The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

This was definitely a welcomed challenge. I had issues with the cake rolls because I forgot to dampen my towel but I will surely make them again- the cake rolls- probably not the entire cake. It was way too sweet for me. The thing is still sitting in my freezer. I have no desire to eat it and am afraid to give any to my kids for fear of sugar-induced behaviors! But learning how to make the swiss cake rolls was great. I love the store-bought ones but never buy them since we don’t bring a lot of evil ingredients into our home but I will make these “homemade”. They tasted way better than the store bought. Melt in your mouth.

Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake

(inspired by the recipe of the same name from the Taste of Home website)

The Swiss rolls:

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 10 – 12 minutes
Rolling and cooling time: at least 30 minutes
Filling: 5 – 8 minutes
Filling and rolling: 5 – 10 minutes
Ingredients:
6 medium sized eggs
1 C / 225 grams caster sugar /8 oz + extra for rolling
6 TBS. / 45 grams/ 3 oz of all purpose (plain) flour + 5 TBS. /40 gram / 2.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
2 TBS. /30 ml / 1 fl oz of boiling water
a little oil for brushing the pans
For the filling:
2 C / 500 mls/ 16 fl oz of whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
5 TBS. / 70 grams / 2.5oz of caster sugar
Directions:
1. Pre-heat the oven at 200 deg C /400 deg F approximately. Brush the baking pans (11 inches by 9 inches) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.
3. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in
gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.
4. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and
spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.
5. Place a pan in the center of the pre-heated oven and
bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the center is
springy to the touch.
6. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a
little caster sugar over it.
7. Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the
baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.
8. Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a
roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped
roll on a rack, seam side down.
9. Repeat the same for the next cake as well.
10. Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food
processer till nicely mixed together. If you are using
vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and
then add the sugar and extract to the cream.
11. In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar
mixture and beat till very thick.
12. Divide the cream mixture between the
completely cooled cakes.
13. Open the rolls and spread the cream
mixture, making sure it does not go right to
the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be
fine).
14. Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel.
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed,
seam side down.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Preparation time: 5 minutes + freezing
I have made the ice cream without an ice cream maker.
Ingredients
2 and ½ C / 625 ml / 20 fl oz of whipping cream
1 vanilla bean, minced or 1 tsp/ 5 ml/ .15 fl oz vanilla extract
½ C / 115grams/ 4 oz of granulated sugar
Directions:
1. Grind together the sugar and vanilla in a food processor. In a mixing bowl, add the cream and vanilla –sugar mixture and whisk lightly till everything is mixed together. If you are using the vanilla extract, grind the sugar on its own and then and the sugar along with the vanilla extract to the cream.
2. Pour into a freezer friendly container and freeze till firm around the edges. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.
Hot Fudge Sauce
Preparation time: 2 minutes
I made this just after adding the layer of vanilla ice cream to the cake.
Cooking time: 2 minutes
Ingredients:
1 C / 230 grams / 8 oz of caster sugar
3 TBS. / 24 grams /1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2 TBS. /15 grams / 1 oz of corn flour/cornstarch
1 ½ C / 355 ml /12 fl oz of water
1 TBS. /14 grams/ 1 oz butter
1 tsp/ 5 ml / .15 fl oz vanilla extract
Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar,
cocoa powder, corn flour and water.
2. Place the pan over heat, and stir constantly, till it begins to
thicken and is smooth (for about 2 minutes).
3. Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Keep
aside to cool.

Chocolate Ice Cream

Preparation time: 5 minutes + freezing
Ingredients:
2 C / 500 ml whipping cream
1 C / 230 grams / 8 oz caster sugar
3 TBS. / 24 grams / 1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions:
1. Grind together the sugar and the cocoa powder in a food processor.
2. In a saucepan, add all the ingredients and whisk lightly.
3. Place the pan over heat and keep stirring till it begins to bubble around the edges.
4. Remove from heat and cool completely before transferring to a freezer friendly container till firm around the edges. If you are using an ice cream maker, churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instruction, after the mixture has cooled completely.
5. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

Assembly:

1. Cut the Swiss rolls into 20 equal slices
(approximately 2 cms each).
2. Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in
which you are going to set the dessert with
cling film/plastic wrap.
3. Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan,
with their seam sides facing each other.
Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl,
with the seam sides facing away from the
bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and
freeze till the slices are firm (at least 30
minutes).
4. Soften the vanilla ice cream. Take the bowl out
of the freezer, remove the cling film cover
and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till firm (at least 1 hour)
5. Add the fudge sauce over the vanilla ice
cream, cover and freeze till firm. (at least an
hour)
6. Soften the chocolate ice cream and spread it
over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap
and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely
set.
7. Remove the plastic cover, and place the
serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it
upside down and remove the bowl and the
plastic lining. If the bowl does not come
away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl
with a kitchen towel dampened with hot
water. The bowl will come away easily.
8. Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least
10 minutes before slicing, depending on
how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp
knife, dipped in hot water.

I met my brother in Saint Cloud tonight for his birthday dinner since SC is halfway between our homes. I drove through campus since I haven’t really been there since graduating from college except for maybe one trivia marathon. Since we were so close to the Mississippi, I had to drive across the bridge and that led me to the Gardens. I hadn’t been there since first moving up north from Alabama almost 8 years ago. The gardens are really spectacular. Great for photohunting or a stroll with your significant other.

Walking through the gardens had me thinking about the WPA (which helped the gardens come to fruition) and how we could sure use the WPA now. During 1935 and 1943 the WPA was the country’s largest employer, providing more than 8 million jobs to people who also sometimes ended up learning a new skill as well as providing beauty, comfort, ease of transportation and necessity to people across the country.

With rumors in our town about one of if not the largest employer in the area closing its doors at the end of the year, I’m going into a mini panic mode. What will this do for the value of our house? With unemployment so high, will crime go up? Surely this in inevitable.  How will this effect my children’s school? Will there be increased behavioral issues? Malnourished kids crabby and as stressed-out as their parents?

I mentioned to my mom today the news story I read yesterday about Amazon announcing they now sell more kindle books than they do hardcover books. With panic my mom looked up. “What?!” She could hardly believe it. Then she predicted, “I bet we will see the end of the library in 10 years then.” Such a dark thought. I’m not sure if all libraries will end as we know them, but I can see them closing in city after city and then shipping the books to a “museum” of sorts for books. We need to be doing something to save our libraries now.

And while we are at it we can try to save a few trees as well as plant more through something such as a WPA. When I say “save trees” I’m not talking about printing unnecessary paperwork at one’s job, I’m talking about saving actual trees. Over the weekend, workers by our home cut down what in my estimate appears to be about 50 trees so they could widen a road. Yes, I realize the WPA also did a lot of road construction-type work but I consider it a design flaw if the city can’t figure out how to keep the trees that have been in place for hundreds of years. The look of the street in our town now is just awful. Sickening really. And even in this little conservative town, people are upset that the trees were removed. They realized the benefits the trees had along the street- the shade it provided to the homes along that street who will now have to use more energy to keep their homes as cool.

I didn’t really mean for this blog post to turn into a rant but I hate the feeling I get when I am in a place of beauty and then I drive a few blocks and am thrown back into the real world of strip malls, litter and treeless streets. Why is beauty only reserved for special places like parks- often places we must pay to visit (Munsinger is free btw)? Do people not care enough about their earth, country, state, city to make sure that wherever they look there are plenty of trees and/or foliage, minimal trash but most importantly to me, no abandoned buildings? Why we have empty shells of building lying around our town rotting away while new ones are being built is a mystery to me. There should be a law against it. Or at least a compromise. For every new building that goes up, they better be putting in a new (or investing in a current) park or giving my local library the support they need.

This was my sky on the way home from the gardens tonight. Can anyone honestly look at that and still want to throw their Taco Bell trash out their car window? How does this happen?

Asking for change,

Kristine

We have a nice crop of cucumbers this year. More than I know what to do with. I made these on accident actually, the intent was for regular refrigerator pickles but somebody filled the regular bulk container in the natural foods section with a spicy pickling spice mixture. I was disappointed when I got home but I made them anyway and decided I would give them away if they weren’t to my liking. They actually turned out far better than I expected. So much so I will probably make them this way next year as well.

To make these I simply sliced cucumbers and put them in jars until they came up to about a half an inch from the top. I dissolved 1/4 cup sugar in about 8 cups of water then added 2 teaspoons of salt and about 1/4 cup spicy pickling seasoning. I filled 3 jars 3/4 of the way up and topped each of the jars off with vinegar. The pickles will keep in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks.

These are a great healthy snack and they were very easy to make. A great accompaniment to fresh corn on the cob and grilled chicken or burgers!

We all came out of the store tonight after a big storm sideswiped the town of Hutchinson and stared in awe. I quickly rushed home to grab the camera and we took a little drive around the perimeter of the city. Here is what we saw:

I wanted to keep going but the kids were ready to go home and have snack and bedtime story. Andrew blatantly told his parents that we were “weird”. We told him to get used to it . . .

I had the idea to do this a few months ago but thought it to daunting- review all the county parks in our area (including the Twin Cities metro). Now I am wondering why I balked- I don’t exactly need to do it all in one summer. I have my whole life! Yesterday I posted about Piepenburg yet again. Today we went someplace new. This is Swan Lake Regional Park in Silver Lake, about 8 miles from our house in Hutchinson.

Don’t try finding it by the sign- just look for a park. Although it looks as though the park isn’t well taken care of by the overgrowth covering the sign, looks can be deceiving. The park was well manicured and was very clean sans one lonely beer can.

There is a water source which Andrew had fun trying to pump, but he was disappointed when I told him he couldn’t drink it. There are also bathrooms and a nice big shelter.

There is no beach (water looked too green anyway) but apparently there is fishing.

The pier is across the road from the shelter. If anything, it’s a nice escape away from the rest of the family say if you were having a reunion or other get together. A nice place to watch the sunset.

There is plenty of shade around the park but also lots of wide open space if you crave full sun.

This would be a great place for a kickball tournament!

Something tells me this is what Canada looks like. I bet there are lots of deer back in there!

Personally, I think the park would be perfect for a family event such as a reunion. Although there is no playground equipment beyond 1 train “rocker” and a swing set, so if small kids were going to be present, you would need to bring your own fun.

Silver Lake is a small town but I did notice this sign behind the restaurant we ate at. I couldn’t find a website online, but I will definitely check and see if this is indeed a business still in operation. My husband and I have been wanting to bike the Luce Line Trail and it would be easier out this way where it is paved.

I decided to eat here even though I have driven by here several, several times and passed on the experience. From the west, the sign says the name of the place is The Gallery . . .

From the east, it says the name is Molly’s.

The city of Silver Lake website says it is indeed called Molly’s. Either way, my husband missed out on 1919 Root Beer on tap (and the city of Silver Lake needs a new website).  Once inside Molly’s I was pleasantly surprised. I am a sucker for that roadside dive, Americana-filled burger joint and this place had a lot of that.

This is the type of restaurant I scout for when I am in towns just like this- towns with populations less than a thousand. Sometimes I get lucky and sometimes  they are terrible but you should have seen the looks on our faces when the waitress served up this fruit plate and we all gazed upon yellow watermelon for the first time!

Just look at this stuff! I would be surprised to get this at a restaurant in the cities but at a little roadside place in the middle of nowhere? I was shocked.

To be honest, I didn’t even know yellow watermelon existed. It is much sweeter than regular watermelon which I don’t normally care for. This was delicious!

And because I am German I had to order the kraut burger. It was delicious too. I will definitely go back to Molly’s.

So my goal is to review all the regional parks in my area starting with the closest ones first and working my way out. If there happens to be a roadside dive in the area I will review that too. Here’s to a happy summer!

I always said I wasn’t going to be the kind of mom who dressed her daughter in dresses. But something happens to me when I am in a store and I walk past a pretty dress. Some sort of magnetic pull. . . especially if said dress matches my daughter’s pretty blue eyes.

So I took the kids out to the lake tonight, my intention being that I needed some good natural light for some pictures of Chloe in this dress. But as soon as she saw the beach she made a B-line and I never even got to snap any shots of her dress matching her eyes!

She walked to the edge and I thought once the water touched her toes she would surely turn back around.

But she sat right down in the water. I tried to put on her suit, but she wouldn’t have it. Thrashing about so bad, I couldn’t even get her into it if I wanted. So I let her be.

Wow, look at the ring of sand over Chloe’s head that Andrew must have flung. . .

We had some weather rolling in and I thought we were going to get rained out. But it just made for awesome picture taking.

This is why people want to live on the lake in Minnesota.

I couldn’t decide which photo I liked best.

The sun started to cloud away and we decided to go check out another nearby lake.

Only a mile away and the sun came back out. I think this is what they mean by amber waves of grain.

The other lake had some sunflowers and that was about it.

I’m pretty sure these contribute to my allergy debacle but they are beautiful nonetheless.

Flowers are like babies. Just like children, you can’t pick just one of your flower babies to be your favorite.

I found seeds for blue sweet peas at Bachman’s this year and they finally bloomed! I’m in love.

I wanted to do some colorized photos of some of the things in our garden. I think the different perspective can help one notice things about a plant they normally wouldn’t.

above: yarrow

above: painted daisy

above: cabbage

above: sweet peas

above: glimpse of a pansy in hanging basket

above: delphinium

above: the name of this one is on the tip of my tongue . . .

above: globe thistle

above: painted daisy

above: rainbow chard

above: raspberries

above: roma tomatoes just starting out

above: sweet peas

above: poppy (the gold speckles is the pollen dust!)

After staying in Duluth for 2 nights we drove through the fog for an hour or so and came up over a hill and down into the sleepy little town of Bayfield. Our neighbors had told us about this charming little town and after looking at pictures of the Apostle Islands we decided to rent a cabin there. It was worth suffering through a few rainy patches just to get pictures of the amazing sky! There isn’t a lot going on around Bayfield so the light pollution is low, allowing for the true colors of the sky to come out. The above picture was taken our first night there at about 10pm. The moon glistening off the water was magnificent.

My favorite thing about Bayfield is that there is not a single corporate chain in the entire town or within a pretty far radius. The nearest McDonald’s is 30 minutes away, same for the Wal-Mart. After driving through the American landscape of strip malls and fast food neon overload for the majority of my life, the sight of Bayfield was a refreshing experience.

I can honestly say it is probably the most underdeveloped area I have ever been to and in my book that is a very impressive feat for a town of any size.

When we got to our cabin we were definitely satisfied with the property we rented. Here is a view of the house:

I snapped the shot of the cabin and then I turned around and shot this picture of our view:

We didn’t have a sand beach, but we did have access to the water (via rocky terrain). We were a little worried about finding a decent grocery store to stock the fridge with being in such a remote area and all but when we walked into the IGA in Washburn we were amazed. They had a huge selection of beautiful looking food in such a small space. Everything we needed and more was in that small store. No “super center” needed!

After preparing the first meal of wild rice and grilled chicken, we went into town to take a walk around the marina. It was a Tuesday night and at 7pm everything was pretty much shut down except for a few bars. I imagine the stores stay open later as it gets later in the week and later in the season but for now we had the town to ourselves for the most part.

I took a lot of pictures- mostly of boats, clouds and water!

Here is the first storm rolling in. That night we did have a fire, but later as the night went on the lightening really picked up and it started to rain.

The next day we woke up and I really wanted to see one of those sea caves so we went to Meyer’s Beach where I heard you could walk a mile down the trail and see a sea cave from the trail. But when we got there the park ranger said the trail was way to muddy to trek on unless you had special gear. I was disappointed, but Andrew enjoyed looking for rocks.

And Chloe. . . well, she was only happy during the trip if she was on the beach!

But eventually it started to rain and so we packed up and went back to the cabin. We spent the afternoon there, the cabin spacious enough for the kids not to feel cooped up. Andrew and I went and got  a pint of fresh strawberries for a snack, made burgers for supper and then twiddled our thumbs wondering what to do. Finally the rain stopped around 7pm and my brother and I decided to go on a photo hunt. I’m so glad we did because I got the best pictures ever!

First we went down by the water. The sky looked like a watercolor painting.

It looked like fine, delicate paper that had been ripped open to reveal layer after layer of watercolor from an artist’s brush.

Then we became sun chasers and we followed the sunset up over that hill into strawberry-picking territory. After a 5 minute drive we came up over a hill and saw this:

The sky was changing rapidly, I was worrying about my settings on my camera because the sky was so bright. I didn’t know how I could shoot something so dynamic.

The colors were changing before our eyes. We would shoot a few photos, stop, look again and shoot a whole round more because it had completely changed in a matter of minutes.

Count the colors . . .

I think the above photo is pretty amazing. After getting that I figured we had seen it all. But on the way back down the hill there was this:

5 minutes later, back at the cabin, I snapped this:

Amazingly, the sky was actually pink, purple and blue. No Photoshop!

The next day the sun was shining and we all made plans to head over to Madeline Island. Chloe was crabby again for most of the day unless she was either in the dirt or sand!

The ferry ride was only 20 minutes. Chloe screamed (I guess she doesn’t like boats?) but Andrew enjoyed the sightseeing.

Once we got there we found the nearest beach so that Chloe could be at peace.

My brother and his friends hopped on some mopeds to get a better look at the island.

Personally I thought it sounded a little spendy but they acted like it was the most fun they’d had all vacation!

We were on Madeline Island no longer than 2 hours. It was okay, but without money and a babysitter, there wasn’t a lot Josh and i could do. I guess we could have gone into the state park but we didn’t pay the $22.00 to bring the car. We thought that was a little much. Here’s what I would have liked to have done:

But I needed a little more cash and a babysitter. Oh and maybe some lessons first. . .

On the last night, our buddy Nathan discovered you could scale the rocky terrain at the foot of our cliff and get around the bend to see this:

My intentions were to get up with the sun and get a better shot of this the next morning but vacation must have caught up with us. We all slept in. But I’m glad to have at least seen some of the red cliffs that are so predominant in the area that a nearby reservation is named after them.

In the end, it was worth it for the sunsets.

And for a chance to see the world’s largest lake up close.

It was like being at the end of the earth which is where I often long to be. Away from all the neon, light pollution, strip malls and Best Buys. The Applebees and Wal-Marts . . . all the things we can certainly live without.