I found a recipe online and made a small test batch, not using the suggested ratios of ingredients, and it turned out really well. I used Avocado Oil which has little flavor. *For years I have confused this sweet, red salad dressing as being either Russian or French… and maybe that is because I think I have seen it mislabeled on various restaurant salad bars. But, I do like the sweet, red Catalina Dressing.
Thousand Island
Mayonnaise
Ketchup
Onion – diced
Pickle Relish
Hot Sauce
Vinegar
Garlic – minced
S & P
This may not be the original online recipe I used, but it is close enough to the ingredients. I made this dressing at home to go on my Pastrami Rachel Sandwiches and it “turns” the Sauerkraut just right. I have made this recipe several times and it turns out well.
Curried Mayo Remoulade
Mayonnaise
Curry Paste
Small Capers
I first made this at home after having visited the Water’s Edge Restaurant for the first time several years ago, and having a Shrimp Po Boy Sandwich that had a curried remoulade dressing. I’m not sure of the actual ingredients, but these three items came close enough. At one time, I kept a small jar of this in my refrigerator regularly and put it on various sandwiches, not just seafood.
CATALINA DRESSING
The first time I made this I used the wrong amounts for several of these ingredients but it made the dressing better. I think I used twice as much smoked paprika as designated and this made the finished product a deeper red color. It looked beautiful, a shiny ruby red.
I was watching re-runs of Fawlty Towers the other day, and in the episode above, the American guest tries to order a Waldorf Salad. Basil Fawlty is having to be the chef, and he has no clue. Not sure I’ll remember it correctly, but the guest repeats several times to Fawlty the ingredients for making a Waldorf Salad… Apples, celery, grapes, walnuts in a mayonnaise sauce, on a bed of lettuce.
Swansboro Elementary Cafeteria
I think, as a child, the cafeteria used to serve a Waldorf Salad on various days of the week. Seems healthy and simple enough.
So, now I have made a Waldorf Salad at home about three times and it has turned out very well. I like toasted walnuts and pistachios, some raisins, halved seedless grapes, apple slices (Gala, Envy) , chopped celery, Equal sweetener and mayo. I’ve also added some Greek Yogurt to the mayo, and that does give a light tanginess to the dressing. I added some chopped dates, and that is pleasant also.
Both pictures above are of the same salad, just used the camera flash on one of them. Made and mixed this in one of my medium Pyrex bowls. *Several years ago, I bought six Pyrex mixing bowls: 2 – Large, 2 – Medium, and 2 – Small. The medium sized bowls have been used a great deal, and every so often, some concoction requires a large mixing bowl.
I added dried cranberries, with grape halves, and toasted walnuts & pistachios. *The toasted nuts definitely add to this salad! I used a little Splenda and a little Agave Nectar.
Pecan-Chicken Salad Sandwich at Arby’s
Ingredients: Diced chicken, red grapes, apples, celery, pecans and mayonnaise with green leaf lettuce on toasted honey wheat bread.
Lime juice, Red Wine vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce
Salsa Ranchera – Herdez
Roasted Tomatoes
Carrot
Onion
Sweet Bell Peppers (red, orange, yellow)
Sweetner
Splenda
Agave Nectar
Cilantro
Marjoram, Basil, Salt, Pepper
Cabbage Slaw
Cabbage
Sweet Bell Peppers (red, orange, yellow)
Onion – Sweet
Sweetner – Splenda
Mayonnaise – Dukes
Half-n-Half
Marjoram, Basil, Celery Seeds, Salt, Pepper
I’ve done these types before, and probably even combined them as a meal, but they are really good together. *Chicken is currently very cheap. I had noted that steak, pork, and lamb had all gone up in price, but I passed by the fryer chicken a couple of weeks, but noted how cheap it was a pound. Finally, I bought a package for a little over $6, which had six good sized portions of chicken breast.
I have found that a little cream in the slaw is better than just mayo. The echo of sweet bell peppers, cooked with the chicken, and raw in the slaw play well together.
I would imagine that a baked sweet potato would work well with this meal. Chicken, slaw and baked sweet potato, hmmmm good;-) Rice might work, but I can’t imagine it with slaw. *Just thought, avocado! Maybe just sliced or cubed, but maybe with something else. Play off of the Mango, Avocado, Onion & Chipotle Salad idea…
I don’t recall if I had tried Bigelow Teas before I met Rick and Linda Bell (New River Baptist Church), but I do recall having Constant Comment and Earl Grey tea at their home (Brynn Mawr Dr., Jacksonville, NC).
See Spring 2017 Vacation for how I first tried the Raspberry Royale tea. This was the tea I tried, and there was an assortment of Bigelow Teas in the Public/Common Area.
I bought a small package of dried orange slices at Sprouts some time ago. I got them home, and took one out and then realized that eating them straight out of the package wasn’t pleasant. They were hard, dry orange slices. Not candied. But, I didn’t throw them away immediately. *After months, I was preparing a cup of Constant Comment tea, and I had the thought that the flavor influence of this tea was ‘orange’ and I thought that maybe adding a slice of the dried orange might enhance the flavor. It worked. The orange slice re-hydrated, softened, added to the tea’s flavor and even was almost completely edible after the tea was drunk.
I like cream in my Earl Grey and Raspberry Royale teas.
ADDENDUM [02/13/22]: I had not thought of Rick or Linda Bell for quite some time. Rick was still a Baptist pastor in Liberty, NC the last time I saw him in person. And, unfortunately, I was in a state of mental turmoil, specifically due to my work, at the time, and am sure my visit was viewed negatively. What do I remember? I think I met the Bells about 1984 and we attended New River Baptist Church in Jacksonville, NC at the time. Rick was still in the Marines and I believe he was a Marine pilot that was a navigator on an Intruder. He attributed hearing damage in one ear due to the placement of an engine on the Intruder. He was stationed overseas at some point and left Linda and the two boys, Chuck and Chris, in Jacksonville (Brynn Marr Rd.). I got to know Linda because we were both in the New River Choir. When Rick returned from being stationed overseas, we all became friends, and Rick and Linda took me in, as a family friend. Both Chuck and Chris were still boys.
As Rick was being extricated from the Marines, he and I played on the Red and Gold golf courses on board Camp Lejeune. I wasn’t any good, and the golfing bug never really caught me. *I was a tennis player. After the Marines, Rick went to seminary (Wake Forest) and became a Baptist minister. Seems like Rick and Linda lived in Raleigh, NC for some years, but I last saw them in Liberty, NC, where Rick was pastoring. Rick and the boys were outdoorsmen, canoeing, etc.
I was told that Chuck was in the Navy and was a whiz on a nuclear submarine. Chris had learning issues. One time, I recall saying something ‘witty’ to Chris, who looked at me angrily… as he processed through what I meant, and when he realized that I wasn’t intending to insult him, his demeanor changed and the anger left his face. But, his learning disability would haunt him, and he failed his senior year in high school, twice. He did not know how to cope with this failure positively. *I think that he could have used his outdoorsman talents, as a nature/hunting guide or some such, found him a girlfriend/wife and had a pleasant life doing those things he was good at.
I’m not sure of which year I last visited the Bells in Liberty, NC, but I just came across the obituary for their oldest son, Chuck who died at age 42 in November of 2012. No one wants their children to precede them in death.
ADDENDUM [ 11/17/23 ]: Glad I wrote this because I couldn’t recall the name of the aircraft that Rick flew on. And, in reading about the seating arrangement of the pilot & navigator (Rick being the navigator.) on the Intruder, they were seated side by side, but the navigator’s seat was located slightly lower than the pilot’s in order to give the pilot a better view. This might have put the navigator closer to the engine, and that would have aided Rick’s hearing loss in one ear.
I think Rick didn’t go to seminary fresh out of the Marines. Seems he may have acted as a camping guide for a while, not sure if Raleigh or somewhere further west in NC, before going to the Baptist seminary in Wake Forest, NC. *Not Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, NC.
But, it was while Rick was a pastor in Suffolk, VA (I think.) that Chris committed suicide in his father’s study. Just yesterday, it sank in a little deeper at how devastating this must have been. I did go up to visit the family during that time and recall Linda in tears. I’m sorry that Chris didn’t find a positive way out, or past his learning disability. As I said above, he could have probably found “his niche” in society that might not have been up to a certain standard, but more than enough to make him a happy, fulfilled person.
I arrived about 11:15 am today. There were no customers in the restaurant when I first entered. I started to order a small order of ribs, but the cashier said they would be ready in about 15 minutes, so I quickly changed my order to Burnt Ends… with baked beans, and slaw, and water to drink.
My order was brought out shortly and I had already sat down in the small dining area. I’ve never had “burnt ends” before, although I know they are desired by some, and only available on certain days at the Redneck BBQ Lab.
The first thing I noted was that my dinner roll was cold. They should fund for a bun warmer, because a warm, tasty roll would add positively to the experience. I just noticed that the slaw in the photo above does not seem as darkly colored, although it was. It was a savory version of slaw with minute black flecks, that I at first thought of as being something like dill seed, but later guessed might be just black pepper. The baked beans were spicy, and very similar to those baked beans I recently made at home.
The very first “chunk” of burnt ends that I tried was entirely composed of fat. Well, burnt skin around a chunk of fat. Something I decided not to eat again, and only found about three other fat chunks in the order. My impression was that I might not like burnt ends, as many do. The BBQ sauce had a vinegar base, with a standard smokey sweetness.
I guess I would say that this combo of meat and sides fought each other. The beans and slaw needed to be taken down a notch, and the dinner roll warmed. I did wonder if I wouldn’t get severe indigestion from the burnt ends, but that didn’t materialize.
No, I probably wouldn’t go back for a meal. They did have some good looking meats, sausage & bacon in the glass cases.
Not sure why I started to fiddle with the packaging for my Thomas “The Original Nooks & Crannies English Muffins” but I think it was because I was looking to make it fit for storage a little easier. And that is probably not the complete reasoning, because the flat, rectangular package is already pretty storable.
But, I was surprised by how easily I could remove some of the unneeded container paper (the two ends, and the white/un-printed bottom of the package) and still come up with a good looking, drum package that even had enough space to view the actual product (6 muffins stacked on top of each other). Here is my prototype:
Note the little bit of space to show an edge of each muffin.
thomasbreads.com is the web site for the company. I saw that their bagels were already packaged like what I am suggesting for their muffins. I sent a suggestion for this packaging change to them with links to the two images shown above.
How would these be presented on store shelves? Would that be a reason to not change the packaging? But, I think that reducing the plastic wrapper by about a third, and reducing the current paper tray without any major changes to the printed package, would be a real cost savings worth looking into. The Thomas logo that is printed on the plastic outer wrapping could be moved to the bottom.
[NOTE 02/16/24]: I love the flavor and texture of an English Muffin, but I will rarely buy them because they are high in carbs, calories & sugar. But split and toast an English Muffin, and then spread Orange Marmalade or Raspberry Jam, with some butter/margarine on the slices, and get a cup of hot tea… that’s a flavorful meal. [end NOTE]
I’m not sure I have more than a couple of examples of SciFi movies that portray small towns (with a Southern feel) accurately, but here goes:
“Dark Was the Night” 2014
Kevin Durand (Sheriff)
Lukas Haas
Bianca Kajlich
“The Crazies” 2010
Timothy Olyphant (Sheriff)
Radha Mitchell
I like the above movies because the small towns they portray, and the small town stereotype characters they portray feel comfortable. They are a “grown up” version of Andy of Mayberry… if Mayberry is attacked by weird creatures or a zombie creating virus.
NOTE [08/28/22]: A short time ago, I came across the 1973 version of “The Crazies”. I tried to watch it, but the remake was so much more interesting, and the earlier version focused much more on the military side of the incident. I did fast-forward to the end of the movie, and wasn’t impressed. The remake is much more interesting having the main characters escape to the big city, but not really, being tracked via satellite.
“The Mist” 2007
Thomas Jane
Laurie Holden
I love this movie for many reasons. The creatures are numerous and bizarre. The military has been working on some transdimensional gate, lost control, and these creatures are crossing over into our World. The personal interaction of those trapped in the grocery is intense. And, the ending, bleak and leaving us reeling as must be the Thomas Jane character. Rescue so close, and yet a step away from being able to rescue in time.
*Netflix has just made “The Mist” available for free viewing and I have re-watched it, twice I think. I started googling and found that the exterior shots of the grocery store as the mist rolls in, were filmed in Vivian, LA. I did a StreetView tour around the Vivian, LA filming location. Two notes, are that the rear loading window (important to the tentacled monster attack upon the bag boy) wasn’t actually located where the movie seemed to place it. Also, there is a King’s Pharmacy shown as the mist rolls in. That building didn’t actually exist, and the structure was added as a testament to Stephen King. It was torn down shortly after filming. * I found that the abandoned grocery store in Vivian is scheduled to be demolished so that a new bank building can be built. Most of the movie’s store locations was filmed on a sound stage.
Depending upon which street you now navigate to (Oct. 30, 2023), in Google Streetview, you can see the Food House location (outside view) from “the Mist” movie (minus King’s Pharmacy) and during the building of the new First Guaranty Bank branch (old grocery store demolished). Recall that interior shots of the grocery store for the movie were from a Hollywood constructed set.
War of the Worlds Burning Train Passing ByThe Mist Gigantic Mist Monster
Above are two “iconic” images, one from “The Mist” and the other from “The War of the Worlds.” They only last seconds in each film, but their “scifi-e-ness” makes them “haunt on” after the movie.
The lumbering six legged gigantic monster even has large flying creatures (in my mind they are some of the larger bird-like creatures that attacked the giant bug-type creatures in the store), very small in comparison to the six legged monster, but definitely imaginable as birds hovering over a cow or moose might do when looking for hovering insects.
The empty burning train just so haunting, without a ‘dead man’s switch’ and all train staff and passengers dead, a train might just barrel on through, with automated railroad signals activating, not dependent upon whether any human being was alive on the train or not.
Not having to do with Sci-Fi at all, but portraying a small town, as I remember it when I was growing up, is the movie, “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.” Those early scenes of the bus (Trailways?) coming into town reminded me of the “feel” of how it was growing up in 1960s eastern North Carolina. I don’t recall if we drove up to Jacksonville each Saturday, or every other Saturday to buy groceries at the Colonial Store in New River Shopping Center. But, New River Shopping Center was the hub of commercial activity in Jacksonville at the time. There was Sears and Roses Department Store, and the Center Theater (25 cents for a movie). Bill Rollis’ Steak House was on a corner, and near it was Ron-Cor (a hobby shop that at some point had an 8 lane slot car track). There was a drug store, and a small US Post Office next door to it. And in one little interior corner was a little room, with a fancy door, that was where Santa came each year before Christmas so that the local children could come stand in line, with their parents in order to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.
There wasn’t the Internet, so you couldn’t go “online” to look at stuff, or buy stuff, and have it delivered “next day.” Sears was an international company and they produced thick “shopping” catalogs with hundreds of pages in each catalog. The catalogs were free. There was a summer and a winter catalog, and maybe even a special Christmas catalog, and the catalogs had men’s and women’s and children’s clothing sections, and you could buy household appliances, or lawn mowers, and loads of toys. This Sears had an automotive section with “drive bays” and mom would go there periodically to have our car checked or tuned up, or repaired as needed.
It was rare that it snowed in eastern North Carolina for Christmas. Christmas was more of a special time back then because it only lasted a brief time, or at least the advertising, and special seasonal TV programs only were shown within a few weeks of Christmas day. “Have a holly jolly Christmas. It’s the best time of the year.” Was that Burl Ives? And I think mom said that Burl Ives had stopped in Swansboro once, as he was bringing his boat along the Intracoastal Waterway, and that he had been “rude” to the locals, who then didn’t think much of him. *Which reminds me of something that I once heard the actor, Ernest Borgnine, say on TV, “Be good to your fans on the way up, and they will be good to you on your way down.” I’m not sure if that always proves to be true, but if what goes around, comes around, then it is added protection for that time you know will eventually happen (to us all).
The Roses Department Store had a cafe counter up front near the check-out registers. Comic books were 10 or 12 cents for the monthly installment, and the inside pages weren’t glossy, hi-resolution images. I might have bought Superman, Batman, Lost in Space, Spiderman and even Silver Surfer eventually from Roses.
I’ve written elsewhere that we shopped at the Colonial Store, and that mom would also buy the “wheat pattern” dishes as they came up for purchase, and you would get “Gold Bond” stamps with each purchase, that you would stick in a little booklet. Once the booklet was filled with stamps, you could take that to the distribution center (I think this was in New Bern, NC.) to redeem for various items.
Mom bought a complete set of children’s encyclopedias. You couldn’t buy the whole set at once, but had to buy one of the 16 volumes as it became available. I don’t recall if they became available weekly, bi-weekly or every month. I’m thinking it wouldn’t have been monthly because it would have taken almost a year and a half to buy all 16 if that was the availability period. *I bought a complete set of these encyclopedias several years ago and the set came with and additional 5 or 6 volumes that represented the continents. Atlases? The shipping, from Alabama, cost more than the cost of the books. **I had in my mind that there was an illustration of an insect trapped in amber in one of these encyclopedias, but the illustration I found didn’t match my memory. Nor did my memory match the blue suede tennis shoes that I actually owned (once I compared a picture I had in my Swansboro High School annual). I did actually have a school outfit that I combined that had white Navy mess pants (with button fly), a red terry cloth short sleeved shirt, red/white& blue suspenders that I added a couple of white stars to, and the blue tennis shoes. I can’t believe that I actually combined this and wore it to school, apparently my Senior year.
I do recall that a local TV personality from Wilmington, named Rick Tash, came up one Saturday and gave out balsa wood airplane toys. **I did find his name, Rick Tash, in some online document once, so I know I didn’t imagine him. These toys probably had the red plastic propellers and you would stretch a rubber band along the length of the toy’s fuselage, wind the propeller and then let it go into the air. The wound rubber band would cause the propeller to spin and propel the toy through the air. Not a long distance, but it was satisfying. And, if you managed to put the toy together successfully, it wouldn’t be long before it crashed into the ground or something else and part of it broke.
The basic construction of this balsa wood toy airplane hasn’t changed much (if any) in 60 years.
Note [05/01/24]: I made some Tuna Salad early this morning. Probably about 2 am. The only thing I do not add if I am making this ahead of time is the tomato. If I am going to put this salad or a Greek Salad in the refrigerator I leave out the tomato because refrigeration affects their flavor negatively. Don’t refrigerate tomatoes! It ruins their flavor. [end Note]
It is the human condition to suffer angst or dread periodically through-out life. It comes at various times, and for various reasons, and to various degrees. *If you take a test, especially in college, the “End of Time” will never come before you get your “bad” grade back, so just “suck it up” and live with the grade you earned. It might be the thought of getting a girl, or losing a girlfriend that generates a degree of angst. It might be something you said, that worries you because you wish you hadn’t said whatever it was. Or, you might dread having to read a report in front of class. I always liked to volunteer early for these oral reports so that there wasn’t anyone to compare me to. I usually wasn’t first to read or speak, but usually by the fourth person.
Definite proof that I am a far leftist… Why would I choose to read an article in The New Republic regarding Tucker Carlson Melting? I was primed for this article having watched a brief segment of Tucker Carlson a night or two before on TV. Whatever he was talking about, I recall making a judgement that he was vehemently wrong.
But, in the last several years, since Donald Trump was elected President, I have seen events happen and when Republicans should have been irate regarding the wrongs being done, by fellow Republicans, instead they turned a deaf ear, and a blind eye to the wrongs. They treated the CORONA Virus as if it was a political opponent instead of a virus. The attack on the US Capitol on January 6th…
SPPL has a clean Men’s Restroom. Of all the libraries I have visited, Post COVID, the Southern Pines Public Library seems to be flourishing as if the Pandemic had not occurred. Well, I am not sure of how many patrons should be visiting, perhaps more.
Bill Gibson, II 