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My View of Life on the Dock
Monarch Caterpillar Eating Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) Foliage
Thank you GMG readers and Monarch Butterfly friends for forwarding the following article from the NY Times!
By Michael Wines
Published December 20th, 2013
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Bounding out of a silver Ford pickup into the single-digit wind-flogged flatness that is Iowa in December, Laura Jackson strode to a thicket of desiccated sticks and plucked a paisley-shaped prize.
It was a pod that, after a gentle squeeze, burst with chocolate brown buttons: seeds of milkweed, the favored — indeed, the only — food of the monarch butterfly caterpillar.
Once wild and common, milkweed has diminished as cropland expansion has drastically cut grasslands and conservation lands. Diminished too is the iconic monarch.
Dr. Jackson, a University of Northern Iowa biologist and director of its Tallgrass Prairie Center, is part of a growing effort to rescue the monarch. Her prairie center not only grows milkweed seeds for the state’s natural resources department, which spreads them in parks and other government lands, but has helped seed thousands of acres statewide with milkweed and other native plants in a broader effort to revive the flora and fauna that once blanketed more than four-fifths of the state.
Monarch caterpillar hanging from a Marsh Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) leaf rib, in the characteristic J-shape, readying to pupate.
Nationwide, organizations are working to increase the monarchs’ flagging numbers. At the University of Minnesota, a coalition of nonprofits and government agencies called Monarch Joint Venture is funding research and conservation efforts. At the University of Kansas, Monarch Watch has enlisted supporters to create nearly 7,450 so-called way stations, milkweed-rich backyards and other feeding and breeding spots along migration routes on the East and West Coasts and the Midwest.
But it remains an uphill struggle. The number of monarchs that completed the largest and most arduous migration this fall, from the northern United States and Canada to a mountainside forest in Mexico, dropped precipitously, apparently to the lowest level yet recorded. In 2010 at the University of Northern Iowa, a summertime count in some 100 acres of prairie grasses and flowers turned up 176 monarchs; this year, there were 11.
Spring Mix Salad With Mango/Ginger Stilton Cheese & Crispy Bacon
Ingredients
8 cups spring mix baby red and green leaf lettuce
1 1/4 cup Mango/Ginger Stilton Cheese (sold at The Cave, Main Street Gloucester)
3/4 cup dried cherries
3/4 cup whole pecans
8 slices bacon; crisply cooked; crumbled
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Step–by-Step
1 arrange greens in serving bowl; top with dried cherries and pecans
2 cut wedge of cheese into bite-size pieces; add cheese pieces and toss
3 vigorously whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper 1 minute; pour dressing over top; toss and mix well
4 top with bacon pieces; serve
Always a great time, whether you plunge or just come to cheer on the plungers! The Rocky Neck Plunge will take place on New Year’s Day at 2:00PM at Oaks Cove Beach on Stevens Lane with a body and innards warming after party immediately following at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, 6 Wonson Street with chowda and hot chocolate. A perfect way to start the new year – having fun and being part of this unique community. Who says nothing happens on Rocky Neck in the winter?!
There will be a van at the corner of Wonson Street and Stevens Lane to collect non-perishable food donations for The Open Door Food Panty so bring along some goods to help fill it up (checks are also welcome).
E.J. Lefavour
Alchemy will be celebrating 2014 New Orleans style with cocktails inspired by the Big Easy, creole fare and smooth jazz.
Sip Sazeracs while enjoying Chef Scott’s special prix fixe menu
Alchemy will be celebrating 2014 New Orleans style with cocktails inspired by the Big Easy, creole fare and smooth jazz.
Sip Sazeracs while enjoying Chef Scott’s special prix fixe menu:
1st Course
Fried Oyster Po’Boy
Confit Alligator Hush Puppies
Maque Choux Salad
2nd Course
Sous Vide Grilled Filet Tenderloin
New Orleans Cassoulette
Crab & Crawdad Etouffee
3rd Course
Orange & Cinnamon Beignets
Glazed Doughnut Bread Pudding
Judith Murray and her trio will be crooning jazz standards throughout the night, and guests who order the specialty prix fixe menu ($75) will also score a ticket to Minglewood’s New Year’s Eve party right down the street! Call for Reservations: 978.281.3997
Harbor Cove
Still looking for New Years Eve plans? Look no further!
Join us for Dinner…
We will be serving four courses with a complimentary glass of Prosecco.
Enjoy live jazz from Billy Novick & Thomas Hebb
6:00 – 9:30pm
$65 per person
Call to reserve your spot 978-283-7888
We will also be reserving seating at the bar.
Our New Year’s Eve Menu
For the table…
Tuna nigiri with a jalapeno salsa
Complimentary glass of La Marca Prosecco
:::::::::::
First Course
Lobster Bisque
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Second Course
Baby Arugula Salad
goat cheese, strawberries, walnuts, white balsamic & berry vinaigrette
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Entree Course
Surf & Turf
filet mignon, panko scallops, sauteed mushrooms, roasted garlic potato, red wine sauce
Braise Lamb Shank
spinach & mint risotto, orange zest
Pan Seared Sea Bass
vegetable succotash, saffron & caper sauce
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Dessert Course
Warm Chocolate & Banana Pudding
homemade vanilla ice cream & fresh strawberries
Call 978-283-7888 to reserve your spot.
Join us upstairs for the biggest New Years Eve party on Cape Ann!
The party starts at 10:00pm.
There will be music, dancing, and a complimentary champagne toast at midnight.
We will be staying open until 2:00am!
Tickets are $20 per person.
(Or free if you join us for dinner.)
You can pick up tickets at Franklin Cape Ann or call
978-283-7888
Hope to see you there!
Photos from Tuffy