How d'you make a Swiss roll?

Throw him down the Alps, of course. 

Or: take three fresh farm eggs (and some other ingredients); mix 'em up and stick everything in the oven; stick it all back in the oven when you realise you set it too low because you were following a British recipe (which uses Celsius not Fahrenheit); roll it up and let it cool into shape; unroll it, add the whipped cream and roll it up again...

...and voila!  A slightly rubbery Swiss roll!  The Girl asked for a second slice, so it can't have been that bad.  By the way, it's a chocolate Swiss roll, so it's meant to be that colour.  And there are still plenty of eggs (and cream) left for a requested "classic sponge cake" later in the week.

Welly weather

It has been a very dreary day here, just like a British winter: cold and grey and damp and drizzly.

The Boy went off in the afternoon and did some biking with his buddy.  The Girl returned from a sleepover at lunchtime and spent the rest of the day recuperating on the couch.

And the Man and I took ourselves back to Five Rivers for another hike - less ice this time, but a lot of squelch.  I was glad of my wellies.

Getting in trim for Spring

As is sometimes the way around this time of year, the Girl got herself an invitation to spend some time at Indian Ladder Farms today.  When we went to pick her up she was muddy and happy and had learned how to trim goats' hooves.  We were presented with two cartons of fresh eggs, so the Girl is now expecting quite an awesome birthday cake in a few days time.

The weather is a little warmer, and the Boy was inspired to wander down to the local diner with his buddy this afternoon for a plate of fries and a hot chocolate. The Man and I expected the trails at Five Rivers to have thawed out a bit, but the one we chose this evening, the Vlomankill, was still treacherous.  However the stream was in full spate with all the melted ice - which must (surely?) be a sign of spring.

School of horrors

My friend and favourite Middle School Social Studies teacher has produced another movie, a sequel to his 2012 epic.

It was another tour de force.  If it perhaps lacked some of the element of surprise of the last movie, there were still some impressive performances (one of the Girl's friends had a leading role as Hermione Holmes, ace detective) and many laughs.  The scenario this time was that the school had been taken over by vampires and werewolves, and there was much use of dodgy props and shaky special effects - it was a lot like the good old days of Dr Who.

This was the third and final screening.  Ticket money is being divided: half will be spent on a new shed for the school's organic garden, and half will buy science supplies for a school in Uganda.

Global dining

Great joy - tonight was the annual Multicultural Food Festival at the Middle School! 

We tried all kinds of food, arranged alphabetically around the room from Argentina to Vietnam, with all sorts in between: there was Chinese chicken, French crepes, German kugel, Ghanaian "jolly rice", Israeli falafel, Pakistani pakoras, Polish perogies, Swedish pastries... and so much more.  For our contribution this year we brought chickpea poppers (a spicy Indian snack) and shortbread.

When I say "we tried", I'm not really counting the Boy, who only "tried" a brownie and several cups of soda.  The Girl made up for him though: by the bloated look of her at the end of the evening, I'd say she probably tried everything.

It was a great, good fun, sociable event.  Best of all, I didn't have to cook dinner.

Fairy busy

It is still cold here and today has also been very windy, so I've stayed in.  I've found plenty to do, but not much to write about, so although I didn't make these today here you go:

No make-up elfie

                                                                                                            

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