Ice Cream Cake

My sister is making ice cream cakes for the warmer weather celebrations this year. She starts with ice cream sandwiches. I was around for the Mother’s Day Cake and took pictures. Yummy!

There are lots of recipes/videos for ice cream sandwich cakes (here’s one) and the general technique is versatile enough to make large and small versions….different toppings and fillings between layers can provide endless variety.

Gleanings of the Week Ending September 8, 2018

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles and websites I found this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week: The LBJs and Top 25 Wild Birds Photographs of the Week: The Cranes and Top 25 Wild Birds Photographs of the Week: Birds in Flowers – Birds and more birds…starting the gleanings off with images of fast moving wildlife!

Natural refrigerant replacements could reduce energy costs and conserve the environment: Implementing replacements of CFCs and HCFCs could help UN signatories to uphold international agreements on carbon emissions. -- ScienceDaily – One of the ways new technology could help sustain the planet.

BBC - Future - How to drink from the enormous lakes in the air – I was intrigued by the variety of ways to collect water from the air coming out of labs and into production. Some are for very poor and rural areas…but others might be popular for home owners that currently buy bottled water because they don’t trust their municipal water supply.

Cake Art Features Realistic Flowers Made from Buttercream Frosting – The decadence of it all….I’m not a big cake eater, but if I was this type of cake would be what I wanted for my birthday!

Ancient farmers spared us from glaciers but profoundly changed Earth’s climate -- ScienceDaily – The advent of farming altered the climate enough to avoid the beginning of an ice age as the Industrial Revolution when the burning of fossil fuels caused the further uptick we are today.  A quote from the article: “we have maybe stopped the major cycle of Earth’s climate and we are stuck in a warmer and warmer and warmer interglacial.”

Two studies that suggest that some common medical practices may not be as worthwhile as previously thought: Widespread use of statins in healthy older people to prevent heart disease not recommended in new study: Any protective effect was limited to those with type 2 diabetes aged between 75 and 84 -- ScienceDaily and Experts advise against routine testing for prostate cancer: But for those men who seek counsel from their physicians, shared decision making is essential -- ScienceDaily

Photo of the Week – September 6 | The Prairie Ecologist – The August installment of the author’s square meter photography project. The two praying mantis shots (Aargh…non-natives European and Asian).

BBC - Future - Five memory hacks to make you smarter – A post well-timed for the start of school!

Roman Basin Recovered from Germanic Grave in Holland - Archaeology Magazine – It is made of bronze and was found in pieces that were put back together. It’s an appealing shape…which the article would have given more information about its size.

Today’s College Students Aren’t Who You Think They Are: NPR – It’s good to see this. I’ve been hearing anecdotal reports from my daughter about college students at the universities where she has been/is. It’s good to see that her observations are wide-spread…that it’s the ‘new normal’ and services provided by institutes need to evolve to support these students.

Birthday Cakes

My mother’s birthday was a few weeks ago and we celebrated over the course of a week while I visited in Carrollton. There were three cakes! I didn’t think to photograph the first one; it was purchased in a grocery store…a square carrot cake of about 3 servings with no icing on the sides. It was the old-fashioned kind of carrot cake with plenty of spices, raisins and pineapple (and carrots, of course). It was wonderful that the icing did not overwhelm the cake too.

The next cake was purchased by a granddaughter’s boyfriend from a specialty bakery – a Tres Leches cake decorated the glazed strawberries and Oreo cookies. Yummy! I just too the Lactaid…and enjoyed it tremendously.

A few days later, my sister bought Bundtinis – these are mini-Bundt cakes with a big swirl of icing on top. There were twelve each of red velvet, carrot, and cinnamon swirl. A good last hurrah for the birthday celebration.