Super Easy and Delicious Dressing for All Kinds of Veggies

by Jan Drexler

That title is a mouthful, isn't it? But it's true.

This dressing has been around forever. Generations. Hundreds of years, if not thousands.

Basically, it's a refrigerator pickling dressing, but I have found so many great uses for it.

I'll give you the recipe. I'm almost ashamed to call it a recipe because it's so simple and easy, but here it is:

1 part water
1 part vinegar
1 part sugar


The first way I used this was to make coleslaw.

The way I use it the most is with cucumbers.

I use those English cucumbers because of their milder flavor. If you love cukes, use your favorite kind! Slice the whole thing, along with some onion. The sweet white onions are best!

Then mix your dressing. Easy ratio - 1:1:1, water, vinegar, and sugar. Stir until the sugar is mostly dissolved.

I use 2/3 cup of each for these long cucumbers.

Stuff the veggies in a jar or bowl (make sure you can cover it!), then pour the dressing over.

You can eat them right away, or stick them in the refrigerator until you're craving that sweet/sour deliciousness. :-)

I'm looking forward to trying this with cauliflower, green beans, zucchini...basically anything you can pickle, you can use with this dressing!

And it's so easy, it's almost - not quite - but almost...sinful.


While you munch on your cucumber slices, I'm going to take you along on a great hike!

I met my word count goal early on Saturday, so my dear husband and I packed a picnic lunch, laced on our hiking shoes, and went to the Hills. We chose a trail I had read about, but we had never tried. Believe me, we'll be hiking this one again!

It's called the Lost Cabin trail, and is one of two National Recreation trails in the Black Hills. It's described as "remote" and "scenic," and I definitely agree!

Before we start, I need to tell you that you're going to see a lot of downed and broken trees in my pictures.

Quite often, this is what the forest looks like ten to fifteen years after a forest fire. But this wasn't caused by fire. Many (too many!) of the trees in this area were victims of the pine beetle and were dead-trees-standing until the big storm in October 2013. In this part of the Hills, the wind was particularly strong (70 mph? I'm just guessing - it might have been more. We had 70 mph winds at our house.), and all those dead trees snapped like twigs.

But the forest is designed to renew itself. Now that the dead trees are out of the way, new growth is appearing.

It will take years for these trees to reach the size of the ones they're replacing, but that's what the forest does. The old passes away, providing space and nutrients for the regeneration of the forest.

So, lace up your hiking boots! We're on our way!

We parked at a trail head and needed to hike along the spur trail to reach the main trail. Let me interpret this sign for you.

The brown sign says that we will access the Lost Cabin Trail, trail number 2, in 1/4 mile straight ahead.

The smaller signs, from top to bottom, tell us that this is a National Forest trail, you can hike, you can ride horses, you can bicycle, but you can't have open fires. (If you want to camp, you can use a backpacker's camp stove.)

The trail was as beautiful as they said. Even from the parking lot, we had a gorgeous view of Harney Peak sorry - Black Elk Peak. They changed the name a few years ago and I tend not to listen (don't get me started on that subject...). But anyway, it's a beautiful mountain, and is the highest point between the Rockies and the Pyrenees. We've climbed it a few times, but with fall coming I'm not sure if we'll make it this year!

Soon after reaching the main trail, we entered the Black Elk Wilderness area, climbing up the entire way.

Yes, we did register!

The trail went up, up, and up.

We wondered if this vulture was waiting for us to
collapse on the trail! :-)

We finally reached the end of our allotted time (thunderstorms were on their way and we wanted to be safely off the mountain before they arrived), and after a well-deserved rest, we started back to our truck.

Signs of early fall were everywhere. The chipmunks were busy harvesting rose hips, but wouldn't stay still for the camera.

And the aspens are just beginning to don their golden frocks.

We were happy to see our truck waiting for us at the end of the trail!

But the afternoon wasn't over yet. We had one more stop to make.

There is something so iconic about Mt. Rushmore.

Iconic and majestic.

Back to the recipe - have you ever made that dressing before? Am I the last to hear about it?

And what would you use it for?

I hope you have a wonderful week!

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com.

Cole Slaw and Other Things

It's May!

Do you know what that means?

It means that the Obis' big move is only a couple of weeks away.

I don't know whether to cheer or cry. In the end, I'll probably do both.

With time drawing near, though, hubby and I made quick trip to the ranch last week to box up some things at his mother's house. You see, not only are we moving from our house, we are having to empty my late MIL's house so it can be renovated. As if moving isn't complicated enough, we're essentially moving into/out of three houses.

Whew!

But back to the reason for our trip. Inside my MIL's house are many interesting things. Like books.

Lots and lots of books.

Travel books, gardening books, children's books, school books, books that date back to the 1800's. Heaven for many of you, I'm sure. But hubby and his sister had quite the task, sorting through all of these, deciding who wanted what, what was trash and what should be donated.

While they tackled that, I worked in the dining room where three generations of crystal had been at home for the past 40+ years.

You can't tell from these photos, but each of these cabinets was jam-packed.

And though my SIL and I had already divvied-up and packed away the items hidden in cupboards, it still took me a good 9 hours to carefully wrap and pack up everything.

Ah, yes... Nothing like a clean slate to make one feel as though they've made some progress.

Of course, waking up to a cool morning at the camphouse is always good for the soul.

A hot cup of tea, a porch swing and a little steam rising from the warm water... Perfect.

A couple of weeks ago we were discussing the different ways people make potato salad. Well, here's another summertime salad that can be just a varied.

Cole slaw.

A staple of backyard barbeques. Yet it also makes a good topping for sandwiches, depending on how you dress it.

Today, though, we're talking creamy cole slaw. My favorite when eating it alone.

And so easy to make.

You simply start with some shredded cabbage or, if you're like me, a bag of the tri-colored slaw from the supermarket.

Then, in a medium size bowl or measuring cup, add 1/2 a cup of mayonnaise and 1/3-1/2 a cup of sour cream. Then add a good squirt or two of Dijon mustard (a couple of tablespoons worth). I really like Dijon in salads because it has a nice tang.

Then add 1/4-1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt and a good pinch of ground black pepper and mix well.

Pour over your cabbage...

And toss to coat.

You can serve it immediately or place it in the fridge a bit to let the flavors meld.

If you prefer a thinner dressing, simple add some milk to your mayo mixture until you like the consistency before adding to the cabbage.

My husband loves cabbage, so we often have slaw in lieu of a lettuce salad. On this night we had it with some grilled chicken thighs.

However, this recipe is so easy to change up depending on what you're serving. If we're having fish or shrimp, I'll often substitute Old Bay Seasoning for the seasoned salt. For a little more tang, a splash or two of vinegar might be in order. Some folks add a little sugar for a sweeter flavor. Whatever you can think of. And don't we all love versatile recipes?

Now it's your turn.

Do you like cole slaw? If so, what's your favorite version?

Mindy Obenhaus lives in Texas with her husband and the last of her five children. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com 

Beach Bummed

We almost let the summer go by without a trip to the beach, Man O and I.  Figures the year we have zero, none, nada hurricanes barreling up the North Carolina coast is also the year of the dying appliances. No beach week or weekend for us. Money's too tight.

So we day tripped! There is something about just getting in the car and heading to your favorite beach that has a magic all it's own.

Off to Wrightsville Beach.  We've been going there since our college days. Two and something hours away depending on whose driving. Great restaurants and a compromise on the beach.

Almost there, over a drawbridge, and we'll be there. Look at that sky.

I was shocked when I went to NC beaches for the first time. I went to developed beaches growing up like Fenwick Island, Delaware and Ocean City, Maryland. But spent most of my time on Assateague, the protected beach park near Chincoteague, Virginia, the one with wild ponies. I love wild ponies.  I don't like hotels mixed with my sand.

Honey, is this deserted enough for you?

So Man O introduced me to the very end of Wrightsville Beach near the inlet and Kure Beach near Ft. Fisher. The great thing about both these places is once we walk a bit, I can pretend I'm in the middle of nowhere!

Ahhhhh. Looking out on the islet in the inlet. I love words that end in "let"! No I wasn't run over but it looks that way.

Talk about a gorgeous day to walk the beach for a couple hours. Plenty of sunscreen in hand. Man O has had skin cancer surgery and it's no joke. The sound of the waves, the wind, the free pedicure for my feet courtesy of all the sand. It was a perfect day.

Except.

I.

Was.

Bummed.

Yep, I was beach bummed.  Why?  It's tough being a GAL with allergies and try to have the full beach restaurant culinary experience.

We stopped at The Oceanic, our favorite seafood restaurant, celebrating its new pier after having the whole thing destroyed in the latest bad hurricane. Yep, North Carolina is known for baddies, just like Florida and Texas. Floyd and Fran, Hugo and Hazel, Irene and Isabel. Lots of them hit in September. But this September day was gorgeous. Not a hint of a storm.

It had been a while and the menu had changed. I did my standard check with the waiter to make sure there was no corn in the fried shrimp batter. Wheat I was willing to cheat with. Corn? It makes my throat close up. Not worth the risk.

Our waiter looked like he was straight out of a magazine shoot. Dark hair. Tanned. Aviator sunglasses. ALL the waiters looked like him. I started thinking they were members of the same frat from the local university in nearby Wilmington. And there is nothing more attractive than a man who takes your food allergies seriously. Man O just sat across from me eating the free hush puppies.

Hmm. Let me try again.

That's it. They all looked like Tom Cruise. Only much taller.  And not weird.

Except my waiter promised my shrimp wasn't covered in cornmeal. "98% sure." And that 2% was my downfall. He went back to check and sure enough, the shrimp was now coated in a mix of flour and cornmeal. 

Sniff. My shrimp had to be broiled.

I asked for fries. I could live with broiled shrimp if I had the fries.

Man O's meal came out looking like this:

  

Mine looked like this:

See what's missing? Never mind the gorgeous fresh veggies. Never mind the colorful rice pilaf. No fries. All because they fry them in the same oil as the cornmeal encrusted shrimp, oysters and flounder.

My face fell. I was distraught. "But I don't want to eat healthy! I'm at the beach!"

Then the gorgeous waiter threw a bone: Would you like some of our cole slaw?

Ohhhh, their famous slaw. (See Man O's platter) Cole slaw with granny smith apples added. Of course I did. The stuff is fantastic. It helped put a smile back on my face. The slaw and looking at all the waiters congregating at the back of the pier.

The ingredients are so simple. I couldn't wait to make this recipe at home.

1 package shredded slaw mix or 1 small cabbage head, shredded.
2 large granny smith apples
Juice of  one lemon
1/2 cup mayo of choice
Milk to thin mayo

Slice apples as thin as you can get them. Toss in lemon juice.
Mix in with slaw mix or plain cabbage.
Blend mayo with enough milk to make it pourable but not runny.
Pour over other ingredients and chill before serving.

Easy, easy, easy. Who knew adding an apple would make such a difference? So good and so much better for you than fries.  Sigh.

Even better, you can vary the ingredients, depending on the entree. A sweeter apple in the slaw makes it the perfect accompaniment for pork.  Toss in raisins and a bit of cinnamon to make it even more of an autumn dish. Pears and pecans. Pineapple and macadamia nuts. You get the picture.

So, how do you handle allergies on vacation? Are you a beach or mountain person? Do you have a favorite day trip? Or are we going to do battle over Officer and A Gentleman versus Top Gun?