Tag: pizza

Sticks -n- Stones Pizza in Greensboro, North Carolina

bgibson135

I’ve written about Sticks and Stones Pizza in Greensboro, North Carolina in several locations, but I wanted to add a set of images of one of the pizzas that might have been the best I ever had. I now consider my time passed, for having an excellent pizza at this restaurant/bar. I think the people that knew how to fix a really good wood fired pizza have left and the skill hasn’t been passed on. My last two visits have produced a poorly flavored pizza, but I have had quite a few really good pizzas since my first visit. Hopefully I’ve written elsewhere, where I first heard about this restaurant, on some morning news program that said something to the effect that this was one of three pizza joints in the whole United States that produced a really good wood fired pizza. When I heard that I made up my mind that I was going to visit this restaurant and see if their pizza was really that good… and it was!

The above pizza was called “To Be the One” which was a margherita style pizza and featured a bubbly crust, crushed San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt. The one extra ingredient I ordered was Jalapeno peppers. Done well, the end result of a really good pizza should be the empty pie tin, as shown above.

For quite a few years, we (Fayetteville State University) outsourced our instance of Blackboard (our Online Learning System for about 16 years) through the UNC-Greensboro IT department. During my last six years at FSU, before my retirement, we switched our OLS to Canvas, and were pleased with that. Blackboard was a more powerful system, but Canvas provided almost all the necessary functionality and was easier to learn (a lower learning curve). *All this to say that when we switched from Blackboard to Canvas, I went up to Greensboro and “treated” those involved at UNC-G to pizza at Sticks -n- Stones. It was a good send off.

Wholesome Agave Nectar 44 oz. $12.99 at Wegman’s

bgibson135

Currently at Amazon, two 44 oz. bottles of the Wholesome Agave Nectar costs $33.16. That would be $16.58 per bottle, so it is quite a savings at Wegman’s ($3.59 per bottle). Wegman’s White American Cheese runs less than $4 per package (pre-sliced). *But, I don’t think of Wegmans as being less expensive, except for these two examples, and the $.99 ICE drinks. *Wegman’s also has the “Raspberry Royale” tea from Bigelow.

Part of my jaunt up to Morrisville, via Apex, is to stop first in Cary at the Golden Hex (a European grocery). They have a fantastic variety of deli meats, salamis and sausages as well as various cheeses and a bunch of other grocery items from European countries. I’ve found a green seaweed there that I can “doctor up” to replicate the side dish that I had enjoyed several years ago at different restaurants. I think the additions included toasted sesame oil & seeds, soy sauce, vinegar, and some sweetener. *I think there was also some hot pepper flakes.

So I buy some sliced Estonskaya and maybe one other sliced salami. I take this to Wegmans, where I buy a ciabatta roll for $1.10. I either take a couple of slices (or buy them there) of the Wegman’s White American Cheese. It is both cheap and flavorful. *I take a sandwich bag with a couple of dill pickles & maybe some grape tomatoes and/or some olives (Castelvetrano). **I have been taking some sweet mustard flavored with horseradish cream, but after today I think I might simply prefer Dukes mayo. Oh, and I’m also thinking that a couple of slices of sweet (Vidalia) onion and/or some sliced Campari tomatoes. If I have some wavy potato chips (IGA has a small bag with about 3 good servings per bag at about $1.38), I take them too. Take a bottle of ice to use with my bottle of flavored ICE drink. This has to be a relatively cheap lunch, but with a lot of enjoyable flavors. ***Oh, I did actually buy a whole head of Iceberg Lettuce at Wegman’s today and included it in my ciabatta roll salami & cheese sandwich. My dill pickle spears were the “souped up” version with the Ranch flavoring.

I buy the cheap jar of dill pickle spears at WalMart, and the even cheaper packet of Ranch Dressing mix from either WalMart ($.60) or Food Lion ($.50) and add the packet’s contents to the dill pickle jar. After this first combining, I re-use the Ranch dill pickle juice in subsequent jars of dill pickles. The juice doesn’t appear to “go bad,” and I just pour off the plain pickle juice first. *I bought some whole dill seeds to try and sprout them, but the sprouting didn’t work. So, I ended up putting some of the dill seeds in the “Ranch Dill” jar. To my surprise, this kicked up the flavor of these pickles even more.

If I am fixing some Ranch Dressing chip dip, I do buy the more expensive Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning at a little less than $2 per package. I add cream cheese (the cheap brand is okay), some sour cream, diced sweet onion, diced red bell pepper and S&P. *The chip dip & wavy potato chips are a “splurge” that I seldom enjoy because of the fat & threat to my blood sugar level.

I find that including “cheats” or “splurges” to the foods I eat make life more palatable & enjoyable. And, if you don’t cheat often or regularly, any move in the wrong direction is quickly re-adjusted in a day or two. The blood sugar level may spike higher than you would want on a daily basis or you may gain a pound or two by eating a lot of ice cream or spaghetti at one sitting. But, going back to the rule and not making the exception(s) the rule, the body quickly readjusts and the bgl or weight return to acceptable norms. *I just realized that it has been a long time since I ate a half gallon of ice cream in a day, or ate a large plate of spaghetti noodles w/ homemade spaghetti sauce as a cheat. I no longer have those desires. **Having said this, today for the first time in a long time, I stopped by a Wendy’s (Exit 319) and got and consumed a small Triple Berry Frosty (normally I would prefer chocolate flavored). I had never tried this flavor (it is new) before today, and it was a familiar flavor and I enjoyed it, but don’t think I would prefer it over a small chocolate Frosty.

In the past, I might buy a cheap Rocky Road flavored half gallon of ice cream at Food Lion and at home, would take a soup spoon and add some chocolate flavored syrup before scooping out and devouring the ice cream. After I’ve indented the ice cream, I would like to either add some Half-n-Half or regular milk in the ice cream container. Yeah, I haven’t done that in a while, or even desired to do so.

In 2019 I think I had eaten some Pistachio ice cream before 10 am, on a holiday Monday, and had just returned the half gallon container to the freezer section of my fridge, when I sat back down in my easy chair, watching a new episode of the new, new Outer Limits (or was that the new Twilight Zone) and in moments realized that something was terribly wrong with me. I was having a seizure due to low blood pressure, but I didn’t pass out completely. No, I just sat in my chair watching the TV show through a reddish filter and pissing on myself. My body providing the tinted filter. *I quickly recovered, but sat for a while trying to regain my composure and to determine my next steps. I called Jeff Mitchell to let him know what had happened. While talking to him I decided to drive myself to the Cape Fear Valley Emergency Care facility that is about a quarter mile up the road from my apartment. I showered, dressed, and drove there. And, as I have rehearsed elsewhere on this site, I was providing a urine sample there, when I passed out completely. And within the hour, I was transported over to Cape Fear Valley Hospital (across town) and three days of intense testing begun. **They didn’t come up with a definitive cause of my seizure and passing out, but my cardiologist had an idea I think. About a month later, when I passed out while getting a new CPAP machine, I was taken again to the hospital and within a few days had a new device in my body, a pacemaker. I think it was six weeks for the heart surgery, and my fractured knee to heal. Once I could get my behind in the driver’s seat, AND my leg (in a brace) into the car and my foot on the gas I was self-sufficient once again. I still wasn’t supposed to raise my left arm above my head until the electrode connections had healed. The only time that I might have raised my arm was when I was sleeping and awoke with my arm above my head. But, this only occurred once or twice, and I guess I could have tied my left arm to my body to stop this.

Just tried some of my sweet mustard & horseradish cream sauce on some smoked oysters. Good flavors together!

[NOTE 08/15/24]: I bought a small tin of Riga Cod Liver at Golden Hex (I think.). I’ve never eaten Cod Liver before, and I am 70 years old. I had a strange reaction to even opening the tin container. I guess I was afraid that I would be repulsed by however this food tasted. It wasn’t the flavor, which was slightly fishy (maybe like a hint of tuna), but the texture which was probably like foie gras, and I’ve never had foie gras either. Duck fat. I could tell this was a extremely fatty food. Not sure how I would enjoy this. I think I read that you could spread it on bread, and that you might want to eat it with something that would “cut the fatty” flavor. Citric juice or maybe a vinegar. I’m thinking that you could add cod liver to tuna, or smoked oysters to deepen their flavor, but I’m not sure it would be worth the extra cost.

Actually, I just noted a picture of a package of Duck Pate that I had tried some time ago. I recall that this also had a slight flavor that wasn’t as pleasing as the Nueske’s Liver Pate that I buy sometimes. I think this liver pate is reminiscent, but not exactly the same as Potted Meat.

I tried some Sprat’s Pate that I also bought at Golden Hex some time ago. I did not like the flavor.

[end NOTE]

[NOTE 08/25/24]: One of my regular morning breakfasts consists of hot tea, egg salad, bacon, & polenta. Sometimes I add grape tomatoes, if I have them. I currently prefer the Scottish Tea by Taylors, which has a “heavier” flavor. In fact, the first time I tried this tea, I didn’t like it, but when I tried it a second time, I began to like it, and after a while, I prefer it. Now I still like Bigelow’s “Constant Comment” and “Earl Grey” (longtime favorites, maybe since the mid-1980s) and another favorite, “Raspberry Royale,” since I first tried it at a Quality Inn in Lynchburg, Virginia about 2017.

Today, I came up with two additions/modifications that worked well. I had a small amount of some homemade pizza sauce (only 6 ingredients) and I put that on two thin slices of polenta which I heated in the microwave. This had good flavor. I also cut a couple of slices of English cucumber and put a little salt on them. These two modifications worked well and I might do either again.

I had another Ciabatta roll pizza with the homemade pizza sauce yesterday, but I forgot to add jalapenos to it. It was good still. This is a consistently satisfying pizza, and just enough. So, I can make a satisfying pizza at home, and I can make a very good Pastrami Reuben on rye. Oh, and the Kielbasa/Shrimp/Zucchini dish I make, is consistently pleasing.

I do not make it often, but I enjoy a multi-bean salad. Its not something that I want to eat every day, or even once a week, or possibly even once a month, but I do like it and it is a nice addition to my food rotation. Sometimes I buy the beans in separate cans, but this time I found a can of 3 mixed beans: kidney, pinto & black beans from Whole Foods. To this I added some wax (yellow) and some green beans. I also added the little red pearl peppers, and the multi colored medium pickled peppers and some chopped sweet onion, and orange bell pepper. I used three types of vinegar: white distilled, red wine and some apple cider vinegars with some Splenda. You could add pickles, pickled beets, pearl onions, garbanzo/cannellini/navy beans to this too.

I made my bean salad yesterday and still have enough for two more meals. I had bought a whole rotisserie chicken at Harris Teeter so I had a drum stick and a little white meat, and I steamed a medium sized ear of corn in the microwave (it was sweet & tender). *Harris Teeter sells their whole cooked chickens for under $7 compared to Publix, which sells them for about a dollar more. I had bought the Publix chickens for a while and then realized I didn’t like their fatty/mealy textures. I tried HT and liked them better. Still either one would be a good deal because you can get about five good meals from a whole roasted chicken. The last meal being a chicken salad with a good portion of chicken.[end NOTE]