Today, you’ll see dozens of big carts in the aisles of most any grocery store as the store employees select products that the customers ordered on line. Sometimes, customers pick up their orders at the curb of the store and sometimes they are delivered. In the 1950’s, we picked up the orders and delivered. We ran the errands. Kids on our bikes. At least twice a week, Mom would hail me in … [Read more...]
Coneflowers Add a Bed of Beauty
My wife Nancy spends a lot of time working in our yard and it really shows. She has watered and weeded regularly and keeps things trim with her edging and weed eaters. Throughout the yard, ourflowers and shrubs are lovely. But the ones I believe both of us are proudest of are the wildflowers she planted around our birdbath. They were perennials and are flowers like you would typically find in a … [Read more...]
The Strawberry Packer
I’d like to meet him someday – the Strawberry Packer, a man of immense skills. The Strawberry Packer is the one in charge of distribution, to make sure that the strawberries are properly sorted in each 16-ounce container. If every strawberry in the carton was perfectly ripe and juicy, then customers would come to expect that and would surely end up disappointed. But the Strawberry Packer … [Read more...]
Horny Game Hens
They are really Cornish Game Hens, but some years ago, my wife Nancy and her evil sidekick, Nancy McKay, dubbed them Horny Game Hens and the name stuck. Cornish game hens or Rock Cornish game hens is a variety of a broiler chicken crossed between the Cornish and White Plymouth Rock. The name is also a misnomer in that the birds can be either male of female, so not all are hens. They are raised … [Read more...]
Queen Anne’s Lace
There is a stretch of sheer beauty along Route 29 just south of Ruckersville. For several hundred yards, tens of thousands of Queen Anne’s Lace plants adorn the roadside. It’s as white as a January snowfall. I have written about Queen Anne’s Lace previously and received many responses from others who admire this delicate plant. Some advised that the lace-like flowers could be … [Read more...]
A KFC Disappointment
Nancy said she wanted Fried Chicken for dinner after a long ride back from Lake Norman, and she likes KFC. I used to, but now, I think it’s overpriced, it’s lower quality and the chicken is poorly cooked. I remember when you could get a bucket (8 pieces) for $3.99, then it crept higher. To me, it was hard to believe someone would pay more than 50c for a piece of chicken and that included 2 … [Read more...]
Fishing on the Fourth
If you’re headed to the Outer Banks for the 4th of July, you’re in luck. The fish – lots of fish – are biting. At Nags Head, pier jockeys are hauling in blues, Spanish, sheepshead, spadefish and a few cobia. Surf fishermen are finding spot, sea mullet, blues, and sharks – like the dusky shark above. Swimming anyone? Soundside fishing has been good for trout, drum, sheepshead and bluefish. … [Read more...]
A (Whole) Lot of Milk
I went to the store the other day. We needed milk, but they were out of the half-gallon size of 2% milk. So, I bought whole milk. What a difference. The rich taste of the whole milk whisked my memories back to the days when the milkman made deliveries. You could hear him coming a block away – the engine chugging on the old, white truck and hundreds of glass bottles clinking inside. He was … [Read more...]
The Best Buy: Split Chicken Breasts
The very best buy in a grocery store today is a package of Bone-in, Skin-on, Split Chicken Breasts. Not every store sells them, but I find them at Aldi’s and Food Lion on a regular basis. They run about $1.99 a pound and a package of plump breasts is usually less than $6. Boneless, skinless chicken breast at Kroger’s or Harris Teeter run $6 a pound and more. So, you are paying about triple to have … [Read more...]
Chop House Tavern in Staunton
Staunton is rocking! Once a sleepy little valley town known primarily as the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson, Staunton is spreading its wings and bringing in art, fine restaurants, and lots of tourists. One restaurant, the Chop House Tavern, makes the 45-minute drive to Staunton well worthwhile. Our daughter, Laura, treated us to a dinner there in celebration of Nancy’s birthday, and what a dinner … [Read more...]
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