One of my favorite ways to start the day is with a thin slice of country ham on a toasted potato slider roll, but it’s hard to find good country ham at many of the local grocery stores. Kroger’s has none at all. I was in Food Lion recently and happened to stop by their Deli and asked about salt cured country ham. They had some, Hobe’s, a name I was familiar with. Based in North Wilkesboro, NC. … [Read more...]

  When I was a boy and mom cooked fried chicken, my favorite piece was a thigh. Daddy begrudgingly shared one of the thighs with me while my younger sibs went for the legs and breasts. Mom ate whatever was left, usually the back and wings. Today, the best values in the meat department in most any grocery store are chicken thighs. They offer the most meat for the pound and the most flavor … [Read more...]

  All year, I have been feeding my birds C & S Peanut Butter Delight Suet Logs. I have counted over 15 different species that have pecked away, especially catbirds. There is one problem with these bird magnets. They also draw unwanted pests, like mice. I notice a couple behind the back shed, but they just scattered when I approached. Then I noticed as they began showing up … [Read more...]

  Someone asked me recently if I had a Venmo account. They said they no longer used traditional checks and would deposit the money they owed for groceries from their bank into my Venmo account. Venmo? You mean Venom, like snake venom? No, they meant Venmo, a way to accept payment from an individual for anything from splitting a check at a restaurant to buying a used lawnmower. So, … [Read more...]

  Not many husbands give their wives a chainsaw for a birthday present, but I did, and Nancy loves it.  My sweet wife loves to putz around the yard,  sprucing up, weeding,  watering and general maintenance. I would consider that work. She considers it therapy. In her therapy, she is having an on-going war with a certain holly bush in the front yard and a stand of forsythia in the back. … [Read more...]

  I don’t shop often at Harris Teeter. It’s a little out of the way and I find it pricey, but when I do, I look for their Argentine Shrimp. They make the trip worthwhile. Harris Teeter is one of the few stores that regularly stocks Argentine Shrimp. As advertised, these shrimp are wild-caught off the coast of Patagonia, in Argentina. They are also known as Wild Red Shrimp and Patagonian … [Read more...]

  My go-to breakfast recently has been a thin slice of country ham on a potato roll slider bun with some melon on the side. Country ham, I’ve found, has a lot less calories than bacon or a slab of sausage, so I can eat that breakfast, get my meat and protein fix and still lose weight. Not every grocery store stocks country ham for slicing, but I had stopped at the Food Lion Deli in … [Read more...]

  I was picking up a few last-minute items from Food Lion in Ruckersville and saw an end-counter display of marinades. I am always looking for good marinades and one caught my eye – it was a Sweet Apple Marinade made by Taste of Inspirations. Sweet apple? That sealed the deal. I was having a pork tenderloin cooked on the grill and apples and pork go together like Robinson and … [Read more...]

  If you can’t go to the Outer Banks, bring the Outer Banks to you. That’s what we did a year ago. After a great four-day getaway, we stopped by Outer Banks Driftwood in Kill Devil Hills on our way back home and bought three pieces of beautiful driftwood. One is now overlooking our goldfish pond. It’s a classic cypress stump that washed up on shores of the Outer Banks, no telling how many … [Read more...]

I know we’re supposed to “social distance” and all that mask stuff, but when it comes to birds, I want to draw a crowd. The more the merrier, bring ‘em on. The best way, I have found to attract lots of birds is to – first – provide fresh water – and second, provide multiple food sources. If you put up a feeder with sunflower and basic seeds, you’ll certainly attract birds, but a limited … [Read more...]