Planning for and tracking my meals and food intake is made much easier using the online MyFitnessPal Food Diary. You can add individual items by meal: breakfast/lunch/dinner/snacks. You can search for the items, many are already in the database, or you can add an item or create a recipe, by adding individual ingredients and then saving as a Recipe or Meal. Depending upon how you set these up, you can also remove an item or ingredient.
So I’ve just added a specific breakfast meal and labeled it as “BK – Egg Salad / Bacon / Avocado / Bread.” Now the bread might be toasted, and depending upon whether I’m using the Ezekiel 4.9, Aldi’s ‘Knock Your Sprouts Off’ or the Publix Sourdough bread, there may be slight variations in calorie count. My current favorite of these three is “Knock Your Sprouts Off” sprouted bread from Aldi’s.
The “BK – Egg Salad / Bacon / Avocado / Bread” breakfast, after removing the half avocado and adding hot tea.
I can add the above breakfast meal, and then take off the bacon or the avocado if I choose not to have that on the specific meal. I’ve also just added “BK – Coffee,” and “BK – Hot Tea” items with their additions: half-n-half and/or Agave Nectar, Coconut Palm Sugar. I normally also add Splenda and Stevia. Maybe it’s sweetness overkill, but no individual artificial sweetener seems to provide the deep sweet flavor profile of sugar. *I’ve just renamed (had to copy first, and then save under new name, and then delete old meal) the breakfast meals starting with “BK – “. This causes all the breakfast meals & items to group together.
I do like bacon with the egg salad, but I’ve also come to like just mashing up half an avocado and not having any bacon. I now have an easy way to toast my bread and most of the egg salad fits on the two half slices of bread. I might also add a few halved grape tomatoes (yellow or red).
I make my egg salad from two hard boiled eggs (9 minutes), and mash them up with a little Dukes Mayo and Kerry Gold Grass Fed Butter, celery seeds, garlic powder, Dulse, cayenne powder, salt & some ground Long Pepper. *I had this breakfast this morning, but switched out the grape tomatoes for bacon.
I’ve really enjoyed using the Recipe creator in MyFitnessPal because I can enter a list of ingredients and then change the amount of each ingredients used in the recipe. It will also allow you to determine serving size.
The Ezekiel 4:9 bread comes frozen and that may be one reason why I like it a little less. I actually think the Knock Your Sprouts Off bread has a better flavor. But, the fresh baked sourdough bread from Publix has it’s merits also.
Recall that I love bread, but I also have to limit the type and amount of bread that I eat because of my Type 2 diabetes. Sourdough and sprouted breads are supposed to be more “diabetic friendly.”
A few days ago, I took out half the frozen loaf of Ezekiel 4:9 bread and let it thaw. I then put it in the refrigerator. I’ve enjoyed eating it as toast with egg salad, with peanut butter & a little Agave Nectar, and even as a simple sandwich with Neuske’s Smoked Liver Pate.
[06/24/25];
I will now freeze some of my bread, and refrigerate some. This was something I didn’t like to do, but now am okay with it. I’m eating more bread lately after many months of eating only about 1 slice of sprouted grain bread (“Knock Your Sprouts Off” Aldi’s).
Before the sprouted grain bread, I was eating mostly Sourdough Bread from the Publix bakery. I haven’t bought the Publix bread in a while opting to buy the Aldi’s “Knock Your Sprouts Off.” But now I have about 2/3rds of a loaf of seeded rye bread that I bought so that I could have a couple of slices for my homemade Pastrami Reubens. And just recently I saw a loaf of Sourdough bread at Aldi’s which I bought and have eaten about half of it so far, instead of the sprouted grain bread. And surprisingly for me, my blood sugar hasn’t been affected negatively by switching to the Sourdough.
I went shopping at Walmart in an attempt to minimize the effects of Trump Tariffs. I bought the non-perishable items that I buy repeatedly. Things like toilet paper, paper towels, drain cleaner, dishwasher detergent, dish soap, bug spray, washing machine detergent, plastic sandwich bags, garbage bags, and toilet bowl cleaner. This wasn’t all, but I bought double of each item. And, the total came to about $342 or there abouts. I don’t think I’ve every spent that much at one time at Walmart. Maybe if I bought a TV, Chromebook or Laptop, but not for the day to day items. *And later in the day I went back to a different Walmart and bought about $62 more, so the total for the day was a little over $400. *A few days later I spent another $100, bringing the ticket against Trumpflation to $500.
I’ve got a $300+ Shark standup, cordless vacuum on the way. And I just ordered a replacement passenger side mirror for my Camry.
A strange thing happened earlier in the week when I went to get my car inspected. Just after leaving Hendrick’s, I was speeding up on a nearby on ramp for MLK and I started to hear a high pitched sound. It sounded like metal on metal, and it was coming from toward the passenger side rear view mirror. Couldn’t figure it out, and took it back to Hendrick’s immediately and they couldn’t figure it out. But the noise was gone.
I’ve since paid my property taxes online and renewed my car registration for the year. I login to the NCDMV site with my Google account and have to have the following to complete the process: Completed State Inspection, Insurance ID, last numbers on my car title. I always freak because I can never remember when this is supposed to be paid. And I now think, for me, it is by the end of May each year.
So maybe day before yesterday, I looked over at the rear view mirror and realized that a large chunk of it had dropped off. And then it came to me that the high pitched sound had probably been caused by a piece of the mirror either dropping off or wind getting behind it, and making the noise. Well, I noticed a little more had gone when I was on my way to eat at Longhorn in Goldsboro. And, I kept hearing pieces of the mirror as they dropped off and hit the side of the car before bouncing off onto the road somewhere.
*Before I got back home there was only a small piece of mirror left and that appeared to be stuck pretty firmly. But I just ordered a replacement mirror for about $20. I hope I can just glue it onto the existing backing, instead of having to take the inside panel of the door off to loosen the rear view mirror assembly. *Which I won’t do. Now, $20 is a far cry from the $500 price tag that the dealer quoted me some time ago.
The meal was “perfect.” I think I equated the better flavor because the chef had added a bunch of salt. The only thing that ended up not being perfect was the cheeseburger sauce that I had to ask for. I finally thought to have the waitress tell the chef I didn’t want the bun for the cheeseburger.
I wanted all the other fixin’s, and a little more onion, and the only thing that didn’t arrive was the sauce. The sauce ended up being too salty, by a little, but that focused my attention on why the burger was “so tasty.” The appetizer bread was delicious as usual, with the butter, oh my.
The Shrimp & Lobster Chowder was good again. I even enjoyed the dill pickle slices. It’s not that I don’t like dill pickles, but I like a sweet, Bread & Butter type of pickle with that burger. I also normally bring along a little sweet onion from home, but didn’t yesterday.
I have a simple routine that goes with eating at the Longhorn. Afterwards, I drive over to a location near the SJAB air field, where I can see any airplanes taking off or landing. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I have seen the fighter jets & the fueling tankers in motion. There is a road that dead ends just before the fence that protects the runway. The road divides two large fields, and during the summer the crops sometimes block the view, but most of the year there is a clear view up & down the runway, and the control tower, and the fighter jets & the tankers.
After I view the jets I sometimes head back into town and visit the Wayne County Library. I know where the bathroom is, and it’s a comfortable rest stop. I then might look for a magazine to peruse: “Our State” or maybe “Gun & Garden.” “Gun & Garden” how Republican. like “Yellowstone.” I’ll usually sleep a little, but am usually aware if a library staffer is coming near to see if I am dead.
postandbeambarns.com
I’ve stopped to look at a large touch screen TV that is set up to project a web browser. I’ve seen a map and some info that proved to be part of a web page. I’m not sure if an onscreen keyboard pops up, but it would have to in order to enter a URL. *In looking for some pictures to illustrate what I’m talking about, I came upon one picture that I had taken of the back of the video display, and there was a keyboard, that appears to have a cable, and a mouse.
Oh, a couple of days ago I bought a small toaster oven, which I haven’t even taken out of the box. I hope the box is under the dining room table, because if it isn’t, I don’t know what I did with it. I also don’t know where I’m going to put it because I really don’t have room for it.
I bought a Shark handheld vacuum the same day I bought the toaster oven. And now I am wondering why. I did use it to vacuum some of the edges of the room and some of the gunk that had accumulated under my easy chair. *Which definitely needs to be replaced.
I drove from Goldsboro, to Smithfield on Hwy. 70. I stopped at J.R.s which is now a mere ghost of what it used to be. It is only a cigar shop now, but they also have a food mall next door and I think a “robot” project of some type. They didn’t have the cheap Avanti Estilo Cafe Mocha cigars that I like the smell & flavor of. I looked for something else, but didn’t find anything I wanted to buy. They did have “Ram Rod” cigars. The cigars are much like the “hard liquor” that I have in my closet. Something that I don’t use addictively, but occasionally and “to set the mood.” I used to say that I would smoke a cigar if I was reading a book like “1984.” Or maybe a detective novel.
Next, I stopped at Lee’s Fresh Market near Benson and bought some boneless pork chops. And then on down the road and I stopped at the “Rooms to Go” on I95 and walked about trying the various easy chairs. There was one, the first one I tried, that was comfortable and had electric controls for the foot rest. There was also a glass top dining table that I’ve noticed before. It’s round and I can buy chairs in different colors.
And the thought came to me about how to store and display the various types of nuts I like to eat regularly. At times I will have the following: almonds, cashews, pistachios, roasted pumpkin seeds, walnuts. And I will sometimes transfer these nuts from their clear plastic containers to Ball/Mason jars. And on the top rack I could add prunes, dates, raisins, Turkish apricots and/or dried cranberries.
The idea hasn’t fleshed out completely, but I also eat plain Greek Yogurt and various pureed or whole berries like raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries every day, as a dessert or mid-meal snack. The nuts I eat throughout the day, or sometimes mixed just before bed.
I like the Greek Gods Plain yogurt, but also like the single serving, cheapo, store brands of Plain Greek Yogurt from Aldi’s SUD and LIDLs. I just gave away a four jar holder for jam, that was made of metal with a wooden handle. I only had one jar of preserves that I think Robin & Jeff had given me several years ago. I hadn’t eaten it because of the high sugar content, but was clearing things out recently and that went.
Bean Sprouting
Using Ball/Mason jars with a mesh lid. Process: soak, drain, tilt, reap. And Gemini suggested “putting a sock on it.” A cheap way to offer the seeds their privacy. *I’ve not found any sprouting jar filters or lids that are for regular sized Ball/Mason jars. They are all wide mouthed jar fittings.
Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing recipe with calorie estimates and approximate serving sizes:
Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing (Approximately 1366 calories total, Makes about 1 1/4 cup dressing)
1/3 cup olive oil (~636 calories)
1/4 cup lime juice (negligible calories)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (~720 calories)
1/2 teaspoon salt (negligible calories)1
2 garlic cloves (negligible calories)
1/2 a jalapeño, sliced (negligible calories)
1/2 teaspoon agave nectar (~10 calories)
1/2 cup cilantro, packed (negligible calories)
Key points:
The majority of the calories come from the olive oil and mayonnaise.
Lime juice, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro and salt contain very few calories.
Agave Nectar and Honey contain about the same amount of calories.2
This calorie count reflects the total for the entire recipe. To calculate per-serving calories, divide the total by the number of servings.
By combining the listed measurements of the wet ingredients, it can be determined that the total volume of the dressing will be approximately 1 and 1/4 cup.
Alright, let’s rework that recipe with plain Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise.
Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing (Greek Yogurt Version) (Approximately 746 calories total, Makes about 1 1/4 cup dressing)
1/3 cup olive oil (~636 calories)
1/4 cup lime juice (negligible calories)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (~100 calories)
1/2 teaspoon salt (negligible calories)
2 garlic cloves (negligible calories)
1/2 a jalapeño, sliced (negligible calories)
1/2 teaspoon agave nectar (~10 calories)
1/2 cup cilantro, packed (negligible calories)
Key points:
The Greek yogurt significantly reduces the calorie content compared to mayonnaise.
The majority of the calories now come from the olive oil.
This calorie count is for the entire recipe. Divide by the number of servings for per-serving calories.
By combining the listed measurements of the wet ingredients, it can be determined that the total volume of the dressing will be approximately 1 and 1/4 cup.
Here are the calorie counts for various serving sizes:
1 Tablespoon:
There are 16 tablespoons in 1 cup, so in 1 1/4 cups there are 20 tablespoons.
746 calories / 20 tablespoons = 37.3 calories per tablespoon.
[NOTE 03/16/25]: I used Gemini to generate this recipe with the calorie counts and calories per serving. The AI made it simple to get the calorie count for each ingredient, and then it added up to get the total carlorie, and divided the total calories by the number of Tablespoons possible from the whole. *And then I pasted the recipe into MyFitnessPal Recipe importer. The result was a special dressing recipe with calorie counts and the ability to select a portion size. [end NOTE]
Another pared down version of this dressing using Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (or light mayonnaise)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves
1/2 a jalapeño, sliced
A few drops of a sugar-free liquid sweetener, or omit entirely
1/2 cup cilantro, packed
Estimated calories per serving (2 tablespoons): 520(total calories)÷8(servings)≈65 calories per serving.
Ajicitos Dulces Peppers
After blended, this recipe fit easily in a 4 oz. Mason/Ball Jar. Not sure I need much heat in this to be pleasing. *I just read elsewhere that I used a Ajicitos Dulces pepper and that would add flavor with no heat. I think I may have used this on baked tilapia, but with the mayonnaise version. **And I found that I had used this dressing on a baked salmon filet. I seem to recall that the original dressing was high in calories and the next day, it did affect my weight negatively. I liked the flavor so, finally decided to make a healthier version with plain Greek yogurt.
It was at Dobra Teas in Asheville, North Carolina that I first experienced pu’er tea. I don’t think I actually tried the tea at Dobra, but bought some and tried it later when I was back in Fayetteville. In fact, I can almost visualize the setting in which I first drank some pu’er. I was sitting on my couch and had brewed some hot tea. It is a rude awakening when you first taste pu’er, especially if you have been used to drinking black tea (Luzianne, Lipton, Nestea or Tetley) most of your life. One thought is that the flavor is similar to that of drinking water that has been flavored with a dirty gym sock. It tastes nothing like black tea. But, I do like it sweet and with a little cream which may not be how most of the World enjoys their pu’er.
*That sort of reminds me of the Sassafrass tea I liked to drink as a child. Mom & I might find a Sassafrass bush or plant on the old family farm. You would cut off a woody root and take it back, brush off the dirt, and steep the root in hot water. You would end up with a rich pinkish colored drink that tasted good with cream & sugar.
But fairly quickly, I came to recognize the unique flavor of pu’er, and I could like it as I had black or orange pekoe teas.
And, I do love tea. I have drank Bigelow’s “Constant Comment” and “Earl Grey” tea since about 1985 when a friend & his wife introduced these to me, when I went over to their house after Church. This was Rick & Linda Bell. Rick had been a Marine Corps Air pilot and after retiring, a few years later, became a Baptist pastor.
I’ve written elsewhere about “falling in love with” “Raspberry Royale” tea, also by Bigelow. I came across this while on a brief vacation, and I had stayed at a Quality Inn in Lynchburg, Virginia and the next morning took a tea bag packet of “Raspberry Royale” and made my first cup in my motel room before checking out. Loved it hot. Loved it cold. Bought a box of it when back home, and even bought a 6 box case of it from Amazon and gave them out as Christmas presents one year. *Recently I’ve found that Wegman’s in Raleigh carries the Bigelow “Raspberry Royale” tea.
This was the Quality Inn in Lynchbugh, Virginia that I have stayed at, at least twice. I brought a Raspberry Royale tea bag with me on one visit to celebrate where I had first tried this tea. I didn’t drink the first in the breakfast area, but took the tea bag back to my room and brewed it there.
I’ve tried various flavored teas through the years. I think I first bought Rooibos (red bush) tea from Whole Foods in Raleigh. At the time, they sold this tea from a large copper colored container. You scooped out the tea you wanted and put it in a plastic zip bag. Sometime later, they stopped selling Rooibos, but I found what I currently drink, as a box of Rooibos tea bags at Harris Teeter in Fayetteville.
Sometime in the last couple of years, I tried Taylor’s Scottish Breakfast tea. I hated it when I tried the first cup at home. I would call it a “heavy” flavored tea. But, I gave it a second, and even a third try, and surprisingly by the third try, I actually liked the flavor and then started drinking it fairly regularly.
Early this morning, and when I say “early” I mean about 3 am, I thought about having some hot tea, and this time I wanted to try something that I hadn’t had in a long while. I saw a packet of “Assam” tea, which I had bought at a organic food store in Greensboro, North Carolina last year.
I first tried “Assam Brahmaputra” at Dobra Teas in Asheville several years ago. They brought a cup and small tea pot to my table. They didn’t bring any sugar or sweetener, or cream or creamer, so I tried the hot tea. It was good. I managed to drink the whole pot without either creamer or sweetener. At home, I googled about this tea and found that Assam was a region in northern India which butted up against the “tea region” of China, and Bramaputra was the River going through that region. Not sure, but you probably have to be a local in that region to know when you are in India or China. If you’re on the border, they might point to two mountains that both have tea growing on them, and one mountain is in China and one is in India. “Assam” was the type of tea.
I think I recall that pu’er tea is a fermented tea and that it actually changes with age, but doesn’t get stale or go bad. And because of this, this type of tea has been used as money. The disk of pu’er tea that you see at the top of this posting, might be collectable to use when money runs short. The tea is tightly compacted into the disk shape, but there is also a version of pu’er that is loose and is sort of rolled into little curly cue balls.
*The ritual of drinking this tea is to first pour hot water over the tea, and then drain that first pour off. Then you pour more hot water on the tea and this you let steep, and then drink. The ritual may partly be because the tea is so compacted, that the first water loosens the tea so that it can steep fully. But, at that I’m just guessing.
Even though I started talking about tea, I also like a few brands of coffee. Actually, I currently like the “Breakfast Blend” (ground) by Starbucks which is sold at Walmart.
But, during the Covid Epidemic, I could no longer buy my favorite coffee from Harris Teeter. It was a flavored coffee (whole bean), but I don’t recall what flavor. *I just came across an image of the Harris Teeter coffee that I liked, “Hazelnut Creme.” They stopped serving coffees from the pull down handled containers. It took me a while to find another coffee that I liked.
So during Covid, I ran out of my favorite, and I looked in my cubboard and found a bag of Cracker Barrel Coffee (ground). I tried some and it was pretty good coffee. The next day I tried some more of the Cracker Barrel Coffee and it was good again. It took me until the third day and when the Cracker Barrel Coffee was good again that I realized that, “I hate the coffee at the Cracker Barrel Restaurants.” I hated the restaurant coffee so badly that I came to always order their hot tea. But this was good coffee. I think it was a Christmas present from a friend. I finished this coffee just before Covid restrictions let up.
At the end of Covid restrictions, I went out for a hair cut, and to buy another bag of Cracker Barrel Coffee. The bag color had changed, and unfortunately, so had the flavor. The new coffee wasn’t anything to write home about. So, I had to go on a search for a new favorite coffee.
It was about $9 a bag, and I tried about four different brands before finding what I liked.
Try this.
I’ve never had a really expensive coffee maker, usually just the low end makers with a glass pot but I would “foot the bill” for a reusable gold plated metal filter. But, the last cheap coffee maker I bought was a Black & Decker, and it didn’t last but a few months before it stopped heating. I ended up buying a larger glass pot after the smaller one also went “kaput.” And, I decided I didn’t need to buy another coffee maker. I would heat my water in a regular pot on the stove and then pour it through the filter by hand. Worked fine and I have done this process for a couple of years.
I just remembered, “I hate the unsweet tea at Smithfields Chicken -n- BBQ Restaurants. It reminds me of the taste that a drink might have, with cigarette ashes mixed with water. But, their sweet tea tastes great. It has lots of sugar. I have repeatedly told workers at different Smithfields that their unsweet tea “sucks.” This is something that has to be intentional by the owner(s). You can’t suck this badly without hearing about it, and then doing nothing about correcting the problem.
So, last night I ordered some more “Indian Long Pepper” from Amazon. The odd thing about this order is how long it is going to take for it to be delivered. Today is Thursday, February 13th, but the pepper isn’t supposed to be delivered before April 7th. Damn, that’s almost two months. *I don’t think I have enough of the Long Pepper to last two months, but I do have regular mixed (white, black & red) pepper which will suffice.
I’m sitting in my easy chair in my living room at 2:41-2-3 am starting to write this blog entry. I am awake at this time, most mornings. I reach over to a glass beer mug that has a hot citrus drink and take a sip. I really do like the flavor of “Bill’s Drink Mix,” hot or cold. I created this drink combination about a year and a half ago, and almost every day since, I’ve drank about one carafe, cold with ice. But I’ve also heated some up in the microwave, and found it delicious each time.
Neither the picture of the beer mug nor the glass carafe are my actual items, but they are quite accurate as to how each looks. I’ve had the glass beer mugs (6 of them) since Russ & Deborah Savage donated them to “The Hem of His Garment,” over 30 years ago. When I saw them, I priced them and then bought them and took them home. I had them before I moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina from Jacksonville, North Carolina in 1995. The beer mug is “microwave safe.” It better be as many times as I’ve used one of these to heat water for tea, or re-heat coffee. I bought three of the glass carafes (each with a tight fitting plastic cap) probably ten years ago at a specialty shop near Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh. *I may be lying to you about where I bought them, but I do recall buying some glass containers at that store.
[02/18/25]
Well, I guess there comes a time for all.
Note the packet shown below. Each packet is a single serving and they come in a box of 10 each, at WalMart. One of their GV – Great Value products. I normally just slice off one end of the packet with a knife and then pour the contents (a powder) into a carafe of water, and also adding the other juices.
“Bill’s Drink Mix” consists of four items: a little orange juice, a little cranberry juice, one packet of “Iced Tea” mix from WalMart, and one packet of “Pomegranate-Lemonade” mix from WalMart. And, I must have all four of these items included to make “Bill’s Drink Mix.” Any one of them left out, and I wouldn’t be a long-time fan. *I have however replaced the flavored tea packet with actual brewed tea, and the tea can be plain tea, or a more exotic flavored tea. Of course this substitution occurred as a result of me running out of the flavored tea packets. And it’s never certain that I will find both of the flavor packets when I go looking for them on the WalMart isles. **I still long for the “Lime” flavored packet to return to the shelf. The unadulterated version, not the “Lime&XXX” version, like “Watermelon Lime.” The lime flavor was excellent. It wasn’t a favorite at home, but often after lunch, I would enjoy a limeade made with one of these lime packets. I don’t know why.
And, before “Bill’s Drink Mix,” I had two flavors that I alternated back and forth between: “Fruit Punch,” and “Dragon Fruit,” but neither had that citrus punch that I came to appreciate in my mix.
As I started to re-read the above article I came upon the idea of several items that I have used for over 30 years, and still continue to use to this day (and hopefully several more days). The three items that first come to mind are the classic beer mugs that I bought at a thrift store in Jacksonville, NC perhaps a few years before I moved, in 1995, to Fayetteville to live & work. So that’s at least 30 years ago. As I said above, I have one of these beside me as I write, filled with “Bill’s Drink Mix” and served hot this morning.
The next item is the “Revere Ware” frying pan made in 1978. The company stamped the manufacture date on the bottom of each pan or pot that was made. Paul Revere, long dead, delegated the task of making this pan for me.
When I think of how much use this pan has had over the years, and I just roasted some Brussels Sprouts, walnuts & cranberries in it last night, it brings out the New Englander’s frugal nature in me. And I was born in North Carolina. Grew up in North Carolina. And, have only been to New England once that I recall. But I did enjoy my visit with my friend, Gary Golden, very much. It was winter, and snow was all around. I will say that the one shortcoming is the handle. Not that is has not weathered well since 1978, but that it’s not oven proof, so I can’t bake or broil something in the oven with this pan.
*I’ve been on Etsy and seen Revere Ware pots and pans on sale, and some going back to the 1940s. I might think about buying one of these as a present for a young man who is going off to college (and is allowed to cook),
Below is me fixing my Zucchini/Shrimp/Kielbasa dish. Several years ago I made this from scratch early one morning and liked it so much that I’ve repeated it a myriad of times. Six ingredients: beef Polska Kielbasa, shrimp, zucchini, onion, pasta shells & a small amount of tomato (I didn’t want a strong tomato sauce for this dish.). I usually only use a couple of Campari tomatoes, quartered and they disappear into the sauce, except for leaving a light hint of red. I add S&P and garlic powder, but I also add red pepper flakes and maybe even a little cayenne powder. It is a spicy dish, but each item is supposed to be a little island of flavor, with no one thing overpowering the others.
Before leaving the Revere Ware, I would like to mention that I also have a couple of 3 Qt. pots, a 2 Qt. pot & a 1 Qt. pot that I use quite often.
I noted that the pots did not have a manufacture date on their bottoms, and in reading online the logo was changed in 1968 and manufacture dates were no longer stamped on the utensils. Eventually the company was sold to Corning, and the headquarters moved to Indonesia.
I bought a “steamer” insert years ago, that is not Revere Ware, but was made to fit the pot perfectly. This insert has gotten a great deal of use throughout the years. I love steamed asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower. Anything that I need to steam goes into the insert which has worked faithfully for many years.
Several years ago, I bought a “cheap” set of Guy Fieri pots & pans at Belk’s and they each had glass lids. What was nice was that these glass lids also fit my Revere Ware pots (but not the skillet) perfectly. I like being able to put a lid on a pot and be able to look through the glass at what is cooking. However, most times I will leave the lid off. I said “cheap” set, but they look to be quality, and have lasted, and are oven safe so I use these when I am broiling a steak, pork chop, or lamb chop in the oven.
Since I’ve been a batchelor all my life, I have had the opportunity to use and reuse many items that if I had a wife, she would have had me “throw out those old things” long ago. I would have had new dishes instead of the “Gibson” restaurant blue stripe plates that I bought as a set at a store in Jacksonville, NC. They were factory “seconds” so some of the striping wasn’t up to par, and a plate might have a slight warp, but none of that has stopped me from using them almost daily since. The picture shows one of my actual plates, with a favorite meal that just happened to be a vegetarian delight: corn on the cob, fried okra, a tomatillo & onion chutney and sliced tomatoes.
I bought the dish set and then was surprised when I turned one of the dishes over at home and saw “Gibson” imprinted on its bottom. I had to do a double take, because of how the “G” and “i” run together, but no, it said “Gibson.” I went online and found that there was a Gibson Company that made dishes. So as a bonus I ended up with a set of monogramed dishes at no extra cost.
Tomatillos remind me of green tomatoes, but they have a different flesh than tomatoes. *”Chutney…” I’ve eaten at the “Blue Willow Inn,” in Social Circle, Georgia, several times since my sister Donna first introduced me to the place many years ago. In fact, and maybe it was my first visit, Donna treated me, my dad Bill (her & my dad), and his wife, Sara (Donna’s mother, but not mine.) to the crowded Sunday buffet. We sat together at a table on one of the side porches and enjoyed the meal and time together on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Georgia.
*I see from their web site that the restaurant must have been closed for a while but is about to reopen. I did think the buffet was a little pricey for what you had to choose from, especially since you could get most of those same items at other “country” restaurants and at a much lower price. And, the ambiance had changed greatly for me when the wooded area behind the restaurant was cut down and a small “strip mall” was built there. I don’t care how old and beautiful the home is if you plop it in the middle of a business district.
One time I was walking along the inner circle of the Blue Willow Inn buffet (it has a U shape so you can have customers walking on both sides of the food) and I took a couple of fried green tomatoes from the bar. I then noticed that they had “tomato chutney” in a small dish beside the fried tomatoes, so I put some of this on the tomatoes. The tomato chutney was sweet and I found it “decadent” that you could have two different flavor profiles that compliment each other from the same fruit. The sweet ripe red tomato complimenting the savory fried green tart tomato.
The following story was added the next day from most of this blog posting, as I recalled another one of my visits to the Blue Willow Inn. I had finished eating and was trying to leave Social Circle and get back on I20 and I was heading back in an easterly direction, but I don’t know why. It was late in the day, and if I had been driving all the way back to Fayetteville, I wouldn’t have eaten at the Blue Willow Inn.
I didn’t see street signage pointing to I20, but I drove down a road quite a ways. I knew I was heading in a westerly direction, and I didn’t want to go back toward Atlanta. Eventually, I decided to turn around thinking I had gotten on the wrong road. I believe I even made it back to Madison, Georgia before heading back to where I thought I20 was located. Unfortunately, the road that I chose took me across I20, but there were no ramps either on or off I20 on this road. But, I continued on and tried to head in an easterly direction. Those roads wound in giant undulating swaths through country, but never was there a road heading back to I20 and an on ramp. I must not have had a smartphone, or at least a smartphone with an Internet connection because I had no map to reference. And eventually I began to wonder if I would run out of gas somewhere in this Georgia countryside. If you look at a map, I must have headed to Eatonton from Madison and only in Eatonton and Lake Oconee was I able to get back to I20. But what a circuitous and angst filled route.
And once I got home and the Internet, I went back on Google Street View and found that before I turned around in Social Circle, I had been just two miles short of getting back to I20.
And the third item that I have probably had the longest is my “John Wayne” P38 – Military Issue field can opener. *I was never in the military, but I grew up (Swansboro, Hubert, Jacksonville, Camp Lejeune) around Marines. I’m thinking that a Marine may have rented one of my aunt’s (“Sis” – Carrie Kellum) mobile homes (trailers) and having eventually moved out, left his John Wayne in a kitchen drawer, where in came directly or indirectly into my possession. However, I do recall that someone told me that the Marines called this tool a “John Wayne” and after all these years I finally googled for the reason “why.” **Seems that John Wayne did the “voiceover” on a military training video for the P-38 can opener. ***I do know why they called the rough brown toilet paper John Wayne. The joke goes it is called “John Wayne” because it’s rough, and tough, and it doesn’t take crap off of anybody.
What’s Mine is Mine… Sometimes.
As I re-read above about what an imaginary wife might have made me do. “Throw out those old things,” regarding the Gibson dishes I had, or the old Revere Ware that has continued faithfully to perform, I was reminded about something that happened to me a year so so before I moved to Fayetteville (1995).
I worked at Coastal Carolina Community College for a couple of years before I moved to Fayetteville. During my time at Coastal, I taught a few introductory computer courses (they were on the quarter system, not semester) and I worked in their computer department doing repairs, maintenance and software installs & upgrades on PCs. I was also working to complete an “Associates” degree dealing with PCs. *My age has stopped me from remembering the exact title of the degree, but if I scrounge around in my old papers, I think I may still have the degree that I earned. It was in a sturdy little folding, thick cardboard holder.
I had come across an old Marine Corps hooded poncho probably at “The Hem of His Garment.” That was the ministry that included a thrift store that helped supply donated items for people in need, and the profit from the sale of the donated items also went to support those in need.
The old poncho was made of a heavy rubber, a dark avocado military green, but despite a few holes it did it’s job well. It may not have looked good, but it did keep the rain off my head and body when it rained. So, I would take the poncho to work and leave it on a shelf just inside our office door. There was a young, attractive girl (woman) who I think was volunteering in our department, and she several times mentioned how awful the poncho looked. And I would “laugh it off” because it didn’t belong to her, and what she thought at least about the poncho didn’t matter. Well, at least it didn’t matter until one day I realized that the poncho on the shelf, was no longer on the shelf.
She had been cleaning up the place (office) and had taken it upon herself to throw my old poncho away. She didn’t ask me if she could throw MY poncho away, she had just done it. And, when I confronted her about it, it was obvious that what I thought about her actions mattered just as little to her, as what I thought about her demeaning my old poncho had meant to me. Nada.
I have given away a bunch of stuff through the years, and I’ve even given up stuff intentionally when I perceived that someone else wanted it more than I did, but this act made me angry then, and when I rarely recall it, still makes me quite angry to this day. What’s mine is mine, sometimes, but don’t take or throw away something that is mine until you check with me first. And if I don’t want you to take it or throw it away, you better not take it or throw it away.
The Publix I usually go to, just down from Harris Teeter in the Tallywood Shopping Center, discontinued their Deli salads a few years ago. I enjoyed this Quinoa Salad, but also they had a Wakame Seaweed Salad that I liked. I found a jar of Seaweed Salad at Hex in Cary but it has to be “doctored” to take on the flavors that I liked from the Publix salad. Add: soy sauce, red wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes. This reminds me of of the Dolce K Sweet Olive Mix at Whole Foods. Not because of the flavors but because of the complexity that makes up the mix.
I was just on the Publix web site and here are the listed ingredients for their Quinoa Salad.
Ingredients
Quinoa Salad {Quinoa, Lime juice, Canola Oil And Extra Virgin Olive oil Blend, Water, Lemon Juice, Sugar, Contains 2% Or Less Of The Following: Orange puree (Orange Pulp Cells, Concentrated orange Juice, Water, Orange Peel, Orange oil) Sea Salt, Sesame Oil, Spices}, Dried fruit And Nut Mix (Cranberries{Cranberries, sugar, Glycerin, Sunflower Oil}, Peanuts (Peanuts, Canola Oil), Roasted Pumpkin Seed {Pumpkin Seeds, Canola Oil}) Spinach, Edamame {Soy Beans}.
Edamame and soybeans are from the same plant but edamame is picked from the immature soy plant in July and August before it is fully mature. “It’s like picking a tomato that’s still green.” Green edamame is harvested from a still-ripening soy plant.
*I have made this Quinoa Salad at home successfully, but not it quite a while,
As I read the first paragraph I think on how diverse my palate is. Seaweed salad, Quinoa salad, Dolce K Sweet Olive Mix, smoked oysters with homemade hummus, turmeric & vinegar added to tomatoes, sweet bell pepper and sweet onion. Chicken livers & gizzards. Beef/calf liver. Souse and liver pudding. Goat & cow cheeses.
I’m also reminded of the changes that have occurred to the Tallywood Shopping Center since I first came to Fayetteville about 30 years ago.
On the corner was a small garage that I went to for basic maintenance. I don’t recall the name of the place, but the building, after several years of being vacant, was torn down and a drive-thru coffee shop built. Next to the coffee shop location is Biscuitville, which recently (is that one or two years now) replaced the Hardees. And a MiCasita which had been next to a carpet store. But in the back where the new Publix was built were several smaller shops and a (was that?) Belks. One of the smaller shops was School Tools Of Fayetteville NC, which moved for a few years over on Robeson Street, but now is just down from the Harris Teeter and the Post Office.
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The first Publix I recall visiting was in Georgia some years ago when I was visiting either my dad, or my half-sister Donna. Don’t recall what I bought, but after visiting another Publix, elsewhere, I noted that they were a “cut above” and with greater choices. I like this Publix and have a good rapport with the bakery. They will half a loaf with no grumbling. I like the Round Bone Lamb Chops that they have imported from New Zealand.
I also like the frozen shrimp that I use for my Zucchini/Kielbasa/Shrimp dish, but more than once have found that they either don’t have a clue that they sell this product, or can’t manage to put it on the shelf (in a timely manner). And “on the shelf” is rhetorical because the shrimp are in a freezer with a see-thru door. After asking about these, I found myself in a Cary Publix where I had no problem getting the frozen shrimp. *The shrimp come in a resealable bag, but sometimes I divide these into about 15 shrimp in smaller bags and then put them all back in the big reseal bag. Then I just have to put the smaller bag into the microwave under the “2.0” defrost setting. It takes less than 15 minutes to thaw the shrimp, and that allows for the time to cook the pasta (the small shells) . And both of those happen as the kielbasa, onions, and zucchini (with a little tomato to color the sauce) are cooking. *This process reminds me of the precise process I use to make my Pastrami Reubens (Rachels) which turn out perfectly almost every time.
Butter the outsides of the two slices of seeded rye bread and toast’em. Flip them over after the butter and bread are browned and put on a slice of Swiss on each and melt the cheese. Squeeze out the moisture in the sauerkraut to be put on the sandwich, but also put some more sauerkraut on a plate to be mixed with the homemade Thousand Island dressing. *It came to me that if the sauerkraut and dressing were good on the sandwich, they would be good together as a side dish, and they were/are.
The Thousand Island dressing consists of: Dukes Mayo, Heinz Ketchup, Relish, finely diced sweet onion (Vidalia), some hot sauce (Texas Pete not Frank’s), S&P.
I don’t heat the Pastrami but place a slice or two on each toasted slice of the rye bread. The idea being that the melted Swiss and the Pastrami will both keep any extra moisture from leeching out from the sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing and making the bread soggy. And, this works!
The sandwich has a lot of flavor and it isn’t messy, although it could be. Add some chips and a Ranch Dill pickle and maybe a side of the sauerkraut & dressing, and you have a good lunch.
And the Ranch Dill (spear) is easily made. Buy a cheap jar of the Dill Spears at WalMart. Buy a cheap package of the Ranch Dressing powder (about 50 cents at Food Lion) or the Hidden Valley packet for about $1.50. You can drain the juice to mix with the powder and then pour it all back into the pickle jar. Seal it, and put it in the fridge for a day and then enjoy, as needed.
IGA currently has a small, but not single serving size, bag of Wavy potato chips that only costs about $1.48.
The rye bread and the chips are a “splurge” for a Type 2 diabetic, and the salt and fat in the Pastrami…
Did I mention that the plastic container that the Hillshire Farms Pastrami comes in is reusable? If you can buy the Pastrami at WalMart for less than $5, then that makes the reusable container “a deal.” And the company has intentionally made this container easily reusable. Their advertising is printed on a cardboard sheet which is attached to the red “see thru” lid with some of that stretchy gluey stuff. Peels off easily. I have quite a few of the Rubbermaid Easy Find storage containers, but the Hillshire Farms tubs work well for many other things. I recently put some homemade hummus and black bean hummus in a single container. The differences in color of the two hummi (I’ve never used the plural of hummus before, and am not sure if there is a plural… but I know that it ain’t “shrimps,” but “shrimp” looked good in the container. But these smaller containers also work for leftovers, and now that I think of it, I put my bacon (uncooked) in one of the Hillshire Farms tubs. I slice the bacon in half and both halves then fit easily in the small tub.
I started my first injection of Ozempic on September 18, 2024. These were weekly injections and the first four weeks I was to inject a .25 dosage. After that, I was to inject a .5 dosage. I didn’t notice any changes the first week, but thereafter I started to see reduced resting blood glucose levels and my weight started to fluctuate slightly downward. This morning I was slightly above 250 lbs. *If you can lose enough weight the Type 2 diabetes should disappear, but losing that weight, at my age and level of inactivity is very difficult. I am currently trying to maintain a daily calorie count near 1,880.
A future SHARPS container.
The easier to use injection system was with Trulicity. They provided a separate epi (not sure if that’s the correct designation) pen for each injection and the needle was hidden, only coming out after you pressed the pen button and going back inside after the solution was expended. Therefore, if you rested the pen on your stomach (alternating on each side of my belly button about a couple of inches) before pressing the button you never actually saw the syringe. This is the more preferrable system since there is a slight reluctance to inject yourself, even if the needle is both short and narrow.
But the Ozempic needle is short. Maybe about a quarter inch in length and is extremely small gauged. It doesn’t hurt going in and you just have to wait for about five seconds for the delivery and then add an extra count of about 6 to complete the process before removing the syringe. Then, put the cap back on the syringe, unscrew it and put the used syringe in your “SHARPS” container. I am currently using one of my empty Diltiazim bottles as a SHARPS container. The plastic is thick and will protect from the used syringes poking through the bottle.
I had used Trulicity for several years without a problem until it became unavailable for refill not quite a year ago. I then switched to Rybelsus which was a daily tablet but didn’t work well, and then finally Ozempic which is working tremendously well! Why did Trulicity become unavailable? It may be that it has become in short supply because of persons starting to use this drug to help them lose weight.
[NOTE 10/31/24]: I’ve probably mentioned this elsewhere, but if not, this is a good time to mention that the beautiful blue cloudy sky at the top of my blog postings was something that I cut from a web cam view from the Beaufort Hotel web cam one morning. When I look at it closely I am amazed at how artistic this sky actually was. It’s not a doctored photo either, although it looks to have some photographic filter applied to it.
Another note to make here is that last night I finally purchased an upgrade to my WordPress web site (eptemplate.wordpress.com) and now can access that site with a new URL: billggibsonii.com I would have preferred a different “top level domain extension” of something other than .com, but this extension was the least expensive to maintain annually at just $13. [end NOTE]
[NOTE 11/13/24]: Here are a couple of graphs of my weight and resting blood glucose levels:
[end NOTE]
[NOTE 11/20/24]: I may have mentioned this elsewhere, but this is a reminder for myself. The first round of Ozempic I was required to take a dose each week at .25 and on the fifth and sixth weeks to up the dosage to .5. But, I took that to mean that I should keep the dosage at the .5 level thereafter. However, I noticed that the second Ozempic package was just like the first. It had spaces for me to enter four .25 doses (four separate weeks) and then the .5 dosage for the last two weeks. But, if I take .5 dosage for four weeks, I end up with two unused syringes. I think that is correct, but I need to ask which way I should be dosing myself.
This isn’t important, but a couple of years ago (that means two years ago) Jim Sharpe was very ill at Thanksgiving. So much so that He didn’t come out of his bedroom until late afternoon. He looked horrible. His skin was translucent (like really old people get) and he was slow at answering questions put to him. He answered correctly, but the answers were extremely slow for Jim Sharpe. But, the next visit (probably a couple of months later) I was hesitant at going in his bedroom (they had moved it to their music room and had a hospital bed) because I just didn’t want to see him in the condition he had been in back at the last Thanksgiving. Finally one of the nurses convinced me to step in to say hello to him.
To my surprise, Jim although still looking ill, no longer had the translucent skin and his mind was a sharp as it ever had been. I said something to him and he fired right back with a direct answer.
It seems that he had been overdosing himself with some of his medications and this had caused his severe decline. But once his kids got him back taking only the correct dosage, his mind returned.
I think I have more respect for Jim Sharpe because of the way he handled his final days, that from all the previous years I had known him. He was a class act, and went as I would hope to go. I guess it might be that he was confident in the life he had lived and was prepared to go on to the next life. [end NOTE]
I take a series of pills daily. There is a morning batch, and an evening batch, and I give myself an Ozempic shot once week, usually on Wednesday.
I have a routine that helps me remember to take my morning pills and my evening pills. Each week I refill the daily pill trays in advance. This weekly pill tray is beside my easy chair.
Each morning, usually a little after 7 am, I take the day’s pill container (morning & evening pills) to the bathroom and take the morning dosages. I also weigh myself and test my “resting blood glucose level,” and record these online.
I leave this daily container on the stand beside my bathroom sink. In the evening, usually after 7 pm, I look and see if the morning pills have been taken, and if the evening pills are still there, I take them. Once I’ve taken all pills for a day, I return the empty daily pill trays back to the weekly container beside my easy chair. And the process repeats the next morning.
I misplaced one of my daily pill containers when I went to visit Mary Ann. Don’t know if I left it there, or if it slipped down somewhere that I haven’t yet found it, but that is now a long time ago. So, I decided to use the little glass vials (two sizes) that I had bought to make a unique chess set to organize my daily medications and found a flexible rubber ice maker in which they fit easily. Morning meds, labeled with the day of the week in the front, and the smaller vial in the back for each day. This has worked well, although sometimes the larger pills may get caught in the vial temporarily. *The rubberized ice tray also works well to organize my AA & AAA batteries for my remotes. That would be 14 batteries per tray.
I am surprised at how quickly each week’s worth of pills go by. But that is “life in the fast lane” for a 71 years old. *I have a calendar posted to my bathroom wall, above my weight scale. I keep a note card on which I record my daily weight, and later post it to my online site, myfitnesspal.com . I also write “OZEMPIC” on each Wednesday on the calendar, ahead of time. This is a reminder to take my Ozempic shot that day. I put a check mark by the word Ozempic once I have taken the shot.
There have been a few times, when my pill routine has been interrupted, or totally forgotten. If I’ve covered my weekly pill trays with a book or magazine (usually I do not), then I may forget to take my day’s pill trays to the bathroom. Or, I think there have been a couple of times when I was going out of town for the day, and in a rush forgot to take my morning pills. *If I forget, I try to take the dosage I’ve forgotten almost immediately. Then if there are several hours till the next scheduled dose, I try to spread the time out “a little.” But, the idea is to get back on track, ASAP.
[NOTE 02/18/25]: So it didn’t take long for me to have a specific instance of forgetting to take my daily pills. We have a winter snow storm predicted to start tomorrow morning. I had a list of items (mostly food purchases) that I wanted to make early (first thing) today, so I checked when Walmart would be open and it opens at 6 am. It was a little after 6 am so I rushed to get dressed and wrestled with the thought of eating out, or getting items, and then returning home to eat. I got out the door, and stopped at Walmart first. Not a lot of people there yet, and I quickly got everything+. Then I headed up to get gas and that went quickly also. I decided to go to the Rainbow for breakfast. I rarely go out for breakfast, but for years, I might eat at the Rainbow at least 200 days out of the year. That would be eating every weekday morning, on my way to work. But now, most days, I have the time to fix breakfast for myself and enjoy what I fix more than eating at a restaurant.
So, I “had time to kill” before Harris Teeter was scheduled to start selling their Rotisserie Chickens at 11 am. It was still before 9 am, when First Citizens Bank would open and I could cash a check. I did cash a check there later. I then went over to Harris Teeter, hoping they might start selling the prepared chickens before 11 am. My plan was to see if HT had the Plain Greek Gods Yogurt. Seems they don’t, more times than when they do, but they did, and I took a container for my cart. I think I also bought a couple of shallots, and I did see one woman get a chicken brought out to her ahead of time, but I decided to wait a little while longer so I took my cart over to the Starbucks in HT and sat down, able to see where the Rotisserie Chickens would be placed for sale. About 10:30 am I saw one of the HT workers bringing out what appeared to be Rotisserie Chickens. It was and I got my red box and headed to the check out. I then stopped by Publix to change the date for me to pick up my “half loaf of seeded Rye bread.” I had scheduled for pickup on Thursday before finding out that it was supposed to be the aftermath of the pending winter snow/ice storm. I changed the pickup day to Saturday, and according to WRAL Weather, that should be warmer & less angst about travel on the local roads.
I got back home and got everything inside (two trips), and had lunch (chicken livers, Asian cucumber salad, and a slice of Sourdough bread.). At some point I go to bed for an afternoon nap and about 4:20 pm, I wake up and head to the bathroom. I look over and see that my day’s pill container isn’t on the counter beside my bathroom sink. “Oh, heck!” I went and got my forgotten pills, and took the morning batch immediately. I might wait until 9 pm tonight to take my evening doses. So, that is a specific example of how my mind can get distracted from taking my pills. And, I am in the process of washing some dirty towels, clothing next & my dishes may be finished in the dishwasher. [end NOTE]
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.
Bill Gibson, II 