Flourless Chocolate Cake

One of our favorite desserts we serve at the Night Swan Intracoastal Bed and Breakfast is the Flourless Chocolate Cake. It's a rich, decadent dessert that will leave you amazed it's completely gluten-free. This recipe, taken from Gourmet Magazine's November 1997 issue, is prepared in 6-ea 6-oz ramekins instead of the 8-inch round pan the original recipe suggests. We like it because it yields a perfect individual portion and freezes incredibly well.

4-oz bittersweet chocolate (60% or more cacao)
1/2c (1 stick) butter
3/4c sugar
3 eggs
1/2c dark cocoa powder, sifted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Grease ramekins well and place a parchment circle in the bottom of the ramekin. Grease the parchment circle as well.
Melt chocolate and butter together in double boiler.
Add sugar and stir well. Allow to cool just slightly.
Whisk in eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
Add sifted cocoa powder to the batter until it comes together.
Pour equal amounts into the 6 ramekins and place in oven for 15-20 minutes, or until just set. Tops will be cracked.

Allow to cool just a little if you can... The aroma will be calling your name. Eat as is or top with ice cream and chocolate sauce, brandied cherries, or whatever your heart desires. You can't go wrong with these decadent little cakes.

Hope to see you soon! Try some of our desserts!

Martha

Night Swan Intracoastal Bed & Breakfast

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The Garlic Restaurant, New Smyrna Beach

One of our guests' favorite restaurants is The Garlic! Just minutes from the Night Swan B&B, it is a casually sophisticated restaurant with an ambiance and menu reminiscent of the Tuscan countryside.

Walking down a vine covered arbor, surrounded by a walled olde world fireplace garden, lush with lit trees and flowering greenery, your dining experience begins. The Garlic offers one of the more beautiful settings for a delightful and memorable dinner you may ever experience. With great food, live soft jazz nightly, fine wine, Italian beer, and perfect martinis, come experience The Garlic for yourself.

556 East Third Avenue, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Opens daily at 4 PM. For more info, call 386-424-6660 or visit www.thegarlic.net .

Hope to see you soon!

Martha

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July 8th, Final Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch!

Atlantis is set to liftoff on the final flight of the shuttle program, STS-135, a 12-day mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis, the Space Shuttle Orbiter, will carry a crew of four: Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim.

Space shuttle Atlantis' 12-day mission to the International Space Station will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module filled with supplies and spare parts to sustain station operations once the shuttles are retired. The mission also will fly the Robotic Refueling Mission(RRM), an experiment designed to demonstrate and test the tools, technologies and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites in space, even satellites not designed to be serviced. The crew also will return an ammonia pump that recently failed on the station. Engineers want to understand why the pump failed and improve designs for future spacecraft.

This is the final flight for shuttle Atlantis and the Space Shuttle Program. NASA’s workhorses for the past 30 years have completed their mission to build and supply the orbiting outpost, and the agency is now looking to destinations beyond low-Earth orbit.

The STS-135 patch represents the space shuttle Atlantis embarking on its mission to resupply the International Space Station. Atlantis is centered over elements of the NASA emblem depicting how the space shuttle has been at the heart of NASA for the last 30 years. It also pays tribute to the entire NASA and contractor team that made possible all the incredible accomplishments of the space shuttle. Omega, the last letter in the Greek alphabet, recognizes this mission as the last flight of the Space Shuttle Program.

Atlantis, the fourth orbiter built, flew its maiden voyage on Oct. 3, 1985, on the STS-51-J mission. Later missions included the first docking to the Russian Mir space station on STS-71 in June 1995; delivery of the Destiny Laboratory to the space station on STS- 98 in February 2001; the first launch with a camera mounted to the external tank, which captured the shuttle's ascent to orbit on STS-112 in October 2002; and the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope on STS-125 in May 2009. Atlantis is named after the two-masted, primary research ship for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts from 1930 to 1966.

Hope to see you soon!

Martha

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New Smyrna Beach Bed & Breakfast Recipe

We decided to share a guest favorite for our New Smyrna Beach Bed & Breakfast recipe collection from the Night Swan Intracoastal Bed & Breakfast. This month's selection is our Artichoke & Turkey Ham Strata! We like to serve this with our fresh baked Cottage Cheese Bread and a selection of fresh mixed fruit. We hope you enjoy it as much as our guests do!

Artichoke & Turkey Ham Strata

1 8x8 pan

350 degrees

55 minutes

3 English Muffins, split and quartered

1 Tbs melted butter (or Grill On)

1/2 Cup ground turkey ham (about 4 oz)

1/2 Cup (2 oz) grated fresh Parmesan Cheese

2 Tbs chopped fresh chives

1 (14 - oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 tsp garlic cloves, minced

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 (12 - oz) can evaporated fat-free milk

3/4 Cup Egg-White

Arrange muffin pieces, crust sides down, in an 8x8 baking dish coated with cooking spray; drizzle with butter. Arrange ham and next 4 ingredients (ham through garlic) over muffin pieces.

Combine nutmeg and remaining ingredients in a bowl; stir well with a whisk. Pour over muffin mixture. Cover; chill 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover strata; bake at 350 for 55 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes.

Hope to see you soon!

Martha

Night Swan Intracoastal Bed & Breakfast

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Take a Boat Ride in New Smyrna Beach!

There are so many unique things for our guests at the Night Swan Intracoastal Bed & Breakfast to do! Many of them involve the amazing outdoor beauty of Florida. The weather is gorgeous this time of year in our quaint city of New Smyrna Beach, and what better way to enjoy it than a ride on the Pastime Princess in the Intracoastal River! If you get there early enough you can dine on fresh seafood at the Dolphin View Seafood Restaurant right next to where the boat docks!



















A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PASTIME PRINCESS
(taken from http://www.pastimeprincess.com)

The Pastime Princess was built in 1972 to be a support vessel for the oil rigs' in the gulf of Mexico. It was purchased some time in the early 80's and converted into a live aboard boat. To the best of their knowledge it changed hands one more time before becoming a fishing boat sailing out of NJ. They purchased the Pastime in the early 90's. They had the deck widened, the overhead cap cut back and the cabin redesigned. They plan in near future to widen the bathrooms and redo all the seating.


FUN FACTS ABOUT THE PASTIME PRINCESS
(taken from http://www.pastimeprincess.com)

* They have sonar and radar and the latest in GPS satellite navigation to get through the most difficult weather

* The original purpose of the vessel was to service oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico therefore it was built to withstand a category 5 hurricane

* Fifty gallons of fresh water onboard

* The Princess is almost 100 feet long from bow to stern and weighs 98 gross tons

* Three 12 cylinder Detroit 1271 diesels with a combined horsepower of 2100

* Two 30,000 watt electrical generators run by 2, 371 Detroit diesel engines

* One thousand six hundred gallons of fuel capacity

* The boat is scrubbed from bow to stern, inside and out every day

* At cruising speed we use 50 gallons of fuel per hour

* 2 Carrier 5 ton air conditioners to keep us cool in the summer

* The whole boat was extended 3 feet all around in 2001 to provide over 350 square feet of additional outside deck space. You can see the weld marks on the deck all around the boat.

The Pastime Princess offers fishing trips, dinner cruises, and you can also just go for a boat ride! We would love to welcome you as our guests here at the Night Swan before or after your adventure so why not make it a weekend? We will be happy to help with your reservations on the Pastime Princess too! Give us a call at 386-423-4940 or visit our site at http://www.nightswan.com

Hope to see you soon!

Martha

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PADDLEBOARDING FUN!

In case you haven't heard the news, we are now renting Paddleboards! They are great to use right off our dock, or in the ocean!

Paddleboards have been around for a long time and the first one is said to have been made in the 1930's by Thomas Edward Blake. While he was restoring boards for a local museum in 1944, he built a replica modeled after olo surfboard ridden by ancient Hawaiian aliʻi (kings).

"He lightened his by drilling it full of holes and then covering them, creating the first ever hollow board as well as introducing the first modern paddleboard. Two years later, using this same board, he won the first ever Mainland surf contest, the Pacific Coast Surfriding Championships, an event integrating both surfing and paddling. Blake then returned to Hawaii to break virtually every established paddling record available, setting half-mile and 100-yard records that stood until 1955, (Wikipedia)".

Paddleboarding regained popularity in the eighties and has been growing ever since! There's no need to be an experienced athlete or surfer to try this great and easy form of exercise! Check out the video below to see how easy it is!



After your paddle, relax on our porch or dock with a homemade dessert and a cappuccino! Give us a call or come by to learn more!

Hope to see you soon!

Martha

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New Smyrna Beach Bed and Breakfast Recipe for March!

This month's recipe from the Night Swan Intracoastal Bed & Breakfast is a special request for our homemade Parmesan Peppercorn bread! We hope you'll enjoy it as much as our guests do! To find out about all the exciting events happening in our area each month, make sure to add your name to our newsletter! You can find it on our website at http://www.nightswan.com.





PARMESAN PEPPERCORN BREAD
1c water, 80-90 degrees
3T olive oil
1t salt
3c bread flour
1/2c grated parmesan cheese
1/2t freshly ground black pepper
2 1/4t yeast, active dry

Place the ingredients, in the order listed in a bread machine. Select light or medium crust on the bread machine. Remove paddle when kneading is complete. When finished baking, transfer bread to cool on a wire rack. Bread slices best when allowed to cool.

Bike Week is coming but we still have a few rooms available! Give us a call at 386-423-4940 or visit us on the web at http://www.nightswan.com.

Hope to see you soon!

Martha

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Daytona Speedweek History

The first Daytona 500 ran in 1959. It can be traced back to 1903, when some enthusiasts thought that Ormond Beach would be the perfect racetrack due to the hard-packed sands. The level surface seemed like the ideal place to test their machines. The venue gained popularity and became what is now known as Speed Week at Daytona.

The founder of NASCAR, "Big Bill" France, moved to Daytona in 1934 from Washington D.C. Trained as a mechanic, France's vision was the future of racing. He had the foresight to capitalize on the popularity of the sport and organized it into a veritable asphalt goldmine.

France organized the small races, that were occurring throughout the Southeastern states, when he announced plans to build Daytona Motor Speedway in 1955. The first Daytona 500 was run 5 years later.

The track was repaved this year for only the second time in it's history! It should make for an exciting season at the track. Come see for yourself!

We still have a few rooms available! Give us a call at 386-423-4940 or visit us on the web at http://www.nightswan.com.

Hope to see you soon!

Martha

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New Smyrna Beach Bed and Breakfast Recipe Bonus

Well, we were asked by one of our guests, so nicely, to publish a recipe that we are skipping protocol and adding another one for January!

Night Swan Intracoastal Bed & Breakfast Egg & Cheese Bake

EGG AND CHEESE BAKE

Makes 1 8x8 pan

325 F. 1 hr

1 1/4 cup egg-white

5/8 cup skim milk

1 teaspoon sugar

8 oz. light Monterey Jack, grated

2 oz. light cream cheese, cubed

8oz. non-fat small curd cottage cheese

2 tablespoons margarine

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Beat together eggs, milk, and sugar. Add the cheeses and margarine. Mix well (5 minutes), then add the flour and baking powder. Mix for a short time. Pour into a greased (Pam) 8x8 inch glass baking dish. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 60 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. This may be made ahead of time and refrigerated. Let stand 10 minutes. Serves 4-5.

ENJOY!!!

Hope to see you soon!

Martha

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Daytona Speedweek 2011 Racing News

Hey race fans! You don't have to wait until February to get your fix! There is lots of activity at the track this month. We are ready to deal on a room rate, so beat the crowds and catch the action! Stay with us at the Night Swan Intracoastal Bed & Breakfast in New Smyrna Beach, enjoy our friendly town, then head to the track.



2011 NASCAR Preseason Thunder At Daytona

• Sprint Cup Series Teams To Receive First Taste Of New Racing Surface On Jan. 20-22;

• NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fest Coincides On Jan. 21-22

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Daytona International Speedway’s new racing surface will receive its NASCAR christening in January, during a three-day NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test.
The session, known as NASCAR Preseason Thunder, is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20 through Saturday, Jan. 22. Sunday, Jan. 23 is the rain date.

The 2011 edition of NASCAR Preseason Thunder will help teams acclimate to the new pavement, plus speed their preparation for the 53rd Daytona 500 on Feb. 20 – the series’ traditional season-opener. The repaving project – only the second in track history and first since 1978 – began immediately after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event on July 3. “This allows everyone an equal opportunity to work on their setups and get everything in order leading up to Speedweeks and the running of the Daytona 500,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. “Additionally, it gives the teams the chance to get accustomed to the new pit road and the added run-off areas on the backstretch. We’re excited about the new surface and believe it will only enhance the racing experience at Daytona.”

• All NASCAR Preseason Thunder sessions begin at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m., weather permitting. Each includes a lunch break from noon until 1 p.m.

Fans seeking to rev up their new year can do so at the NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fest at Daytona – the companion event to the January test. Along with watching NASCAR Preseason Thunder track activity from Daytona’s Sprint FANZONE, fans can enjoy two Fan Fest sessions – from 5-9 p.m., on Friday, Jan. 21 and from 5-7 p.m., on Saturday, Jan. 22.

Driver question-and-answer and autograph sessions are planned. Tickets for the NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fest are $20. Autograph session wristbands will be available at a later date. Fans that purchase NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fest tickets early will receive the first opportunity at securing those wristbands. Fans also can watch each day’s testing at no cost from a section of the Oldfield Grandstands. “We’re looking forward to welcoming the stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to our new racing surface in January,” said Joie Chitwood, Daytona International Speedway president. “NASCAR Preseason Thunder will be an important test session for all teams as they acquire data from their first laps on the new asphalt at Daytona.
“The test is also going to serve as a great opportunity for fans to interact with their favorite drivers in advance of Speedweeks 2011 and the 53rd annual Daytona 500.”

Teams from the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series are expected to receive extra practice time during Speedweeks 2011 to get acclimated to the track’s new surface.

• The Roar Before The Rolex 24, the tune-up session for the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series teams in advance of the 49th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, is set for Jan. 7-9. Tickets are $15 for the Roar Before The Rolex 24.

Tickets for both the NASCAR Preseason Thunder Fan Fests and the Roar Before The Rolex 24 are available online at http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

Give us a call and let us help you make your race season plans!

Hope to see you soon!

Martha

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