Coleslaw Dressing Recipe!

 

I cobbled together this coleslaw dressing a couple weeks ago. It turned out really good. I am going to write it out here for future reference. I think it could be improved by the addition of a little black pepper. I'll include that in this this ingredient list even though I did not use black pepper in my version.

Coleslaw Dressing for 2 1/2 lbs. Shredded cabbage 

1 1/2 cups Mayonnaise 

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 t. Ground Mustard 

1/4 t. Celery Seed

1/8 t. Black Pepper

Mix well and pour over shredded cabbage right before serving.

Nature This Month | August

 Which picture is your favorite? Mine is the Blond Woolly Bear caterpillar clinging to an Iron Weed stem. 

A beautiful monarch I saw at the end of July.

I had been looking for monarch caterpillar all summer and had only found these moth caterpillars:

My sons brought me these cute little frogs to take pictures of them.

I have been getting some nice sunrise pictures lately.

This large Praying Mantis was perched of our porch eve.

This blond Wooly Bear is my favorite picture in this batch. We were visiting at my parents home when I captured this photo.

I was all excited when I saw this beetle one morning, thinking that I had found a true Ladybug, but alas, it was a Corn Beetle after all.

I learned that Corn Beetles have this M shaped marking and true Ladybugs do not.

And finally, I found a Monarch caterpillar! There were two on this plant. They were so tiny, probably in their 2nd instar.

I set up a habitat inside so that we could watch them grow.

I was a little worried about them at one point when they looked a little droopy after a molt, but there was no need for concern they perked up just fine.

Not everything in nature is beautiful. I saw ants scavenging this dead worm on a sidewalk and decided to capture a picture. Death is part of life. The ants need the nourishment provided by the dead worm and we all benefit from scavengers cleaning up dead carcases in our environment.

This was an interesting flying insect. I never looked it up to see what kind of insect it was.

Another sunrise.

And another.

A beautiful Garden Spider! 

As I gathered milkweed to feed our caterpillars, I ended up bringing in two more caterpillars unexpectedly.

Two of our caterpillars have gone into their chrysalis stage. You can see the final molted skin hanging onto this chrysalis. The butterflies should be emerging any day now!

We saw this beautiful sunset last night on a drive home.

And that is a wrap! Come again next month to see I find on my adventures.

Nature This Month 06/28--07/27

My favorite picture is the pinecones with glistening sap drops. Which one is your favorite?

Cicada on Lilac.

Lightning Bugs mating.

Cicada Shell on Tomato plant.

Red Ear fish.

Spider on the tent floor.

Pinecone and glistening sap drops.

Spider.

Oyster Mushroom Gills.

Tree Frog.

Bald Faced Hornet nest.

Pearl Crescent butterfly.

Blue Swallowtail Butterfly.

Mullein Flower.

Zinnia and Crab Spider hiding under petal.

Pineapple Weed Vs. Black Medic

 May and June are the best time of year to gather Pineapple Weed buds. Pineapple Weed has petal-less flowers that make really calming tea, in fact Pineapple Weed is closely related to Camomile. Pineapple Weed loves poor quality soil like driveways and empty lots. I love the smell of the buds. I like to squeeze a bud between my fingers and sniff the fruity aroma. It smells kinda like....... pineapple!

 Another yellow bud that is about the same size that grows in the same places is Black Medic aka Yellow Trefoil.

Can you see the difference? Above is Black Medic. Below is Pineapple Weed.

And here they are growing side by side:

Black Medic is a legume and has clover type leaves.

Pineapple Weed has feathery leaves.

The buds of Pineapple Weed mature into seeds. The seeds fall off of the flower head leaving cone shaped spires.

And hopefully they fall on some poor quality soil and grow a bunch more Pineapple Weed next year!