Rock (salt) and rolling for a good time

WAHOO - The flavors ranged from chocolate with mint chips to strawberry and banana.

There were three choices of vanilla ice cream, three choices of chocolate and three choices of fruit ice cream Friday at the Saunders County Fair.

No, there wasn’t a mini Baskin Robbins at the fair.

It was the ice cream the contestants in the 4-H ice cream rolling competition made.

Coolers filled with ice and special ice cream ingredients were scattered around the competition, along with 1- and 3-pound coffee cans and rock salt.

Before the competition started, Taylor Sherman, 12, and Danae Welling, 10, both of Ashland, combined their special mixture including cream, sugar, chocolate pudding and chocolate sauce in a 1-pound can. After sealing that can with purple duct tape, the girls placed it in the larger coffee can and packed ice and rock salt around it before taping that can shut also.

Then, when it was their turn, they sat on the concrete and rolled the can back and forth between them, hoping to create a yummy ice cream for the judges.

"Sometimes they turn out like ice cream, sometimes they turn out like soup," said Cheryl Reisen, a

4-H leader from Ashland who ran the competition. "It all depends on the three Rs - recipe, rolling and rock salt."

She said that no matter how good Taylor and Danae’s recipe was, if they didn’t roll it well enough to set or let salt seep in, they wouldn’t win.

"Short and fast rolls are the best. You want to keep control of your can," Reisen said. "This is bringing back the old days of ice cream."

All three entries scored so closely in the chocolate ice cream category that all three teams received purple ribbons.

However, Taylor and Danae did score the highest with their rich and creamy treat.

"We both like chocolate and caramel," Taylor said. "I like chocolate a lot."

This was Danae’s first competition and the team used a new recipe the girls concocted themselves.

"It was really good," Danae said. "We should have called it ‘Heavenly Chocolate.’"