacksonville at a park by the river, I also read a little more. A page or three at a time and eventually, if I live so long, I will finish this book too. Too, as I have about 30 Michael Connelly novels (mostly Bosch), a memoir of JFK, Jr., and a tribute by friends of Tim Russert during the past year. This reading started after I had snagged the Matthew Perry memoir from a nearby Little Lending Library at the end of last October. The “hinkey” thing about the Perry tome was that I got it, not because I was interested in him, but because I was going to move it to another LLL, but several days later, I saw a picture of Perry on a celebrity tribute web site and said to myself, “I didn’t know he was dead,” and shortly thereafter found that he had actually died about three days after I had got his book. I though this was hinkey and then said to myself, “I guess I’ll have to read this now,” and I did. Three pages into his memoir he makes the statement, “I should be dead by now,” and then he goes on to explain about the “Big Terrible Thing.” The “Thing” being his almost life long drug addition. After reading this book, I would be much more lenient on those persons that provided him with those last illegal drugs. Matthew Perry did this to himself. The others may have overdosed him, but with his inner weakness, he basically committed suicide. **After I finished the Perry memoir, I was in a reading mode and so, because I had a bunch of the Michael Connelly Bosch novels that I had bought to add to various LLLs, I started reading them. I didn’t start reading in order. Connelly started publishing these in 1992 with “The Black Echo.” I probably started with “Echo Park” and then at some point jumped back to the first five or six novels. ***I’ve told a few people that I learned to despise Harry Bosch from reading these novels. I liked the Harry Bosch character that I came to know from the TV series, but by the second novel, “Black Ice,” I came to describe Harry Bosch as, “that lying piece of dog shit, that shouldn’t be trusted and should step to the back of the line, instead of getting special “cut to the front” privileges.

ADDENDUM[09/30/25]: I was in Harris Teeter yesterday getting ready to pay for my lunch salad and I looked at a magazine cover. It had Charlie Sheen on the cover. His big head, similar to Matthew Perry’s on his book cover. But what jostled my memory of the Perry book was that Sheen’s cover said, “I should be dead by now.” Now that’s the statement that Perry said in his memoir about three pages into it. I got the Perry book at a LLL, and about 3 days later he died of a drug overdose. *Read his book and there is no surprise. He couldn’t control his addiction, and finally it did him in. But oh, the suffering he put himself and others through until the final conclusion. I almost said to the checkout clerk, “He’s going to be dead soon,” but I didn’t. [end]

I rode around to different areas in and around Swansboro, Stella, Sneads Ferry, and then quickly down to Wilmington where I was planning to eat at a KFC buffet. However, the KFC I visited on Market Street had no buffet so I just used their bathroom. I thought that the Arby’s I have eaten at many times over many visits to Wilmington would be nearby, and it was. Just a few blocks further down, I turned into the Arby’s parking lot. There is a Miller-Mott Education site in the back. But, there was yellow caution tape across the drive-thru entrance, and then I noted work trucks and an industrial waste dumpster, and then the cuss word as I realized that this Arby’s location was closed for renovations. Damn, what is it with no food?

I decided not to hang around Wilmington, mildly hungry, so I started back for Fayetteville but with the idea of stopping at Elizabethtown to see if they had a KFC buffet. They had a KFC, but no buffet. I didn’t want to eat more Mexican because we had eaten at El Catrin in Swansboro on Friday. Finally made it back home and made some mashed potatoes and warmed up a helping of chicken gizzards. They were good again. *But, for dinner I really didn’t know what I wanted, maybe kielbasa & lentils? I finally just ate some Neuske’s Smoked Liver Pate with some Whole Foods Black Sesame Rice crackers. As I write this, I’m still wrestling with what to either fix for breakfast, or if I should scrounge up enough paper money to go out for breakfast.

The pears I had bought at Pate’s had all gone bad, but the tangerines were still delicious. I have found that I can use my boxcutter tool with the blade just slightly out to slice the peeling of oranges or tangerines. Years ago Tupperware gave away a peel slicer as a promotional gift. I had gotten several of these when I worked at the Hem of His Garment Thrift Store. Using the boxcutter is basically doing what the Tupperware tools did.

Ahhh, so that’s where that was.

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They are little things, but still they are so important as first steps toward a more organized life.

I like the idea of compartmentalizing things according to their use, but I rarely, or consistently do this type of organizing. But when I do, I feel a minor, but definite sense of accomplishment.

I’ve recently bought 48 clean, new, glass spice jars, with shiny aluminum screw lids and translucent white plastic filters that snap snuggly on the mouths of the jars. They are squared off, and I kept one of the packing trays (there was a tray for both the top and bottom of these jars to fit into snuggly so that the glass wouldn’t “tink” into an adjacent bottle and break. I’ve filled almost all of these jars with either existing spices that I already had, or recently purchased spices that I thought I might like to try.

I’ve moved a bunch of stuff around on the countertop next to the stove on the side where the spices and a small plastic cutting board lie. Most importantly, I moved the paper towel dispenser away from the stove top (and potential fire hazard) and put it next to the side of my refrigerator and next to that I moved the plastic sandwich bag dispenser. This dispenser is indispensable. I use these bags to store food items both after and before cooking.

Oh, and something I’ve just started using for a different purpose is small colored plastic salsa bowls. The kind with the little plastic legs to steady the bowl. I’ve used a few of these (a bright green and a bright yellow one) for many years for when I make homemade salsa, hummus, or guacamole, but now I am also using one for my Greek God’s Yogurt (plain flavored) to which I’m adding fresh fruit that I have blended in my chopper. The raw (not sure how fresh) raspberries that I pureed turned out extremely flavorful, and were a very pleasant addition to this yogurt. *I recently bought (at the exorbitant price of $4.99) a 3-pak of assorted berries: blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries. I plan to blend them and put them in the little plastic Rubbermaid containers, in the fridge, until use.

So first I bought, at separate times, a few more of these plastic salsa bowls and then came up with the idea to use them like monkey dishes. I have some dark blue (outside) and white (inside) ceramic muffin cups that I’ve used for years as monkey dishes putting in various liquid and dry ingredients. I have one of these cups in which I put my olive oil brush. This is to brush oil onto a pan surface or my waffle iron before baking a waffle, so that it won’t stick to the surface.

My salt dispenser sits beside the sandwich bag dispenser.

One of the items I have on the other side of my stove is a large ceramic container in which I put an assortment of kitchen tools. But tonight, very early morning, I decided to clear out some of the unneeded items in this horribly cramped container. Surprisingly, to me, I actually took several items out of this and actually threw them away. I did throw away a shiny melon baller, but I don’t think I will actually miss it. I found a cup sized tea ball, which I actually might use now that I know where it is. But I also plan to move this tea ball to a more visible location as a reminder. I do have a coffee, tea and flavored drink packet area on the corner of my kitchen counter.

The other thing I found was a dark metal pair of scissors. My mother had used them, and they are still a really good pair of scissors, and I’ve just used some olive oil on them for protecting their surface, which I see can rust, but hasn’t much. *Sometime in the last couple of years I recall asking myself, “What ever happened to those black scissors.” And the scissors are what started me writing this particular blog entry. I plan to put them in one of my plastic shoe boxes (for organizational purposes) and then put other “like minded” items in that same shoe box. *I do have a small sewing kit, but the scissors might also be used for cutting paper, which I did just a few minutes ago and they still do a fine job of cutting.

I mentioned the spice jars above, but I still haven’t quite got how I want them laid out. I have tried to come up with a 3 letter code to go on top of each jar, but I still have a few jars that I don’t quite recall what the 3 letters stand for, and a jar or two of spices/herbs that I don’t really recall which ingredient it is. But first I had all the jars alphabetically organized from A to Z. But now I’ve put the most used ingredients in the first two rows nearest my cutting board. It seems vaguely that I might want to categorize these spices/herbs even more. “Most Used,” “Warm Spices” for frying apples, and “Peppery Spices.” For a long time, I would sift each of the warm spices from their separate jars onto the fried apples (on top of the Splenda I had already sifted on them), but then I finally mixed all of these spices and put them in a separate glass jar with a sift lid. It just makes it so much easier to sift from just one jar.

Some time ago, I started organizing a few reusable items in some plastic sandwich bags. These items are rarely needed, but nice to have on hand if and when the need arises: assorted rubber bands (different colors, sizes and widths), various plastic bottle tops (My Agave Nectar dispenser has had a couple of broken bottle tops that it was nice to have an extra unbroken one to replace with.), twist ties (both from bread bags or label ties from Sprouts), and I also keep my yellow plastic “Dukes Mayonnaise” jar lids because they fit perfectly on regular sized canning jars.

One drawer beside my stove includes the most used utensils: apple corer, can opener, vegetable peeler, box cutter, etc. I think it was just a couple of years ago that I bought a 4 pack of the box cutters. They came in 4 separate colors and they have proven to be very handy. I keep one cutter beside my easy chair (for opening various plastic bags and Amazon packages). One cutter is in the drawer beside my stove (for slicing open the plastic bacon package, or slicing off the top of a resealable shredded cheese bag). I have one cutter in my car. And, I don’t recall where the fourth cutter is, but I have a suspicion that I gave it away as a present. These are really useful. *How about for slicing through those annoying thick plastic protective seals. The ones that snuggly protect a new tooth brush, or batteries, or…

Oh, every so often my can opener doesn’t work on a can. I think most times it is the design of the can rim, or the softness of the metal that causes the old standard can opener not to take and slice the metal apart as it travels around the can lid. *For those extraordinary times, I have my “John Wayne,” which I have probably had for more than 40 years. Perhaps even more than 50 years. I might have still been in high school when I found and kept the little steel can opener that was supplied to soldiers for opening their C or K Rations in the field. It has been on my key chain for many years, and when the big opener won’t start or finish the job, that little can opener works “every time.” Yes, it takes longer to open a can with this little tool, but it gets the job done.

This reminds me that I’ve recently bought a new pair of nail clippers. But the problem with these clippers is that they are a smidge too small to be comfortable in the hand when in use. And, I’ve checked at a different store and their clippers were also in this slightly smaller size. The smaller size works for adding them to your key chain, but they are an irritation that I plan to find a solution to… Another pair, slightly larger as they were for many years.

Which reminds me. Yesterday when I left home, my phone wasn’t sufficiently charged up for the day, and I didn’t have a charging cable in the car. I had used the short white charging cable that came with my hearing aids in the car to charge my phone. In the apartment, I used the black charging cable that I switch from hearing aids, phone and Chromebook in a round robin match that works. But, I sent the white cable back in the return of my hearing aids.

So, I’m in Goldsboro with my phone around 25% and falling fast. I don’t want to be without a phone, in case my car “acts up,” or I need to get navigation or an online map, or to check for a product, or location or time of an event, etc. I check for the nearest Dollar Tree and see one. I’m not sure if I’ve been to this exact location before, but I had a slight awareness of where it was located even before using the navigation to drive there. I think it is next to a Walmart, because I saw the Walmart Blue color on the side of an adjacent building, but never actually saw the Walmart name on the building. I was parked askew of that building, and had no need to get a better view. I go into this Dollar Tree and start looking for the USB cables. And they don’t have any. What? The USB cables are always with the assorted smartphone protectors, and the other little, cheap electronic thingys. I look and then I go to the register and ask and the clerk sends me back to where I had been looking. I go back, and they don’t have any, any, any USB cables. How can this be? I go back to the car and google for another Dollar Tree. It can’t be that ALL Dollar Trees in the area are devoid of USB cables. The other Dollar Tree is across town, past Wilbers BBQ. But, this is not an unfamiliar location as I go by it quite often when visiting Goldsboro. There is a dead end road that butts up against the chain link fence next to the Seymour Johnson Airforce Base runway. There are fields on either side of this road and most of the year, except when the crops are tall in the summer, this is a perfect location to come watch the take offs and landings of the fighter jets and the refueling tankers. I’m not the only one who knows of this location and I’ve been there when several others are watching also. Most of the time it is deserted. You might see a white security/maintenance truck in the distance traversing around the runway. I think it may be looking for debris that is on the runway, more than checking on possible intruders.

So I go to the other Dollar Tree and go to the electronics section and here they have at least three different styles of “Fast Charging” USB cables (Type A to Type C). The price on the package is $1.25. I buy one of the fancier looking cables, but would like to buy a couple more and have them about, just in case. My phone was down to 17% by this time, but having the phone hooked up only a brief time, I saw the percentage of charge begin to climb and by the time I was back home I think the charge was close to 60%. I think ALL USB cables should be “fast charging” and cost only $1.25. Why pay $10 or more for this basic cable? *I don’t understand what the difference is between a fast charging cable and a regular (slow charging) one, but it is probably just one extra wire or some such. **Just checked and the fast charging cable is thicker with more insulation which provides a higher delivery voltage, and therefore quicker charging.

On the way back home, I stopped at the drug store in Newton Grove and had a Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream, regular cone, for $2 total (including tax). It is $2 for one scoop, but they put what I call one scoop in the cone, and then add another scoop (sometimes it might be half a scoop), but I definitely would call it more than one scoop for the price. Unfortunately for me they discontinued the “Super” Raspberry flavor sometime ago, but they still have enough flavors (probably 20 or a few more) to satisfy. The raspberry ice cream had little chocolate candies filled with raspberry jam. I make this description of the ice cream after having gone online and researched the raspberry flavor. I might be able to get this elsewhere, either in an ice cream shop or in a small container to take home.

Bags of Nature’s Way Farms, Inc. potatoes @ Harris Teeter in Fayetteville

And something else. In the morning, I wanted to go to Nature’s Way Farm near Faison, NC. I checked my phone navigation and turned off Hwy. 13 to head toward the business. It’s out in the country. But this detour took me a different way to a familiar route. I’m not sure if it is a shorter route, but it almost seemed to be. Instead of going into Newton Grove (and circling the round-a-bout a full rotation), I can go this different way and end up on the “on ramp” to I40.

[NOTE 10/29/24]: And so, I guess it continues. I had the desire to have a Lamb Gyro Pita at Pharaoh’s Legacy Restaurant. I normally like to also order the house Greek Salad with this meal. Previously I’ve even made my own version of a Greek Salad, and even made the Italian Dressing at home, and taken it with me to eat in the car, outside of the restaurant. So this time I prepared a sandwich baggy with a few items meant to enhance the flavor of their Greek Salad: an extra Peperoncini, some chopped sweet onion, a Campari tomato, diced, and a few green pitted olives (because I just can’t find any Kalamata olives in my fridge).

From a previous visit, and all the inside fixtures were gone when I poked my head inside the front door a couple of days ago.

I drive clear across town, and park in front of the restaurant and start to go to the front door. I do note that there are no cars parked in front except for some utility trucks away from the front. I pulled the front door open, and there, to my surprise is no restaurant. It has been gutted, and as I start to step back outside, I do see a construction worker come around the corner in the far back. *I should have at least stopped to ask if the restaurant was just being remodeled, or if it was closed permanently. **And, I still don’t know if it is permanently closed because I see nothing regarding their closing on their web site. Maybe a fire, but the place was just gutted and I didn’t smell any smoke.

I decided to drive over to the old, other location. This was the first place I had visited some time before I had my heart surgery. I pull up in front of the other restaurant and another car pulls in ahead of me near the front door. I walk past this person, who is getting out of his car, and open the door. They are open.

I walk up to the counter and get a menu and go over and sit down at one of the dining tables. I already know what I want: Lamb Gyro Pita with a Greek Salad. But, I note that the Greek Salad is more expensive and apparently isn’t available with the Pita as it is at the other location. *I do ask the waitress if the Greek Salad is the full price with the sandwich, and then the waitress explains that this restaurant has different ownership than Pharaoh’s Legacy. I tell her this wasn’t always the case and that when I first visited this restaurant, it had the same owner.

**I do want to mention another thing that I am quite proud of, but not related to this story of Pharaoh’s Legacy. In a moment of insight, I thought about using the old Lazy Susan that I had previously used for my spices. But with the new spice bottles and the matrix that I’ve chosen to use to organize the bottles, I no longer needed the Lazy Susan. The insight was that if it would fit, I could use the Lazy Susan, and place the kitchen tool jar (with my assortment of various kitchen tools: spatulas, juice squeezer, spoons, etc.) in the middle and put some other items: Splenda jar, Sweet-n-Low packet jar, Coconut Sugar jar, corn starch jar, etc. around the outside. This worked excellently! And now all I have to do is spin the Lazy Susan to select what I need to use. [end NOTE]

Audien Return & Replacment

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I got online on the Cumberland County (NC) Public Library website and found that I could upload a document for printing, then go and print it at the Library. I had a shipping label for my return to Audien but I didn’t have my printer hooked up at home.

I went to the Main Library on Maiden Lane.

I just noted that the next “Friends of the Library” Book Sale is on November 22, 2024 (a little over a month from now). The book sale is held on the lower level of the Main Library. There is a large adult section and also a separate children’s section. I have bought quite a few cheap books. Some I’ve read, but I’ve also given them to various Little Lending Libraries (from South Carolina and all the way to Raleigh, and points in between). *I was just reminded that I bought a hardcover copy of Michael Connelly’s “The Poet.” This story was the introduction of the Jack McAvoy character. I purchased a couple of novels at “New To You” in Lillington, NC.

Usually when I am passing through Lillington, I will stop at their new Library. It is very nice! They have a small section for books that they are selling. Prices are from a donation up to about $2. This facility also has a nice bathroom, and I’ve also read in the upstairs adult area where they have comfortable, cubby holes.

The Google Street View above is where the new Harnett County Library building now exists.

I bought a 6×10 shipping envelope at the Post Office over on Oakridge Ave. on Friday.

I see according to the Tracking site that my Audien Hearing Aid replacement is now in Butner, NC. It is being returned with UPS. *My hearing aid replacements have been listed in Butner for at least a couple of days. I thought I might get them by Wednesday, but the arrival date is still showing Friday, October 25th. I have no idea why it is taking so long to travel the hour and a half from Butner to Fayetteville. Looks like the delivery service may be switching from UPS to USPS. What? Can’t they work together more efficiently?

I’m not sure if I have mentioned this elsewhere, but the Audien 2 Pro hearing aids that I had and just returned because one stopped working completely, have only been really effective while watching TV. These hearing aids have 4 modes and one of those (#3) is for TV. It works pretty well and I can reduce the TV volume noticeably, but the other three modes are pretty ineffective. One mode is supposed to be for being in a restaurant setting, one for having discussion with someone, and the other for outside. The outside mode is pretty much like turning the whole thing off. I was hoping that one of the modes would work well for responding to those persons handling the checkout counter/register say at the grocery store or WalMart, but I didn’t find the hearing aids useful for those situations. *I need to go online and see what feedback there is. I’m guessing I’m not the only one, or maybe I’ll find some hacks or ways to make these aids successful in those situations.

**Well, I am finding it very difficult to find any customer reviews from sources other than on the Audien web site. I find that unusual. I want to read some reviews from customers who aren’t posting to the Audien site. I will now try Facebook, although I rarely go to Facebook directly.

NIXE by LIDL – Smoked Oysters

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[NOTE]: I hadn’t thought to mention this, mainly because I don’t think anyone else besides myself is actually reading what I write here but, the reason why I’m not illustrating my postings with images is that I’ve run out of free space on WordPress, and I haven’t chosen to buy more storage space. That is unfortunate because I like to take a lot of pictures with my phone so that I can illustrate what I write about. And, I like to write first to visualize my point, and then check the photo(s) to see if the image matches up with what I’ve written. *As a temporary solution, I’ve started linking to my images on Amazon.

This reminded me that as much as I would like to think that I’ve never been wrong in my memory, I have had many examples brought to the fore that were irrefutable. I don’t always remember or perceive things as they are. **In high school, for my Senior picture I had an outfit that I had put together. It may have started because I had bought a pair of Converse Blue Suede tennis shoes. I paired these shoes with white “Mess” pants (the Navy bell bottoms with button fly), a red terry cloth short sleeved shirt (with a few narrow white accents around the sleeves) and Red, White & Blue suspenders on which I had glued a small white star on the front of each suspender. Oh yeah, I think I also had red socks. I astill have a black & white picture of this outfit where I am sitting on a table top, with the female version of me. I was “Most Studious,” although I would have preferred to be “Wittiest.” But the point is that for years I remembered my blue suede tennis shoes as having a white star on the side of each. I did look online at some point and see that these Converse Blue Suede tennis shoes did have white stars (on some), but the pair I had only had white stripes. And, this was one example of where I had remembered something incorrectly. Not a big thing, but important to the overall image of my past. [end NOTE]

Fancy Whole Smoked Oysters (front) (back)

I noticed these smoked oysters on a shelf in Lidl. They were only $1.29 a can, and although I had never tried this brand, that was a good price if they were any good. And, when I tried them, “they were good.” Good flavor and there were fewer of them in the can, but that was because they were slightly larger than those in the other brands I’ve tried. I see they are 140 calories for the whole 3 oz. can.

When I think of smoked oysters, I usually think of making hummus at home. I like the flavor of hummus made with garbanzo beans, whole cumin seeds, lime juice and some avocado oil (olive will do). A little water if needed to make it a little smoother. The problem with hummus is that it is high calorie.

I think the only other meat that I like with my hummus is the hard salami, like the Wegman’s Black Pepper Sopressata Salami. *Wegman’s no longer sells the pepper salami. I like olives with my hummus: Castelvetrano or the Ripe Green Olives that come in a can at Whole Foods.

I like to make an “Almost Vegetarian” Meal out of my hummus. I’ve mentioned salami and the smoked oysters above, but the rest of things that I pare with my hummus include: sweet onion, carrot, tomato and sweet (colorful) bell pepper and I might even want to add a few pickles (either Ranch Dill spears or the Sweet Bread & Butter Chips).

I don’t recall the exact results, but I think my hummus meal affects both my blood sugar level and my weight. I could probably eat less hummus, with all the other good stuff.

Oh yeah, making hummus is relatively inexpensive. A can of garbanzo (chickpeas) beans, a little lime juice, some oil and a few cumin seeds (you could also use ground cumin). Looks like a 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans cost anywhere from $.85 to $1.69. I could make two or three helpings of hummus from the one can.

This is where I could type about the Braun Kitchen Multi-Tool (stick blender, chopper, wisk) that I have. For several years I had the smaller version of this tool and it just wasn’t powerful enough to blend a whole can of garbanzo beans into hummus. I had to blend half a can at a time. Finally I bought the larger version and now can easily blend a whole can of beans at a time. *This chopper also works great for making salsa and guacamole.

And as I’ve written previously, I would suggest buying this kitchen multi-tool for a “growing boy” going off to college. It does so much without having to cook anything, although if you can roast some poblanos or jalapenos to go in your salsa and guacamole that adds greatly to their flavor. But, filling a growing boy, cheaply can be done with this. Veggies to go with homemade hummus. Chips for all the salsa or guac he makes. And he could become the hub of his dorm with others supplying the veggies or the chips and he making the hummus and/or salsa. Now that I think about it, making guacamole is relatively cheap if you can get medium avocados at WalMart for about a dollar.

[NOTE 10/19/24]: I was in an IGA yesterday and was passing by the chicken section when I saw a container of chicken gizzards. I stopped and picked them up, and noticed that they were quite large and fresh looking. I bought them.

So good that I went back for more.

Later at home, I googled for how to season chicken gizzards. This isn’t the first time I’ve fixed chicken gizzards, and I have enjoyed them in the past. I know that they need to be cooked a long time in order to tenderize them sufficiently to eat. And normally, I would cook them with rice, but I always end up with too much rice, and I don’t need the extra starch to mess with my blood sugar. *I happened upon a cooking web site and the authoress focused on how to make “dirty” rice, a New Orleans staple. I love the flavor of dirty rice, but I haven’t had it in several years. For some reason I am reminded that I had dirty rice at Clark’s Inn and Restaurant in Santee, South Carolina. I even stayed once for a night at Clark’s Inn, but have eaten at the restaurant a few more times.

I think the food is overpriced, but you are paying for ambiance. I do recall having an experience there in which I thought my waitress was incredibly rude. Rude, how? Well, I was looking at the menu, and holding it in both my hands. The waitress came to the table and put my drink down in front of me. But, when I say in front of me, she reached inside my arms to place the drink between me and the menu I was reading. It’s one of those things where, when it happens, I am immediately flabbergasted. And then as she walks away, I am left to ruminate upon the experience and ask myself if she intended to be purposefully rude. She wasn’t a young waitress, older, and she didn’t seem inexperienced, but I definitely thought “rude.” So rude, that I still, to this day, and this day is maybe 10 years later, think of her rudeness.

Interestingly, to me at least, I’ve come to Santee, SC from at least three directions and one of them from Columbia, SC, the State Capital. And several years ago, I enjoyed a visit to the South Carolina State Museum when they were hosting the Titanic Exhibition.

**Santee is not too far from the smaller town of Bowman, and the first time I passed through Bowman, I must have been on Hwy. 178. I was passing an intersection and looked to my right and to my surprise I thought I saw a shiny flying saucer. I was so sure that I had, that I drove about another block and turned right to come back around, and after the third right, I was now passing a shiny UFO, the Bowman UFO Welcome Center. I admire people who think “outside the box” and even if they are considered crazy or eccentric, hats off. I’ve been back to Bowman at least once and the UFO hasn’t worn well, and I see from Google Street View that it may be in even worse condition in the present day.

As I was looking over this page again I noted that the UFO was missing in the Google Street View. Sure enough, it is gone. I just read online that it was destroyed by fire in 2024. The owner was 73 then, and may or may not rebuild the UFO. *It was a fun thought.

I put some bacon grease in a pot and then the chicken gizzards. I had some celery (normally I don’t have any on hand) and chopped up a stalk for seasoning, and added some chicken stock also. Garlic powder, savory, ground long pepper, and later some chopped onion. I didn’t add rice directly to the pot, but had a small amount left over from breakfast. I later mixed the rice and cooked gizzards just before eating.

Let me say this, “Those gizzards were delicious!” And, I just had some more of those gizzards for dinner tonight, and “they were still delicious.” But, instead of fixing some more rice, I had a small white potato that I diced, boiled and then mashed into mashed potatoes. I added some margarine, sour cream and garlic powder to these. I reheated some of the gizzards and there was a little a gravy produced. I used just a little of this on the mashed potatoes. The gizzards were once again delicious, with the mashed potatoes. And later when I noticed that there was still some gravy in the small plate on the stove, I reheated an end piece of rye bread in the microwave. And the warm rye bread was excellent for sopping the gizzard gravy… D E L I C I O U S again!

As I was moving items around in the fridge, I found the container of seafood chowder that I had made recently. This chowder has bay scallops (which look like little mini marshmallows), chopped clams, shrimp and some cod fish. I only added one small Campari tomato, diced, and some celery chopped. I didn’t add any Half-n-Half or Cream of Celery soup as I often have in the past. I wanted to keep this chowder a little lighter. I think I also chopped some red jalapeno pepper, and added some powdered cayenne to the mix. This chowder turned out well also.

These had been reduced to $1.39 per pound and so I bought 4 chops for about $5 total.

And today I drove up to Lillington, to the Harnett County Library and bought a couple of books. I then went back into town and looked around the used stuff store. Then on to Campbell University and drove a residential section that I hadn’t gone through before (I think.). Then on to Lee’s Fresh Market. It was after 1 pm and there were many customers inside so I went around directly to the Pork section and bought a couple of thick cut pork chops. They were only $1.99 a pound (A few weeks ago they were less, $1.79 a pound.) and I fixed one for lunch after I got back home. A late lunch. They are so big that I only need about 1/3 of the cooked meat per meal, so I have enough for two more meals. They were very good once again. ***My current political comment, which I made to the check out woman, was that when I hear the ads on TV that say we have such a bad economy, I say, “Well, I know where I can buy pork chops for $1.99 a pound, and I bought some a few weeks ago for $1.79.” I also bought a package of their Pepper Bacon. The flavor of the last I bought there wasn’t completely pleasing, so I started cooking some regular bacon.

[end NOTE]

[NOTE 10/22/24]: And finally, I finished the chicken livers tonight for dinner, with another small mashed potato. If I could fix chicken livers as good as I did this mess, I would mess every week. The flavor was so good that I would actually say they were as good as any that Mary Ann has fixed, and that is a great compliment, both to me and to her.

I drove to Goldsboro today for lunch at LongHorn Restaurant. On the way, I made a detour to Nature’s Way Farm, Inc. which is listed as being in Faison, NC. I had already been there online using Google Street View, which definitely gives a feel for how things are laid out. I gave them a donation check to use as they saw fit. They have said that they make a weekly delivery to the NC Food Bank and that some of that would probably go to the Asheville area for Hurricane Helene Relief. Maybe they could use it for gas to make their delivery.

I cut a couple of slices of sweet onion and added 4 or 5 small slices of sweet Bread & Butter pickles to add to my lunch. I ordered their cheeseburger with a side of Shrimp & Lobster Chowder. My sweet onion was much better than the tough slice of onion that came on their burger, and I didn’t even try the slices of dill pickle that they provided. I cut the appetizer bread in half (I normally eat the whole thing at lunch, but leave off the burger bun that comes with the meal. I brought the half of loaf of bread home with me and ate just a little for dinner with some margarine.

Oh, forgot to mention that before I left Fayetteville this morning I went over and “early voted.” There was no one in front of me in line and I breezed through the process in just a few minutes. I think I voted for 3 Republican candidates and the rest except for maybe one Libertarian were Democrats. I don’t necessarily agree with Democratic philosophy, but until Republicans get some sense and get rid of this overpowering Trump mentality, I’ll continue to disrespect them as much as they are disrespecting our Country. [end NOTE]

[NOTE 10/23/24]: I told you I voted yesterday, and I had heard on TV that several people had reported getting unsolicited emails regarding the validity of their vote shortly after they voted. This got me to thinking so I checked the voting history web site later yesterday and it already had recorded that I early voted on that same day. I think that’s pretty neat, but I tried to check on a few other persons to see if they had already voted and couldn’t find them. But, I actually have to enter my first name as “Billie” which is my name on my birth certificate. I did see Jim Sharpe’s record but noted that his history has been disabled. I guess that is what happens once they know you are dead. *I wonder what logic Jim would have for voting for Donald Trump, if he were still alive. I’m pretty sure the logic would involve voting for the candidate that would provide the most support for the policies and beliefs that I hold dear, but the problem I have is that I don’t want a man in office that might bring America down while nixing Roe v. Wade. I don’t need Donald Trump telling me that I can’t trust our Electoral System (he still says he was cheated, and I heard him on TV just about a week ago saying it again) when it has been repeatedly proven that significant cheating didn’t occur last time. Donald is just a sorry assed, poor loser and I wouldn’t go to him to provide me with “the news and truth.” How gullible can people be to trust this guy over the long established news system? I’m not saying they don’t color their news in various ways, but if you listen to enough, different news sources you can begin to think for yourself and determine what the probable truth is.

When the Trump ads are telling me how bad our economy is, I just “look out the window to see if it is actually raining.” What do I mean? Well I don’t see the signs of a bad economy. I see two new WAWAs opening recently in Wilson, NC. I see a new SHEETZ open where I40 and Hwy. 24 cross and I bought gas for under $3 there. And I’ve been paying less that $3 a gallon for gas for over two months. *Not saying it won’t go up after the Election, because it usually does. I heard on TV about three weeks ago that the Rooms to Go Super Center (located on I95 above Dunn) was planning to expand their facility next year. And, I have bought thick cut, bone in pork chops at a local (Benson, NC) butcher for under $2 a pound twice in the last month, and these chops were delicious. Having said all of the above I question how bad the Economy currently is. All these businesses aren’t acting as if it is a bad Economy, or as if the Economy is going to worsen. Stick your head out and see for yourself. It’s a damned good time to be living in America and not the “gloom and doom” vision that Donald Trump is dishing out in an attempt to defeat Harris [end NOTE]

I see that I have a tendency to say or write “chicken livers” when I am actually thinking, “chicken gizzards.” I like livers & gizzards, but currently love the flavor of the gizzards.

Focusing on Biltmore Village…

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I wanted to focus on a few things that I saw in the images of the devastation in the Biltmore Village area. Before I watched the Carpetbagger’s video of Asheville, I had seen an image on WRAL TV 5 that showed a very large oil drum that had come to rest on Brook Street beside the White Lotus Boutique and a small tree. This drum was wedged snuggly but it hadn’t bent the tree at all. This meant it had to float to where it was and then be gently lowered into its current position. *I later thought to look for where it had actually come from, and I’m pretty sure I’ve found it. I’ll show the location from Google Maps at the bottom.

So the drum had floated about a block away from where it was originally located, and then made a sharp right turn and started up Brook Street before coming to rest. And the giant oil tank with the spiral staircase had been turned on its side and was a short distance from where it was originally located.

[NOTE 10/09/24]: I was just watching another Asheville Disaster Aftermath video and there was another picture of a bridge that had been destroyed. My thought was, would it be worth it to redirect flooding around both ends of a bridge so that the bridge wouldn’t be destroyed but both ends would be washed out? Rebuilding a bridge takes a really long time, but bringing in fill dirt to repair a road would take less effort. So, how could you do that? Maybe like a cow catcher that comes down into the river or stream and then it redirects the water to both sides of the bridge. Might work for a small/short bridge. *Another thought would be to build drawbridges that could be raised not to let shipping pass through, but to let rushing water and garbage have free flow.

Why come up with an idea like this? Well, it’s not that this is a “once in a lifetime” event. Granted that floods occur not that often, but when they do mountain folk are devastated by the destruction. You’ve got to protect your infrastructure to make for a speedier recovery. It’s not that flooding isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but that it is going to happen. [end NOTE]

I googled and found that I’m not the first, or only one to have come up with the idea of minimizing potential loss. Better to lose the road on either side of a bridge rather than lose the bridge.

Lee’s Fresh Market – Benson, NC

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I can get to Lee’s Fresh Market in Benson, NC in about 37 minutes, traveling mostly “back roads.” This butcher shop is a couple of miles outside of the town of Benson, so if I go into town after visiting this market, my GPS shows that returning home is shorter by going back on I95.

There is a Lee’s Market in Benson that is not related to the butcher shop. This is a vegetable market just about a block down from the IGA. But, this Lee’s Market is related to the Lee’s Market which is located at the State Farmers’ Market in Raleigh. I have been going to that vendor in Raleigh for about 13 years, and I found a picture that I took 13 years ago of some Anaheim & Jalapeno peppers at their stand. *These are just green peppers, but at some point they mostly have not-green peppers, reds, oranges and yellows.

But, I went to the butcher shop to especially buy some more Pepper Bacon. This is really good flavored bacon and I’ve even given some as a present to my relatives down in Hubert, NC. They only had one package of peppered bacon. They come in packages weighing approximately two pounds and the cost is about $14. I asked a nearby staff person if they had any more of the bacon. He said he was a “chicken” expert, but he would go back and check about more bacon. When he returned they had just gotten the bacon they season with pepper and he said it would take about a day for more pepper bacon to be available.

I walked down one isle and around to the next isle. Almost immediately I saw a package of thick cut pork chops, two to a package. I normally do not buy thick cut pork chops because I only need about 3 or 4 ounces of meat per meal. But, these looked good and I then noticed that they only cost $2.92 for this package which I then noticed weighed 1.63 lbs. *I had to do the math at home the next day to see how many ounces I could get from each chop. They were just too big. I was going to have to cut each chop in three parts because cut in two parts there were just too many ounces of protein.

I cooked one chop in my large frying pan that is all metal so that I can put it in the oven. I set the oven to Broil on LO. Normally I cook steak or lamb on HI but those are not usually thick cut. I really only like the Round Bone Lamb Chop because I think it’s flavor tastes better. I figured that the thick cut pork chop would burn to a crisp before the inside was done if I set the Broil to HI. The LO setting worked and I flipped the chop after the top started to crisp up. And, this chop was delicious and tender. I only cut off about a third of the chop and that was enough. I had some fried okra & onion, and an ear of corn on the cob, and some corn chips with guacamole.

[NOTE 10/03/24]: I was just watching an episode of “Diners Drive Inns and Dives” and one of the chefs used some Crunchy Garlic Crisp in one of his recipes. I think it went in a sauce that was used on a sandwich. I’ve only used the Garlic Crisp in my stir fry. There are expensive brands of this, but I get a cheap brand at Walmart and it does the job.

I had a little guacamole left from yesterday and find that with a few salty corn tortilla chips this is a decent side with various meals. It’s not just for Mexican anymore.

[end NOTE]

I don’t recall if the first brussels sprouts that I enjoyed included Balsamic Vinegar, but I recall the waiter said that they had honey. That was at Fatz Restaurant in Cheraw, South Carolina. That Fatz location has been closed a few years. There was another location in Rockingham, North Carolina, but I’m not sure if it is still there.

Honey Balsamic Brussels Sprouts 

Ingredients

Produce

  • 2 1/2 lb Brussels sprouts
  • 2 cloves Garlic (I used garlic powder.)
  • 1 tsp Red pepper chili flakes

Condiments

  • 1/3 cup Balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1/3 cup Honey
  • Agave Nectar

Baking & Spices

  • 1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Oils & Vinegars

  • 1/3 cup Olive oil

Dairy

  • 3 tbsp Butter, unsalted

I did not follow the exact quantities above since I was only making enough for one helping. I cut five sprouts in half. At first I started to fry these on the stove top, but then I realized that the tops probably wouldn’t be cooked through, so I put them in a bowl, covered it and put them in the microwave for three minutes. After these looked tender and I put them back in the frying pan on the stove top and finished cooking them. *I did not add the condiments directly to the pan, but after they were cooked and had a dark brown bottom, I put them in a bowl and added the condiment mixture. I didn’t have enough honey (unless I put some of the crystalized honey in the microwave) so I added some Agave Nectar. Oh, and I added some Splenda to the mix also.

I enjoyed these brussels sprouts that I fixed the rest the next day, and they were just as good the second time. But, I hadn’t refrigerated those left from the first day and by the second day, one of them had actually started to rot. I had to cut the rotten part off before using the rest.

This turned out great! They were tender and sickeningly sweet and went well with the pork chop that I fixed on the stove top. *I’ve found that adding some Amchur (mango) powder and Tamarind powder, with some vinegar, lime juice and Equal (and/or Agave Nectar) makes a delicious flavored pork chop. The sweet vinegar flavors are echoed between the pork chop & the brussels sprouts. I also cut some grape tomatoes to go with this and they were a perfect balance for this meal. **I probably could have had cabbage slaw or maybe even some guacamole to balance the flavors of this meal out.

ADDENDUM [12/28/24]: I had driven up to Raleigh yesterday. I wanted to get another French Baguette (LaFarm) sold at Whole Foods, and then go to Wegman’s and see if they had Bigelow’s Raspberry Royale tea. Yes they did, and I bought two boxes (20 bags each). *Amazon wants to charge a little over $7 for just one 20 bag count box and Wegman’s only charged a little over $3 for the same. A few years ago I did buy the 6 pack of 20 count boxes from Amazon and gave them away as presents, but I didn’t want to buy that much again, if I didn’t have to. Fortunately I checked online at the Wegman’s site and to my surprise it said they they did have it in stock.

A black woman clerk had come to me in line and ushered me over to the Service Desk where she was working and checked me out there. We started talking and I mentioned that I had come to buy the Bigelow’s Raspberry Royale tea and she then told me the story about how her daughter who had been pregnant said that raspberry tea would force labor. The daughter had drank some raspberry tea and had her baby the next day. I told the lady that the Raspberry Royale had never forced me into labor, and she agreed that it had not forced herself into labor either. She was old enough that she more than likely shouldn’t be having any children. The woman said she had never tried the Bigelow Raspberry Royale. I paid for my few groceries and walked out to my car. There was a slight cold rainy mist, but as I sat in my car and opened one of the Raspberry Royale boxes it came to me, “why didn’t I open the box and give her a couple of bags to try.” So, I took out two bags of tea, still in their pouches, and headed back inside. When I got to the counter the woman was no longer there. There was a younger man, another clerk that asked if he could help me. I asked the whereabouts of the black woman clerk, and he looked around and said he thought she might have just gone to lunch. I handed him the two packets of tea and asked that he give them to the woman when she returned, then I left.

I ate at the Redneck BBQ Lab at McGee’s Crossroads (Exit 319 off of I40) and afterward headed to Lee’s Fresh Market just outside of Benson. It was after 3 pm when I got to Lee’s, but there were still several cars parked outside. I grabbed a red plastic shopping basket as I walked inside the sliding glass door and headed around to where the pork chops were located. A man and wife were standing in front of the “thick cut” pork chops, but they were looking at other cuts of pork. I waited briefly and then said, “Excuse me,” and reached for one of the 2 chop packages of Thick Cut Pork Chops. I saw the price was only $1.79 per pound, so I reached over and got a second package.

I fixed two of the pork chops for lunch today. I’m using my new “oven safe” VinChef wok to broil them. It does an excellent job and cooks them quickly. This wok is beautifully ornate on the inside and on the bottom! As I’ve said elsewhere, I can make two or three meals out of each thick cut chop. Each chop is about a pound (16 oz.) so quartering it would mean each serving would be about 4 oz. And 4oz. would be perfect. The chop was good again, and the grease/gravy left in the pan is delicious also.

Guacamole…

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If there was a graveyard for the avocados that I have let spoil before I was ready to eat them, it might rival those buried at Arlington Cemetery (people not fruit). One predicament is that if I need an avocado for today, all the avocados at Walmart are rock hard and won’t be ready for 3 or 4 days. Or, I’m trying to think ahead and I’m looking for an avocado that will be ready in 3 or 4 days… and all of those avocados at the grocery are already soft and will start to turn brown by tomorrow. Also, if I buy a medium sized avocado, I don’t need to eat it all, when half would do.

[NOTE 10/31/24]: I think it was a woman customer, behind me at Pate’s who mentioned that putting an avocado in a glass of water (completely covered) and putting it in the refrigerator would make it last longer, so I tried this. Unfortunately, I forgot about this avocado and it was probably two weeks before I pulled it out and attempted to cut into it. At first I thought it was frozen. It was hard and difficult to cut around the kernel, but I did and then left it to thaw before twisting it apart. But later, when it should have been thawed, it was still hard, but not cold. I did manage to pry it apart and to my surprise it was rock hard inside. It looked fairly good, if it had been soft, but it wasn’t soft. Not sure why it took on this extreme rigidity, but maybe just a few days would work to hinder the overripening. [end NOTE]

Finally I thought through this dilemma and decided that I would cut the ripe avocado in half and eat half now and make guacamole out of the other half. I could refrigerate the guacamole and it might last for another couple of days, so I might be able to skip a day between eating the whole fruit. *I try to cycle through the different types of food/meals I prepare. I don’t want to eat steak every day, or chicken every day, or steamed cabbage for every meal, so I try to change my entrees and sides. I’ll eat chicken in a stir fry today, and a pan fried pork chop for the other meal. I might steam asparagus, cabbage or cauliflower for one side and maybe fix a cucumber/onion salad in sweetened vinegar or stewed Roma tomatoes to go with whichever other side I’ve chosen. I may choose a hot side to go with a cold side. I like a microwaved Russet potato with butter & sour cream as a side and I might eat steamed asparagus with that choice. Cabbage slaw made with Dukes’ Mayo and some Half-n-Half might go well with a pork chop. I like a hamburger or maybe a large Sweet Italian Sausage patty that I might put on a ciabatta roll (or half of a roll).

I currently like a simple ciabatta roll sandwich, made with some Dukes Mayo, a couple of slices of Wegman’s White American cheese, a slice of Sweet (Vidalia) onion and some Hillshire Farms Pastrami. Carlie C’s IGA has a small bag of Wavy “store brand” Potato Chips that sells for about $1.48. This is not a family sized bag, nor a single serving bag. I can make 3 or 4 meals with this sized bag, and not eat the whole thing at one sitting. So I put some of these chips in a plastic sandwich bag, along with the slice of onion and maybe a few grape tomatoes. In another bag, I put a wedge of “Ranch Dill” pickle or olives, keeping the dry ingredients from the wet. For the Dukes Mayo, I put some in one of my small Rubbermaid containers that have an “Easy Find” lid. And, a few weeks ago I happened to see and buy a set of eating utensils that fit in a plastic carrying case (metal spoon, knife and fork). So this sandwich is what I fix sometimes when I drive up to Wegmans Grocery in either Raleigh or Morrisville. I actually buy the pastrami, cheese and the ciabatta roll at Wegman’s and make the sandwich in my car. I either eat in the parking lot, or find a nearby city park with some shade. *It is amazing how delicious this sandwich tastes. A bite of the pastrami sandwich, then a wavy potato chip, and maybe a tomato or a bite of the dill pickle. Oh, I also buy a cheap ICE flavored drink (costs about a dollar) and may have brought a half empty frozen drink container with ice that I can pour the drink into to cool it off.

Raw peanuts at Pate’s Farm Market in Fayetteville.

I like various nuts. I have eaten a lot of raw peanuts this summer. Pate’s Farm Market, across town, has a large pile of raw peanuts for sale. There is a scoop, but I use my hand to select my peanuts, and most times I eat a mess of them right after I get back to my car. I also like roasted pumpkin seeds and cashews. *Years ago the Fresh Market offered “Wasabi Soy Cashews” and I really liked the flavor, but then they discontinued that flavor of cashew for about nine years. A year or so ago, they brought the Wasabi Soy Cashews back, but once again they didn’t sell well. I had found that I could use the wasabi soy seasoning powder that sloughed off and put it on roasted pumpkin seeds. And the flavored pumpkin seeds became my favorite over the cashews. I finally found the wasabi soy seasoning powder at Amazon, and now buy a small package about once a month. I can season quite a few pumpkin seeds from (“Wasabi Soy Seasoning Sauce Powder – Kinjirushi Brand) this one package. They are addictively delicious.

About once a month or a month & a half, I buy a whole rotisserie chicken from Harris Teeter. It costs less than $8 for the whole cooked chicken. I can make four or five meals from this one chicken so it is very cost effective. Two breasts (maybe 4 oz. of white meat each), and two drumsticks with some white meat (3 oz. each), and then pick off the remaining meat to make chicken salad. Cabbage slaw and some baked beans would go well with the chicken.

I like various seasoned beans like black eyed peas, large white lima beans, or green split peas, and I am partial to lentils with some carrots & onion. I season the beans & peas with bacon or ham hock. Some time ago I made a delicious “mess” of green beans, white potato and bacon. Beans & potatoes both mess with my blood sugar levels so I don’t fix them quite as often as I would like.

I like the flavor of German Potato Salad which is simple to make: potato, bacon, onion (maybe some celery if I have it) and vinegar & sweetener. I like the flavor, but I can’t have this often because it “messes with” my blood sugar levels.

I used to make spaghetti sauce at home (about every two weeks) but rarely do this now because I don’t need all the starchy pasta noodles. After years of using the cheap starter sauces (from Delmonte or Hunt’s), I heard about Rao’s sauce and now buy their Marinara starter. The cost difference is probably $2 for the cheaper sauces and $8 for Rao’s regular jar, but Rao’s produces a better end flavor. I add ground beef, onion, sweet (yellow or red) bell pepper, and sometimes mushroom pieces. I might add some Italian Sausage, but not always, and I will add some garlic, or garlic powder, along with some fennel seeds. I read that Italian Sausage is seasoned with fennel seeds so I thought to add this as extra flavoring. *It is a licorice flavor. I just saw a review of several starter sauces online and Rao’s was a favorite of several reviewers. I don’t know why it’s that good, but it is that good!

BREAKFASTS

I often fix fried apples and bacon for breakfast. I like using Gala apples and often use bacon grease to fry the apples (sometimes with olive or avocado oil). If I have it, I use some pepper bacon that I get from Lee’s Market near Benson, NC but also like the Gold Leaf (plain not peppered) brand from Smithfield. The Gold Leaf is a cheaper brand at Carlie C’s IGA, but I noted that Pate’s charges about $3 more per package for the same product. *My mother fixed fried apples for me the first time, but I don’t think we had them very often. They only had sugar and ground cinnamon for flavoring, but as I started to fix them fairly often I began to add most if not all of the “warm” spices. So, I added cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace and nutmeg. I later added ground coriander (a lemony flavor) to the mix and each time I fried apples I would sift sweetener (not sugar) on the cooked apples first and then took each spice in turn and sifted it across the apples. Only recently, when I bought a set of empty glass spice jars, I decided to combine these spices into a separate Fried Apple Spice Mix. I also used some Pumpkin Spice mix, but I don’t think it includes any additional spices. *I haven’t tried it yet, or even thought about it until now, but I might try adding Amchur (mango powder) or Tamarind powder as an alternative flavoring. I think either would go well with the sweetener.

I have several flavored teas that I eat with my breakfast: Bigelow’s “Earl Grey” or “Constant Comment” (both of these I have drank probably since 1985 and was introduced to them by Rick & Linda Bell (former Marine Pilot and later a Baptist pastor). Several years ago, while on a trip to Lynchburg, Virginia I tried another Bigelow tea, “Raspberry Royale.” If you had asked me first if I wanted to try it, I probably would have said, “no.” But after I tried it, it was good hot, and good even when it got cold. I actually bought a six pack from Amazon and gave the boxes as Christmas present one year. I don’t know why I bought another brand (Taylor’s) to try some time ago, but I did. As I recall, I didn’t like the “heavy” flavor of “Scottish Breakfast” tea the first time. But, a few days later I tried it again, and I liked it a little and by the third time I tried it, “I was hooked,” and it is maybe my favorite hot tea now, with half-n-half and Equal & Sweet-n-Low sweeteners, Agave Nectar, and coconut sugar. I was reminded about Rooibos and bought a small box of this flavoring in tea bags, and they make a good cup of tea. Rooibos means “red bush,” and I don’t think it is actually tea. Probably like sassafras. *It also makes a good hot drink that goes well with sweetener and creamer. — Remember this, because it does taste better with Half-n-Half.

I also like the Starbucks Brand of “Breakfast Blend” coffee. I get this in a $9 package of their already ground coffee. *In the past, before Covid, I would buy a Harris Teeter brand of coffee bean and grind it at home, but after Covid they didn’t bring this back in bean form. **An interesting aside was that someone (probably Deborah Savage) had given me a pound of ground coffee from Cracker Barrell as a Christmas present. Because I ground my own beans, I had left this package in my cabinet, probably for several years. When Covid struck, I eventually ran out of my favorite HT coffee beans so I went to the cabinet and tried the Cracker Barrell coffee. It had a good flavor. The next day I tried it again, and it was good again. But on the third day, I finally had the thought of how ironic this coffee was. I HATED the Cracker Barrell coffee when I ate breakfast as their restaurants. I hated the flavor so much that I would order (or bring my own bag) tea instead of their coffee. But, here I was enjoying every cup of their coffee at home. But, eventually this coffee would “run out,” and fortunately it ran out just as my second (booster) Covid immunization happened. After I had my shot, I think I had a hair cut, and (maybe not it that order) then went to Cracker Barrell to eat (and buy their brand of coffee). I think they sold a decaffeinated blend and one that wasn’t. The packaging had changed. I think it had previously been a metallic copper colored theme, but now was a metallic aqua color. That may have been reversed also (the color of the packages). So, I got the Cracker Barrell coffee home and brewed a cup, It wasn’t good. I don’t think it was as bad as the restaurant version, but just not worth buying again, or continuing to drink. I spent $9 on various packages of coffee from Harris Teeter, and Walmart, etc. and finally found the Starbucks Breakfast Blend that I’ve continued to drink.

I like to fix egg salad (usually from two hard boiled eggs) for breakfast sometimes. Add a little Dukes Mayo and some margarine (Cracker Barrell Original) to the egg salad. Some polenta and bacon and a few grape tomatoes (or Campari) finish out a delicious breakfast.

Another favorite breakfast includes a microwaved egg seasoned with Dulse, celery seeds, salt and some freshly ground Indian Long Pepper. I add a little olive oil and cook the egg in a plastic onion cooker. This cooker cooks a whole onion, but can also be used for cooking a potato (white or sweet) or maybe even an apple. You put the object to be cooked in the container and it steams inside it fairly quickly (a minute for the egg and about 4 or 5 minutes to cook a potato). The egg comes out round and flat, and maybe has the texture of an omelet (or maybe a scrambled egg). I like English Muffins, but can’t have them often because of my blood sugar, but add this egg to the muffin and then a slice of cheese and a slice of Canadian Bacon and you would have something approximating an Egg McMuffin. *Add some liver pudding (mush), casing removed, mashed and mixed with some sauteed onion. And heat up some polenta and mash it up like mashed potatoes. The polenta becomes the base, and you put the liver pudding & onions on top. Also add some grape tomatoes and this is delicious. **I like tea or coffee with this breakfast.

Not for breakfast, but I also like corn on the cob (steamed in the husk in the microwave in about 5 minutes) with a little salt and margarine. I like fried okra (but I like okra in soups also) without batter, and sometimes add onion to be sauteed with it.

I have a drink that I mix almost every day, and I’ve had it each day for months and months. I have glass carafes that I add water to, leaving some room for orange & cranberry juices mixed. To this I add a packet of Pomegranate Lemonade and a packet of Iced Tea (maybe with Lemon). For some reason this drink mix, which I call “Bill’s Drink Mix & Some Juice” never gets old. I usually make it and have drunk the whole thing before midnight. *Sometimes I run out of one of the ingredients (no OJ, or cranberry juice, or one of the flavored packets [Walmart] ) and the drink is never as good. **I did like the Dragon Fruit flavoring, but eventually stopped liking it much. Walmart at one time had a Lime flavor packet and I really liked having a glass of this after eating out at a restaurant. For some reason, I didn’t like the lime flavored drink at home, but when out and about. They stopped making those flavor packets but for a while I would find one that I had misplaced at home or in the car and I would enjoy it again. No one else makes a lime flavoring.

I haven’t mentioned peppers, or seafood chowder, or a Hispanic or Indian (India) meal. I can chop up chicken, some veggies: carrots, onion, bell peppers & tomatoes and just by changing whether I add Salsa Ranchera from Herdez, or Hot Curry Paste from Patek’s I can go in two completely different directions. Have to add sweetener and/or Agave Nectar to this to “turn it” properly. Either of these would go good on top of rice or mashed sweet potato (with some cinnamon, sweetener and margarine),

Oh, I also created a Polska Kielbasa, Shrimp and Zucchini dish. The only other ingredients are onion, a little tomato (just enough to make a slightly red sauce) and some pasta shells. This also has ground cayenne, or red pepper flakes, or maybe even some diced jalapenos. This is a spicy dish. Sometimes it takes my breath, in a good way. But each item sings it’s part in the show. Not too much shrimp, or too much kielbasa or too much zucchini. Each bite a tiny island of flavor, and the tomato disappears except for the color of the slight red sauce. The onion isn’t a star, but is necessary, and the pasta shells soak up the sauce flavors. Hmmm, hmmm, good, over and over and over.

I haven’t quite mastered my stir fry. Chicken usually, but shrimp, or pork or even beef sometimes. Carrots, tomatoes sweet bell peppers and onion. Toasted sesame oil and some soy sauce with garlic powder. There is a “crunchy garlic” paste that I also like.

[NOTE 10/05/24]: I mentioned to someone yesterday that I liked a simple salad made with turmeric, vinegar, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers & sweet onion. I think I found this on a Mediterranean themed site. The turmeric gives an acrid flavor to this, and eating some olives with this would also work. *I recall that at some point I added sweetener to this. I think I saw a turmeric pickles recipe that caused me to try this. I liked the sweet acrid flavor. *I might try adding turmeric to some dill pickles. I know I like the Ranch Dressing flavor that adds to the dill spears. [end NOTE]

Fun with sound alikes;-)

bgibson135
fairfare
taretear
maremayor
somesum
dumdumb
pairparepear
palepail
mainmane
rootroute
tauttaught
dourdower
mistmissed
bowbow
towtoe
paitpate
hearthart
roughruff
greatgrate
baitbate
tailtale
teartare
boybuoy
ternturn
earnurn
sewso
bowlboll
boughtbot
lightlite
jewelsjoules
cellsell
peatpete
hairhare
auntant
rainreign
piecepeace
starestair
jewsjuice
flewflue
moremoor
raiseraze
painpane
traintrane
beenbin
dotterdaughter
ayeeye
teatee
slaysleigh
halehail
bytebite
teatee
cachecash
notnaught
newknew
pewpugh
tootwotew
restwrest
sitesight
weightwait

Actors & Actresses That Remind Me of Each Other

bgibson135

Kathy Baker
Lindsay Crouse
Nancy Travis
Gwynyth Walsh

  • Kathy Baker
    • Jessie Stone Series
  • Lindsay Crouse
    • the Arrival
  • Nancy Travis
    • Rose Red
  • Gwynyth Walsh
    • Insect

I rarely see either of these actors without thinking of the other. I think they should be brother and sister.

EDWARD BINNS

Periodically I see Binns in an episode of the Twilight Zone. He was the commander of an early space flight that fails and lands back on Earth, but the crew thinks they have landed on some asteroid. They are in the desert near Las Vegas but there are no signs of humanity, so they think they are on a desert asteroid and may not survive the harsh environment. Dewey Martin is a crew member that systematically kills off the other crew, to save himself. Only at the end, Martin’s character comes over the rise and sees a roadway and power polls and realizes where he is, but by then all the other crewmembers are dead.

JOANNE LINVILLE

I see that Joanne Linville died at age 94. I was just looking at a color picture of her in character as a Romulan Commander (who was in love with Spock). She was looking good, and those thigh high boots were soooo sexy. *I saw a woman in a grocery store (seems like it was Publix a few years ago) and she had high boots. They weren’t thigh high, but higher than most, and it made me think of Linville’s character.

KEYE LUKE

I’m going to include Keye Luke on this page although he does not remind me of another actor. I just wanted to show the young Luke as Charlie Chan’s #1 Son, “But gee pop,” talented artist, and the wise old Luke that guided David Carradine’s character through Kung Fu. *And, I first was made aware of Luke as the old blind Kung Fu Master.

No. 1 Son of Charlie Chan
Warner Olan
Talented Artist
Blind Kung Fu Master

SUZAN FARMER

An actress with a different look over time.

Hammer Queen
With Adams
Die, Monster Die!
Avid Swimmer
With Dillman
Death in Deep Water

HARVE PRESNELL

And now an actor that didn’t even remind me of himself, although I enjoyed his performances 30 years apart. What a voice as he sang, “They Call the Wind Mariah,” in “Paint Your Wagon,” and then years later he played an abusive, old salesman, with Barbara Rush in an episode of “the New Outer Limits.”

1964
“They Call the Wind Mariah”
Paint Your Wagon
the New Outer Limits

AGM-114 Hellfire missile @ $65K and almost $2 Millions to deliver it.

Jalapeno Pork, Tomato Chutney & Guacamole.

bgibson135

Well, I came up with a meal that works well together. It started with me fixing a version of Jalapeno Pork. I had chunks of pork that were large diced like you do beef for stew beef. To this I added several mild peppers that I sliced and diced in various sizes, and one jalapeno. I think I added some chopped onion to this also and put it all in a pot on the stove top along with a little chicken stock, S&P and probably some garlic powder. This turned out relatively good.

Trying to think of something that might go with this, I decided upon fixing a tomato chutney, which might also be called spicy stewed tomatoes with some onion, garlic powder, red wine vinegar, a little Balsamic vinegar, Equal sweetener and some Agave Nectar.

Finally, I fixed a form of quacamole in which I included a half of a small avocado, one chopped tomatillo and a little diced sweet onion. For seasoning I added S&P, some ground cumin, celery seeds, Duke mayo, and sour cream. This became the perfect foil to the spicy jalapeno pork. Very cooling.

And, I also had some flat corn chips from Mission that were salty.

Jalapeno Pepper
Ajicitos Dulces Peppers

I hope I can remember what all I put in this meal because it was “spot on.”

Jalapeno Pork

  • boneless pork chops cut into chunks
  • a jalapeno diced
  • a red cayenne type pepper, diced (frozen also)
  • a couple of the Ajicitos Dulces Peppers diced (these I bought at Compare & froze several)
  • diced onion
  • Green Chilies
  • Splenda & some Agave Nectar
  • S&P

Cabbage Slaw

  • Green cabbage shredded
  • Sweet Onion diced
  • Half-n-Half (just a smidge)
  • Garlic Powder
  • Fenugreek Powder
  • Dukes Mayo
  • Splenda
  • S&P

[04/13/25]: Tonight I added some Mung bean sprouts (I grew myself.), some sweet red bell pepper and a little Agave Nectar. And I had a few blue corn tortilla chips and this worked well also. [end]

[04/27/25]: Red cabbage works well as slaw. High is Vitamin C and antioxidants. More nutritious than green cabbage. I added Mung bean sprouts again, and they are crunchy like the cabbage, and their color looks good in the slaw with the red cabbage. [end]

Jalapeno Pork Recipe (Smaller Portion)

Ingredients:

  • 0.75 lbs boneless pork chops, cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 1/2 medium onion, diced
  • 1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced (remove seeds for less heat)
  • 1 red cayenne pepper (or similar), diced (adjust amount to your spice preference)
  • 2 Ajicitos Dulces peppers, diced
  • 2 oz can of diced green chilies
  • 1 tablespoon Splenda (or brown sugar for a richer flavor)
  • 1 tablespoon Agave nectar
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil (or your preferred cooking oil)
  • Optional: 1/4 cup chicken broth (or water)

Instructions:

  1. Prepare the Pork:
    • Cut the boneless pork chops into 1-inch chunks.
    • Season the pork chunks with salt and pepper.
  2. Sauté the Vegetables:
    • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
    • Add the diced onion and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
    • Add the diced jalapeno, cayenne pepper, and Ajicitos Dulces peppers. Sauté for another 2-3 minutes, until fragrant.
  3. Brown the Pork:
    • Add the pork chunks to the skillet and brown on all sides.
  4. Add Remaining Ingredients:
    • Add the diced green chilies, Splenda, and agave nectar to the skillet.
    • If the skillet seems dry, add a 1/4 cup of chicken broth or water to help create a sauce.
    • Stir everything to combine.
  5. Simmer:
    • Reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the pork is tender and cooked through.
    • Stir occasionally.
  6. Taste and Adjust:
    • Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning as needed. Add more salt, pepper, Splenda, agave, or peppers to your preference.
  7. Serve:
    • Serve the jalapeno pork hot, with rice, tortillas, or your favorite side dishes.

I was in the IGA and saw this pork chop on sale. I knew I had a couple of thick cut pork chops thawing in the refrigerator, but this looked so good and I knew it would make the jalapeno pork (without chunking it up) and it did. .69 lbs. would be a little over 11 oz. of meat (with bone) so even cutting it in half would yield about 4.5 oz. for two meals at about a dollar a meal.

Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups shredded green cabbage (about 1/4 of a medium head) Option: Red cabbage for green.
  • 1/8 cup diced sweet onion (adjust to your preference)
  • 1 tablespoon Half-n-Half (just a “smidge” for creaminess)
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (adjust to your preference)
  • 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek powder (start with 1/8 and add more to taste)
  • 1/4 teaspoon celery seeds (adjust to your preference)
  • Option: Mung bean sprouts
  • 2-3 tablespoons Dukes Mayo (adjust to your desired creaminess)
  • 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon Splenda (or other sweetener, adjust to your preference)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

  1. Prepare the Vegetables:
    • Ensure the green cabbage is thinly shredded.
    • Finely dice the sweet onion.
  2. Combine Ingredients:
    • In a small to medium bowl, combine the shredded green cabbage and diced sweet onion.
  3. Make the Dressing:
    • In a separate small bowl, whisk together the Half-n-Half, garlic powder, fenugreek powder, celery seeds, Dukes Mayo, and Splenda.
    • Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
  4. Dress the Slaw:
    • Pour the dressing over the cabbage and onion mixture.
    • Toss everything thoroughly until the cabbage and onion are evenly coated with the dressing.
  5. Chill (Recommended):
    • For the best flavor, cover the bowl and refrigerate the slaw for at least 20-30 minutes before serving. This allows the flavors to meld together.
  6. Adjust Seasoning:
    • Before serving, taste the slaw and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Tips and Considerations:

  • Fenugreek: Since you mentioned fenugreek again, I’ve suggested a slightly broader range. Remember it has a distinct, slightly sweet and sometimes a little bitter flavor. Start with the smaller amount and add more if you enjoy it.
  • Celery Seeds: Celery seeds add a distinct aromatic and slightly bitter celery flavor. Adjust the amount based on how prominent you want this flavor to be.
  • Balance: Taste the dressing before adding it to the cabbage to ensure the flavors of the garlic powder, fenugreek, and celery seeds are balanced to your liking.

Makes 1-2 portions.

Approximate Nutritional Value per Serving:

Jalapeno Pork (estimated for roughly 1-2 servings):

  • Calories: 300-450 (This can vary significantly based on the fat content of the pork chops)
  • Protein: 30-45 grams
  • Fat: 15-30 grams (again, highly dependent on the pork)
  • Carbohydrates: 5-10 grams (mostly from onions, peppers, and the small amounts of sweetener)
  • Fiber: * Calories: 100-150 (primarily from mayonnaise and Half-n-Half)
  • Protein: 1-2 grams
  • Fat: 8-13 grams (mostly from mayonnaise)
  • Carbohydrates: 5-10 grams (from cabbage, onion, and sweetener)
  • Fiber: 2-3 grams (from the cabbage)

Combined Approximate Nutritional Value for One Serving of Jalapeno Pork and Cabbage Slaw:

  • Calories: 400-600
  • Protein: 31-47 grams
  • Fat: 23-43 grams
  • Carbohydrates: 10-20 grams
  • Fiber: 3-6 grams

Important Notes:

  • This is a rough estimate. To get a more accurate nutritional value, you would need to:
    • Weigh all your ingredients precisely.
    • Use a nutrition tracking app or website and input the exact quantities and brands of each ingredient.
    • Account for the cooking oil used.
  • The fat content of the pork chops will have the biggest impact on the calorie and fat estimates. Leaner cuts will result in lower values.
  • The amount of mayonnaise used in the slaw will significantly affect the calorie and fat content.
  • Adding blue corn tortilla chips will increase the overall calorie and carbohydrate count.

My Long Pepper grinder has stopped working and I don’t know how or why. *I figured it out. The microplane was rotating with the grinder handle, so no grinding was taking place. I used a small amount of Gorilla Glue on the outside of the grinder and it seated the microplane again, and now it is working once again. **I just did one drop of glue on the outside and not glue all around.

I was in the mood to fix some Jalapeno Pork today and found some boneless, center cut pork chops at IGA. I cut them in long strips and then crosswise to form small cubes. I ate some Blue Corn Tortilla Chips with the Jalapeno Pork I made today. I also ate some cold refried Black Beans and they were very good.

I drove to Lee’s Fresh Market near Benson today (06/25/25) in hopes that I could buy some of the thick cut pork chops I’ve bought there before. I hoped they would have some for sale, and that the price per pound would be low. It was probably about 10 am when I arrived and there were probably 10 customers around the store. I took a red plastic shopping basket and walked around to where the pork was located. I saw a package of thick cut pork chops, but I think the price was about $3+ a pound. Fortunately I continued to look and there was a package at $1.98 per pound, and then I found another at the same price. I think they said something like “Weekly Special” or “Manager’s Special.” But as I put the third package in my basket I noticed that they had another special sticker… “Buy One Get One Free.” Wow! Not only a good price per pound but a great price at half that amount. So I got four thick cut pork chops at about $4 total (plus tax) for the four. I bought 4 packages. I was planning to keep one. To take two packages down to Mary Ann’s and Ray’s tomorrow, and to see if Jeff wanted a pack. I’m not sure if Jeff or Robin eat pork chops, But when I got to Jeff’s and rang the bell and knocked on the front door, I couldn’t get anyone to come to the door. There were no automobiles visible, and although I heard the dog inside, Ashlyn never came to the door. She may have been away.

I ended up leaving a check, and a couple of bags of books for Ashlyn near the front door. I try to get her art related books that might give her ideas for when she becomes a graphic artist. One book was a small one on glass objects. One about brass doors. One about Indian (India) art, and one was a history of England during one or more of her periods of history. I also had a few of the advertising magazines that you find at the front of certain grocery stores like Wegman’s and or Whole Foods. But now that I think about it, I haven’t seen these magazines the last few times I’ve shopped at either store. Odd, I thought.

But, I’m not sure what Ashlyn expects to do as a graphic artist, but I think it would be an interesting profession to work for one of these local color magazines in some U.S. City. You would always be writing copy, or stories, and illustrating each in some way and creating other ads.