Maryland Butterfly Pageant

Maryland has an enormous and surprising number of large butterflies. There's monarchs all summer long, then a whole series of swallowtail butterflies whose numbers ebb and grow at different times. Here's some of the ones I've met, plus a chance to vote on which you think is the best!

This is a zebra swallowtail I had rescued from the screened-in porch at the historic house:

Zebra swallowtails seemed more common early in the summer, but they still occasionally flutter up to me while I'm outside. They seem bad at boundaries.

We spied our first "Red-spotted purple" the other day. They're unique ones, with this really pretty indigo flash as they fly that makes you unsure if the what you just saw was black or blue. They lay their eggs on black cherry trees and like fruit juices instead of nectar. They're also known for their frenetic movements, so my clip of it is really poor quality because it didn't like to hold still to begin with, then if you got close it really started moving!

What's really fun about the red-spotted purples, though, is that they're the exact same species as the "white admirals." They do not look alike, but they are literally the same butterflies. Here's someone else's picture of a white admiral:

Right now, there's lots of tiger and eastern swallowtails. Tigers are big butterflies, and very stately. They prefer to hang out about 10-15 feet above the ground and avoid it all, then come down to the plants they like. We took pictures of a few (again from a slight distance) the other day, and you can even tell which are male and which are female based on whether or not they have blue spots near their tails.

A female tiger swallowtail

Two male tiger swallowtails

Eastern black swallowtails are a little smaller, almost all black, but have some of the tiger-striping along the backs of their wings. They're either not as common, not as obvious, or are confused with some of the others, because I haven't seen as many of those. Sweetbush swallowtails are more common. I haven't taken pictures of any Maryland ones but there were a few in the butterfly house at the museum in New York:

I've also seen mourning cloak butterflies, which are some of the first ones to appear because they can feed on sap from trees. They're lookers, too. Smaller painted ladies, question mark butterflies, etc, are all common as well!

Who's the best?

Zebra swallowtail Red-spotted purple

Tiger swallowtail Sweetbush swallowtail

Rutherford Recipes

 ***Buttered Walnut & Parsley Tortellini***

Ingredients:

1 package tortellini (four cheese or spinach)

1/4 cup walnuts

2 Tbsp parsley

2-3 Tbsp butter 

1/4 cup Parmesan

Black Pepper

1. Chop walnuts in to smaller pieces. Also take parsley off stalk and chop in to smaller pieces.

2. Toast walnuts in pan until they start to smell nutty and brown slightly.

3. Take nuts out of pan, turn off burner and drop 2 Tbsp butter in pan.

4. Cook tortellini until almost all done. (This is fast if you purchase the Bertolli brand in the refrigerator section.)

5. Drain pasta, reserve a small amount of pasta water.

6. Turn on skillet with melted butter to Med and add pasta to pan - allow to simmer for a minute or two, adding butter if needed. Then add walnuts, parsley, black pepper and stir. Finally, add Parmesan cheese and stir in. (Add pasta water here if things start to get clumpy.)

This recipe is a base for something that you can play with. If you like nuts, add a few more, same for parsley and cheese. (We have also used pumpkin seeds in a pinch here and found them to be fairy affective.)

***Sweet Potato, White Beans, Yum!***

Ingredients:

Sweet Potatoes 

Pesto

White Beans

Olive Oil

Rosemary

Salt & Pepper

Butter

1. Roast sweet potatoes.

2. Add olive oil (3-4Tbsp) to small sauce pan. Flavor with rosemary (2-ish Tbsp), salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for a few minutes to infuse the oil. 

3. Then add white beans (1 can - can up recipe to make more). Simmer al together for 5-15 minutes until beans start to turn slightly mushy or pull them before then if that’s not your texture preference.

4. Layer roasted sweet potato with butter, white bean mixture and pesto. Yum!

A Recipe from the Rivers Kitchen

 A favorite for the cold months:

Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (we use 1-2 breasts for less chicken most of the time, I find 4 to be too much chicken)

2 15 oz cans black beans, undrained (to make the recipe stretch add an extra can black beans)

2 15 oz cans stewed tomatoes

1 can Rotel

1 cup salsa

1 14.5 oz tomato suace

1 can corn, drained

tortilla chips

grated cheese

Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in Crockpot. This recipe is very forgiving you can add extra ingredients or omit ingredients. Cover Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Before serving, remove chicken breasts and slice into bite sized pieces--stir back into soup. To serve, put handful of chips in each individual soup bowl. Ladle soup over chips, top with cheese (and sour cream if desired).

Bonus: 

Ice Box English Tea Muffins

 

3/4 c sugar

1/2 c shortening

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 c milk

2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

Cream first 4 ingredients together. Add the rest and mix well. Fill paper liners 2/3 full. Sprinkle with brown sugar and nuts (can omit nuts). Raisins may be pushed down into the batter for a different version. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. May be refrigerated in covered container for several weeks.

Note: you can use gluten free flour and almond milk and these turn out just fine.

Favorite Birthday Cake Recipe!!

Here is Pam and Vicki's birthday cake.  Charles usually requests it also.  I got the frosting recipe from Grandma as her frosting is always so good.  I think it's the unsweetened chocolate with the cream cheese.  Yum!!

                         German's Sweet Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. (4 oz.) Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate

1/2 c. Water

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. (2 sticks) butter softened, (Grandma uses 1 c. Crisco instead)

2 c. sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. buttermilk 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cover bottoms of 3 (9 inch) round cake pans with wax paper, grease sides of pans.  Microwave chocolate and water in large microwavable bowl on High 1 1/2 to 2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min.  Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.  Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Blend in melted chocolate and the vanilla.  Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beating until well blended after each addition.  

Beat egg whites in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form.  Gently stir into batter.  Pour evenly into prepared pans.

Bake 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.  Immediately run small metal spatula around cake layers. Cool in pans 15 min.; remove layers from pans to wire racks.  Discard wax paper.  Cool cake layers completely.  Makes 16 servings.  Spread frosting between cake layers and onto top of cake.

Substitute:  If you don't have buttermilk, just add 1 Tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk; let stand 10 min.  

Frosting for Cake:

About 4 c. powdered sugar

6 oz. cream cheese

1/2 stick oleo

1 sq. unsweetened chocolate(melted)

milk as needed (heat in microwave)