Tag: food

Bringing It Home.

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Thai Basil Chicken from Maguro’s in Southern Pines…

I have taken a few things with me when I am going to Maguro’s to have lunch, and I have since after my first visit only eaten “Thai Basil Chicken”.

Russ and Deborah took me there to celebrate my birthday and Russ had the Thai Basil Chicken. I had something else, which was “okay” but looking at Russ’ meal from across the table, I thought it looked especially tasty. At some point, Russ asked if there were hot peppers in the dish. I recall that both Deborah and I looked and I think we found what appeared to be a sliced Jalapeno. Now, I would guess that hot is not what Russ wanted.

I’m sure that Russ and Deborah had “cut out a swath of time” for me for my birthday celebration, but after lunch as we are standing in the Maguro’s parking lot talking, I realized that I had an upset stomach. My way of saying that I felt I needed to go to the bathroom. I told them I was going home and left my celebration early.

But, the next day I drove up to Southern Pines again to have lunch at Maguro’s, and to order the “Thai Basil Chicken” for myself. Making back to back trips to Southern Pines from Fayetteville would be highly unusual for me, but at this time, our gas prices had not started to rise drastically.

The Thai Basil Chicken was delicious! During the Pandemic, I would normally drive to Southern Pines on Thursdays and order the lunch special, which for sometime was still only $7 with water to drink.

The few things I took included:

— Hot Mustard which I would dip my egg roll (more like an egg roll instead of a spring roll) in and their sweet sauce. This mustard will take your breath away if you eat too much, and too much might just be a very little.

— Toasted Sesame Oil which I add to the fried rice. I had found that the flavor of the Toasted Sesame Oil was what “meant” fried rice to me. This does make the rice flavor better.

Many times I have eaten the entire meal at the restaurant, but a few times, I have brought a “doggy” box home with me. And, what I found is that adding extra peppers and onion to the left overs works well. I had some hot peppers including Habaneros, a poblano and some onion which I cooked up on the stove top. I added the peppers & onion to the left overs and microwaved for a couple of minutes. This worked excellently!

Andouille Lentil Soup

I knew that I wanted to make some lentil soup before I left for lunch in Southern Pines. I was going to look for some Andouille sausage at Fresh Market in Southern Pines. Not all sausages are the same, and I have had bland Andouille. But, I have also used Polska Kielbasa which was a failure. Not spicy.

I went into the Fresh Market and sauntered through apples, carrots, nuts and olives before making it to the meat counter in the back. You can only get to the meat counter from two directions, and I realized after walking along the counter that there was a “proper” direction, and there was a large sign for “the next customer”. I had not asked a butcher for assistance, and after finding the head of the line took my place behind an elderly couple that had just been called up to the counter by a butcher. I saw sausages and one of those was labelled ‘Andouille’. Another butcher, a black man, came to the counter and asked if I needed assistance. I asked him if the Andouille was spicy. He said he had not tried it personally and did not know. I asked if a pound of the Andouille was about two links. I ended up getting 3 links for a pound. The white butcher didn’t know if the Andouille was spicy, but knew that Andouille should be.

I had a 3 quart pot, and put a couple of links of the Andouille in the bottom and cut the casings from end to end. I tried to scrape the meat from the casings. I then added some red & brown lentils, some chopped onion and some chicken broth, S&P, and garlic powder. At some point I added some Poblano, and hot peppers, including a Habanero.

I was finishing off my Maguro’s Thai Basil Chicken as I was cooking the Andouille Lentil soup. But, I was tasting the soup broth, and it was obvious that it was spicy hot. The Andouille was ground chunkily (which is how it should be) and had good flavor, although I honestly cannot say if this Andouille was spicy because of the overpowering heat from the hot peppers I had added. But, this was really good soup, especially because it was spicy hot, and had good meat flavor!

So, I am sitting on the toilet the next morning, and it comes to me that my stomach feels like someone had punched it. It is slightly sore, and I smile thinking that the cause of it was all the spicy, hot peppers I had eaten the day before.

After lunch, I drove over to Ken Chappell’s fruit stand near Candor. This is a regular practice during peach season. Peaches & apples are the main produce, but they also have okra, tomatoes, cantaloupe & watermelons in season.

I bought a watermelon ($7 maybe $5), three small tomatoes, some Gala apples (small & hard) and a small bag of peaches (Flame Prince). I drove back to the Fresh Market.

I drove over to the Mitchell’s after I had bought the Andouille. No one was home, no cars in front, and no one answered the door bell. I left a few apples & peaches on the table under the patio.

I drove back to Fayetteville. I left the watermelon in the car, but brought the rest of my purchases & the left-over Thai Basil Chicken inside.

Not sure how soon afterwards that I went to bed, but I awoke about 8:45 pm. I started wandering through the apartment. I see that I left the left over Thai Basil Chicken in the little white plastic box, on the table, not the refrigerator. And also on the table was the package of Andouille Sausage, unrefrigerated. I got the bag of peppers out of the refrigerator, grabbed an onion, and started chopping dividing it out by eye, some in the Andouille Lentil soup pot, and some in a small fry pan (for the left overs).

Just before I got home, I stopped at the Food Lion. I bought a bag of carrots (for the lentil soup), a few Gala apples (for fried apples), a sweet bell pepper, roasted cashews, and supposedly “Sweet Bites” tomatoes. I was surprised to see the Sweet Bites, because they haven’t been available for over a year (maybe longer). But see my concern, because although the “Sweet Bites” package has returned, the small tomatoes inside are not the same variety (or flavor) as previously sold under this name by Sunset Company.

ADDENDUM [ 08/12/22 ]: Boy! I just had another helping of the Andouille Lentil soup I made last night, and there is just one more helping left in the fridge. This soup turned out to be really good, and addictive. It is so spicy hot, and the Andouille sausage has enough distinctive flavor (although I still can’t judge whether it is spicy, hot, or not), and the Poblano peppers offer their distinctive, earthy flavor and the carrots provide a cooling effect. I like lentil soup and have made several versions of it in the past. But, they are not always winners. I remember adding Texas Pete hot sauce to it in the past. I think that I had forgotten which type of sausage to use, and Polska Kielbasa doesn’t work here. *So, I would add this version of Andouille Lentil soup to my three other favorites, Curried Apple, Tarragon Leek, or Avocado Chipotle soup.

I currently think that they would be ordered in this order, as to my favorite:

  1. Curried Apple (hot or cold)
  2. Andouille Lentil (hot liquid, and spicy hot)
  3. Tarragon Leek (hot or cold)
  4. Avocado Chipotle (hot)

Time Passes…

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I don’t recall how many years after I came to Fayetteville to work, in August 1995 at Fayetteville State University, that the second Golden Corral location in Fayetteville was built on Ramsey Street. This Golden Corral location was a favorite of mine, often visiting at least twice a week. The staff were friendly and DeWayne was a good waiter for many years. After they closed this location, DeWayne and others were moved over to the newly built Golden Corral, located at the same location near the Mall.

Is that my Honda Civic?
DeWayne
Old GC Torn Down for New
Main GC Torn Down for New
Last Visit
Last Plate @ the Golden Corral Ramsey Street

A slide presentation and brief notes on a GC Ramsey Street visit in 2014.

The new Golden Corral was not necessarily better, or even as good as the old. The serpentine, undulating serving areas of the old locations provided a more friendly, less frenzied approach for customers to fill their plates. The new serving line was long, very long, almost spanning the entire length of the building and straight. The problem with this long straight line was that other customers were always “coming at you” from both sides and sometimes even behind you. Another negative aspect of the new Golden Corral was that the environment was incredibly “LOUD”. Sound bounced off the walls easily and became almost deafening. Oh, and there were certain sections of the restaurant where there was not enough room between the tables, on each side. Few want to have people and waiters/waitresses brushing against you to “get by” while you are eating.

Another negative was that DeWayne was never quite the same “happy” self in the new GC as he had been for years at the GC on Ramsey. I think the new was a more harried pace.

After Golden Corral moved out of this location, it was taken over by a Chinese restaurant. I don’t recall the name of the restaurant. Might have been “Supreme Buffet Hibachi”. I do recall before they actually opened, I was thinking that they didn’t need another Oriental restaurant in this area. I was a regular customer of the “Little China” restaurant which was just a few steps away, next to Ollies. But, the new buffet was good and I almost stopped going to Little China. Finally, when I did return to Little China, they had discontinued their buffet and I didn’t go back afterward.

After the Oriental restaurant left, “Fred Chaisson’s Grandsons Buffet” opened. I became a regular here also.

I include the two pictures below, because they look like the Ramsey Street location of Chaissons. The corrugated tin siding, and the neon pig on the red wall were familiar.

“Fred Chaisson’s Grandsons Buffet” on 3901 Ramsey Street fell prey to COVID. They closed when other restaurants were closing their buffets, and never opened again. And after a couple of years, I was riding by the other day and looked over to see that they had torn down most of the building. And by later that day, they finished the building demolish. Today as I rode past, it looks like they have cleaned up the rest of the parking area.

Not too long before I saw that they were demolishing the Ramsey Street location of Chaissons, I had heard/seen a report on WRAL about a shooting that had occurred at the Chaisson’s location in Hope Mills. The positive of this was that I didn’t know they had a Chaissons there, and I will probably visit at some point.

In writing the last paragraph, I was reminded of the Chaissons location which was down in Lumberton, NC. I’m not sure if there was a fire, but at some point the location stopped being a restaurant and fell into disrepair. The problem might have been the flooding in 2016 and not fire. *And, I correct myself. I just did a Google StreetView of the location down in Lumberton and see that it was a Fuller’s Restaurant and not a Chaissons.

The Agri Supply store is just about a mile, up the road, to the right of this picture, but on the left side of the road.

Fuller’s has the same “country cooking” type buffet as Chaissons. I know I visited the above location in Lumberton at least once before the fire. It has been a long time since I ate at Fullers in Fayetteville, on Eastern Blvd. Most times when I go past it, it appears to be closed.

White Bean & Chicken Chili

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$1.34
$1.64 4oz.
$1.52

The basic ingredients came to about $7.50. I added a clove of garlic ( large chop ), dried basil, S&P, a little Splenda, some Agave Nectar and a little lime juice. *Just a little Splenda and Agave give this chili a slightly sweet taste, and the chipotle peppers, chipotle powder, red pepper flakes, and cayenne give it a good heat. I would add some chopped jalapenos (red or green) for extra flavor and I did add some chopped yellow bell pepper.

I’ve tried something like this before, but it did not turn out well. This did satisfy! It was a little sweet, with some heat (about 3 chipotle peppers) and large chunks of Vidalia onion.

One Clove (large chop)
Agave Nectar
Two Roma Tomatoes (chopped)

I tried this a second time, but instead of using canned white chunk chicken, I bought a whole baked chicken (original flavor) and shredded some of the white meat and added it to the chili mixture. This worked great!

Chunk Chicken
Shredded Chicken

I had some Mission Corn Chips left, and they went well with this chili. I see that avocado, cilantro, sour cream and Mexican cheese are suggested toppings for this. *The second time, I added a bunch of cilantro to the chili during cooking. I ate an avocado with the chili, and this was good.

I was in the Compare Grocery the other day and saw some red jalapenos (marked that way on the price card). I only got about 4 of these and took them to the checkout along with the other items I was purchasing. The girl rang up these as “Thai Red Chilis”. I think the price was about a dollar more per pound than the sign had said for the red jalapenos, so I said to her that these weren’t Thai Red Chilis but Red Jalapenos. She stopped and showed the clerk at the next register, and whatever was said, she still rang them up as Thai Red Chilis. It could be that both clerks were referencing the wrong code number, or maybe the grocer had labelled this item incorrectly in the system. But, I told her I didn’t want to purchase them and she set them aside.

Red Jalapenos
Thai Red Chilis
Red Cayenne Peppers

Seems that the Red Cayenne Peppers are slightly different in curvature and a little bend at the end of the pepper, but Thai Red and Red Jalapenos are distinctly different.

NOTE [05/30/22]: The oven-roasted chicken was a great idea for this, but at about $7.35 for the whole baked chicken, this is a great deal. I had a couple of drum sticks, and a bunch of white breast meat that could be shredded for the chili, and/or for a sandwich, etc. I was sort of surprised at how cheap the whole baked chicken was this time. I think the price had gone up (several months ago) and was over $8.

NOTE [ 12/16/23 ]: The can of Bush’s White Chili Beans now costs about $1.98 at Walmart, previously $1.76. I did go to Compare Foods again and bought some green Jalapenos, Poblanos and some red peppers (not sure if they were red Jalapenos or some other variety. I had a small can of diced Green Chilis. I don’t see if I added some chopped onion before, but, I did this time. I used sweet onion but that is just because I have an overstocked abundance of the sweet onions. Added some cayenne pepper, some whole Cumin seeds, some dry Cilantro & dry Parsley. Did add the bit of Splenda & Agave Nectar.

Funny, was just reading above and the same thing happened again at Compare Foods. The girl at the register rang up a red pepper, but it was a couple of dollars more than what the sign had said. I had already taken a picture of the red peppers & listed price and I ended up getting these cheaper, maybe even a dollar cheaper than had been advertised on the signage.

I was fixing some Chipotle, Chicken & Avocado Soup for lunch and had thawed about three raw chicken strips. I fried the chicken in some bacon fat, and then shredded it all using about a third of it in the lunch soup. The rest I put in the small pot that I had used for the soup, with the white chili beans and other ingredients (dicing the various raw chili peppers). I’ve got the chili in the pot, on the stove-top, and cooking on low heat.

Even though I didn’t use a roasted chicken from Publix, the whole roasted chicken for about $8 from Publix is a great deal. The two drumsticks are each a good meal, and the breast meat from each side is another couple of meals, and what is left over is enough for 3 more portions… maybe for a chicken salad (with sweet bell peppers, onion, mayo and some diced celery), or a chicken salad with Romaine lettuce, Kalamata olives, Pepperoncini peppers & a dressing of olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, sweetener and dried Italian herbs. This is reminiscent of a Greek Salad, with which I currently have become enamored.

Grit Cakes…

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I bought a small bag of grits and ran most of them through my chopper to give them a finer consistency. I then used 1 cup of grits and started off with 2 cups of water. I had to add extra water, stirring to keep most of them from sticking to the bottom of the pot. After they were done (to taste), I poured the cooked grits into a 9 in. glass pie plate and put some plastic wrap over the top and put this in the refrigerator. Went to lunch and several hours later started the oven Broil at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Put a little margarine around the edge of the pie plate at the edge of the grits. Then, switched to Bake for about 7 minutes. There was just a little browning (very little), and a fine film of grits formed across the surface. I cut these into pie shapes, put most in a Tupperware storage container and put them in the refrigerator. **The baked grits did not stick to the glass pie plate, and there was just a small amount of moisture in one isolated location on the bottom of the plate.

I had a small amount of Creamed Spinach which I reheated. I had more of my stewed tomatoes (cold), which are like the tomato chutney that the Blue Willow Inn provides for meals. *The tomato chutney (sweet) as excellent with the Fried Green Tomatoes (savory).

I had no meat or gravy, but the grit cake, creamed spinach and the tomato chutney made a delicious meal… I even heated another grit cake with a little margarine on top, but had finished off the spinach and tomatoes. The little bit of spinach & tomato remaining in the bottom of the bowl flavored the grit cake well.

I haven’t had Polenta in a long while, but do like it, and this was my attempt to make a Polenta-like cake from cheap grits. *I’m sure the grit cakes will go well with the Round Bone Lamb Chops and a little of the gravy from the lamb. Glazed carrots, tomato chutney, creamed spinach, steamed cabbage or asparagus.

Actually, I just recalled that my first introduction to a Polenta cake was probably at “Trillium, a Bistro” in Asheville, NC several years ago. It would have been with the Alligator Sausage, and with Andouille Sausage… or with a Lentil soup.

NOTE: Add jalapenos, and or cheese to the grit cakes for alternate flavorings.

In my googling, I came across several articles regarding using a waffle iron with polenta (or could also be used to make a waffled grit cake). I was cleaning my bedroom closet and found my waffle iron.

[04/10/22]: My first attempt at using a waffle iron with the grit cake polenta went okay. I brushed oil on the waffle plates, top and bottom. I then cut triangles (and other shapes) of the grit cake mixture and placed them in each of the four plate sections, closed the lid and waited. There was steam coming from the plate and eventually, the waffle iron light turned green, the signal that the waffle should be ready. Not sure how the waffle iron measures doneness… is it the moisture content of the waffle mixture, and how would you measure that? The temperature?

But, when I opened the waffle iron, the grit cake was still un-browned, but it was a good grit cake that went well with the mushroom gravy I had prepared. *Think I’ll try fixing a few more grit cake waffles, and then brown them in the oven, with cheese on top, just before eating them.

[04/11/22]: Turned out really well! I had some left-over steak, mushroom gravy, glazed carrots (with Cary’s Sugar Free Syrup {has a maple flavor}), tomato chutney {what I am now calling my pot stewed tomato & onion concoction}, and I put some of the 6 Cheese Italian Blend shredded cheese on a couple of the small grit cake waffle sections, and put it under Broil HI for several minutes. The cheese browns nicely. These turned out really well, and grit cake (or polenta) soaks up the gravy and other juice flavors.

Before and after adding the mushroom gravy and the tomato chutney.

Maguro Restaurant

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Yesterday, I went up to Southern Pines to have lunch with Deborah and Russ Savage.  They had just gotten over the flu the previous week.

Thai Basil Chicken Lunch Special

I ordered the General Tso’s Chicken with Spring Roll and fried rice.  Russ had the Thai Basil Chicken lunch special.  I don’t recall what Deborah had.  These lunch specials are only $7 plus tax, with water.  The three meals came to a little over $22.

My meal was good, but looking at Russ’ food, I thought, “Now that looks really delicious.”  Russ bit into something that was spicy, and we finally demised that it was probably a slice of jalapeno pepper.

We finished and walked outside and talked in the parking lot.  We were discussing on what we were going to do the rest of the afternoon, but my stomach was upset and I bowed out to return home.

Next day, I decided to come back up to Southern Pines and to Maguro’s to try the Thai Basil Chicken lunch special.  On the way up, it started to rain and very quickly the rain came down so hard that it was difficult to see.  I would have pulled off the road if there was a spot, but the heavy rain was brief and I made it to the restaurant without further problem.

I sat in the first booth, just inside the entrance.  The male host recognized me from the previous day.

I ordered hot tea.  It was a green tea, and was in a cast iron tea pot.  The tea was in several bags and the tea appeared to be a relatively bright shade of green but looked minced and not the usual tea fronds.  I didn’t like the flavor, but drank several cups.  Reminded me of grass.

I ordered the Thai Basil Chicken lunch special with fried rice and a spring roll.  I asked the waitress if they had “hot mustard” and she thought quickly and said no.  I said, “That’s okay.”

The meal arrived shortly, I had been looking at things on my phone.

It was a good looking entre.  The chicken appeared to have been flattened and lightly breaded in small portions.  Some of the other ingredients were egg plant, jalapeno slices, spring onion, red, yellow and green bell peppers, mushrooms and onion.  The Spring Roll was more like an Egg Roll and was cut in half on the bias, with a sweet garlic sauce in a small bowl.

Thai Basil Chicken Lunch Special

The restaurant is relatively large with a large Hibachi section, a small bar area with TV and a smaller divided boothed area.

This was a good experience and good food for a great price!

20200303_120740
A different visit and presentation of the same Thai Basil Chicken lunch special.

So, I’m watching a cooking show today and it’s really about pizza, but they are using tuna on a specialty pizza… and viola.  I see that there is a type of tuna called Maguro (ha!)

20200317_200329

Maguro (mah-goo-roh) or hon-maguro, is the Japanese term for bluefin tuna, perhaps the best known and most commonly eaten fish in all of sushi dining. (Definition from Yahoo Search.)

ADDENDUM [07/07/22]: I had lunch at Maguro’s again today. But, I only ate about half of the meal and got a “To Go” Box for the remainder. There was quite a bit of chicken left over, and a good amount of rice, but only one half of a small egg plant, a little of the Thai Basil, Bell Peppers, and onion. And, half of the spring roll. *I think of Maguro’s spring rolls as more of an egg roll. It has very good flavor.

I got home around 6 pm. I had planned on fixing some corn on the cob & fried okra to go with a little bit of left-over steak, but when I put the bag with the To Go Box of lunch down, I decided to fix some peppers & onions to add to it. This was the perfect addition. I sliced up a little Red Jalapeno, and some yellow, orange and green peppers that I had bought at the State Farmers Market on Tuesday. And, I sliced up some Vidalia Onion and fried it all, using some Grapeseed Oil & some Toasted Sesame Oil and a little dried Basil (not Thai). Once done, I added all of this to the left overs, and mixed it all up.

This was excellent! Maybe better than the original meal. All the peppers seemed to have a little heat, although I had been told several were “sweet”.

Chipotle Mango Salsa

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Basically, chunk up everything, mix, and give it enough time for the avocado to break down some to form a creamy sauce.  Use one or two Chipotle peppers, chopped up.  If you like more heat, add more peppers.  The peppers are the unexpected element to this salsa.  You get sweet, and hot.  Vidalia onions are probably best.

$T & Walmart
$T

NOTE [05/11/22]: I fixed this again recently and put some left overs in the refrigerator. It took me a couple of days to finish it, and I had put the remainder in a small Tupperware container which had cooled in the refrigerator for a couple of days. By the time I ate the last of it, the avocado had plenty of time to break down and form a delicious, mild sauce. The food was really cold, and by the time I had finished it, I said to myself, “That was almost like ice cream.” Not the texture of the salsa, but how good ice cream is… a really good desert, and that is what this salsa can become!

I used some other brand of Mangos in a jar, the last time, and I had a couple of raw Champaign Mangos, which I sliced up and added to the salsa.

I wrote about making this Chipotle/Mango Salsa while travelling in my posting called, “Road Gourmet.” I would have to re-read the posting to see if I mentioned about not being able to find some of the ingredients, or not find them all at one grocery. I haven’t made this is a while because I think it affected my blood sugar negatively.

I was recently looking in an old cookbook [Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook published in 2008 by Oxmoor House p.153] that I had bought a short time ago and found a version of this:

Mango and Avocado Salsa

  • 2 ripe large mangoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1 large avocado, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • ½ medium-size red onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon hot sauce
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon pepper

This recipe includes fresh chopped cilantro, but uses hot sauce instead of chopped Chipotle peppers.

[06/23/25]:

Spicy Mango Habanero Guacamole at Trader Joe’s

I rarely look to Trader Joe’s for any grocery items, so it was unusual for me to be on the Trader Joe’s web site today. But, during my brief visit, I happened to see an add for “Spicy Mango Habanero Guacamole.” As I looked at the image and read the following list of ingredients, I began to realize that with an addition of pineapple chunks & cilantro, and a substitution of chipotle peppers for habanero/jalapenos, I would have a satisfying guacamole that mimicked all the salsa flavors.

Chunks of golden Mango provide the sweet. The spicy comes from a combination of jalapeño peppers and Habanero pepper purée. These sweet & spicy components are complemented by just a handful of other fresh (never frozen) ingredients, including onion, red bell pepper, and cilantro. Of course, we can’t forget the avocados! Our Mexican supplier acquires Hass variety avocados from nearby farms and scoops them by hand to create the creamy and delicious Guacamole base.  (Description from Trader Joe’s web site.)

I normally do not fixt this salsa because the mango and pineapple affect my blood sugar negatively, but I do love the flavors, and as I recall, if you leave the dish a couple of days in the fridge and allow the avocado to break down to a smooth, cool sauce, this becomes “a dessert.”

The last several times I’ve been in Food Lion, I’ve walked past where they sell the DelMonte Brand of canned fruit, but I haven’t seen any sliced mangos, which a few years ago they always had one or two glass jars of mangos. The mangos in a jar are not as good looking as the fresh mangos. *Oh, and I have seen and bought several cans of mangos at Dollar Tree ($T). I’m not sure if I still have them, or if $T still sells them, but I know that $T does sell the canned pineapple for $1.25, because the price is prominently displayed on the can, as part of it’s advertising by the company.

[end]

Test with my new folding keyboard.

bgibson135

I am at Hwy 55 in Apex.

Sent from my Galaxy S®III

The Hwy. 55 is no longer at this location in Apex. I’ve noted that at least one other Hwy. 55 has closed in Kenansville, North Carolina.

I think it was a couple of months ago, I was passing through Kenansville one night, on my way back to Fayetteville from Hubert, and stopped in to get an order of Onion Rings and a Diet Dr. Pepper. Everything was the same, except for two things I did notice. They had a new menu, on a single two-sided laminated sheet of paper, and their outdoor sign was either not lit, or missing.

Everything was the same! So, I really didn’t pay attention to the phrase on the menu that said, “Friends You Know.” It was only later that I realized that “Friends You Know” wasn’t an advertising slogan for Hwy. 55, but the new name of this restaurant, “FYK.” The woman manager, perhaps owner, brought this to my attention that they had bought out Hwy. 55 at this location but were still serving most of the former items, and they still had onion rings and Diet Dr. Pepper, and all the 50’s glitz was still on the walls, the black & white checkered floor tiles and a full sized Elvis up near the front door.

The onion rings and the Diet Dr. Pepper were both just like they had been before, deliciously pleasing, with a lot of ketchup. And at least once since then I’ve tried to stop by again to have some more onion rings. One time they were closed for a holiday, and another time they were also closed, maybe closed on Mondays? So, I still want to enjoy another order of onion rings.

[NOTE]: On a later visit, I talked with a young (19) man who was a cook. He told me that the woman wasn’t the owner, or maybe even a manager. [end NOTE]

Lunch at Golden Corral & the Weight Loss & Gain

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Entree

Normally, I have chicken, and sometimes fish, but today, I had roast beef which had some stewed potatoes and onions.  There was also the cabbage which is very flavorful and the greens with some chopped onions.  I only had one broccoli floret today.

I will normally follow this up with dessert which I put in a soup bowl.  I had 3 ripe strawberries, a slice of Bartlett pear, some chopped walnuts & sun flower seeds, raisins, dried cranberries, some sweet chocolate bits and sweetened, shredded coconut.

I’ve lost about 30 lbs. since January 1st and here is my current pants size.  These are tighter than the other two pair of pants I bought at the same time at J.C. Penny’s.

[ADDENDUM 01/03/25]: I see from the above photos that this was May of 2012. I would have been 58 years old at the time, and this would have been near the end of my second “stretch of losing a lot of weight,” at which time I would start gaining most of it back again. I made a note that I lost weight at about 2 or 3 pounds a week, and that created a weight loss chart at about a 45 degrees angle downward. But when I started to regain the weight again, I would gain at about half the rate upward (about 22.5 degrees angle upward).

There must have been some kind of psychological barrier for me to get below a weight of about 230 lbs. A few pounds on either side of this, and all that “easy loss” was out the door. And, it was easy loss. Once I had the mindset, and my metabolism had kicked in gear I had no problem losing weight. I wasn’t hungry, or starving myself. In fact I could eat a bunch of the “right things” and even splurge (or cheat) at times, and still come back to the right path and keep losing weight.

The first great weight loss, I wasn’t diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic and that meant I ate almost every vegetable literally from A to Z. Asparagus, avocado, beans (black/butter,/green/kidney/lima/pinto), beets, broccoli, cabbage (chinese/green/red), carrots, cauliflower, celery, corn, cucumbers, egg plant, garlic, leaks, lettuce, mushrooms, okra, olives, onions, peas (garden/sugar snaps/snow), peppers (sweet & hot) potatoes (red/white/yellow/sweet), pumpkin, radishes, ramps, rutabagas, spinach, squash, tomatillos, tomatoes, turnips, and zucchini. I don’t recall eating brussels sprouts at that time, but I now love them. I don’t think I got to Dandelion, Romaine Lettuce and Red & Swiss Chard until later, and two of these went into soups. What I am saying is that there are very few fruits, vegetables, beans, peas or other edible items that I don’t like or would be afraid to try.

Two splurges I recall were: Eating a whole quart of ice cream. Eating a large plate of spaghetti. With each of these “cheats” I would gain a couple of pounds the next day, but once I came back to the right path, by the end of the week I would have lost the normal 2 or 3 pounds. I wasn’t eating bread, and I was drinking a lot of water.

I think I was about 49 years old the first time I lost about 60 pounds over a three month period. And both times, I easily lost the first 30 lbs. or so, but then “foundered” over a couple of weeks and then started gaining the weight back again. These pants appear to be “chocolate” in color, and at the time there I also had a couple of medium blue pairs of pants. *At some point in my life, I started buying two of everything, in clothing, that I bought. Exactly two of the same shirts or pants.

I said I would start to regain the weight each time. Well, this last time I had already bought the next pairs of pants in the next size down. It might have even been a size 34. Amazing. But, I never got a chance to wear them. Within a few weeks it would have been impossible to fit in them, and that possibility got even further away with time. I may still have a brown pair, from that time, that I never wore.

I don’t recall if this memory is from my first severe weight loss period or the second, but I was up at Biltmore… The logic returned to me. If I was at Biltmore, this would have been when I was about 50 years old (2004). The year 2004 was the first time I visited the Biltmore Estate, and because I had just missed the spring planting of flowers, I purchased an annual ticket, and then returned to Biltmore four times that year. I think I paid extra for the Christmas tour. I’ve always thought that I was about 49 the first time.

But, I was at Biltmore and it was a sunny afternoon, and I was about to head out to my car to leave the Estate. But, I went over to the bakery and bought a giant bear claw (an odd shaped sprawling cinnamon & sugar concoction) and some other sickeningly sweet baked good with white sugary icing, and I ate them both on the drive back home. And with that, I started my uncontrolled weight gain.

I’ve been hanging around 250 lbs. for at least a year now. Losing weight is much more difficult now because of all the starchy veggies that turn into sugar quickly. I had been on Trulicity (once a week injection) for several years and then “they” just couldn’t replenish my supply. Dr. Norem first switched me to Rybelsus (a daily tablet), and when that wasn’t effective, she changed me to Ozempic. Ozempic has worked well. I don’t notice much hunger loss, but it has brought my blood sugar back down. Hopefully my next visit to Dr. Norem and my A1C will be back below 7.

One difference between Trulicity and Ozempic? The Trulicity was in a one time injection system and you never saw the syringe. Give the shot and throw away that used pen. With Ozempic each pen provides four injections. You switch out the syringe each time (screw on/screw off) and with the final dose, you throw that pen away. But, you do see the little syringe and for me that always provides a little angst. Not enough to not give myself the shot, and it doesn’t hurt, but enough for me to keep putting it off through the day.

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