Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Winter Storms

Looks like Punxsutawney Phil was right.  I hope everyone almost literally buried in snow is able to enjoy some Snow Ice Cream and Hot Cocoa and/or Russian Tea.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Snow Ice Cream

As the Plains recover from a snow storm and the Midwest and East Coast brace for another, it seems like a great time to share one of my favorite snowy day treats - Snow Ice Cream. My husband shared this recipe with me when we were dating and it's been a favorite since. I was excited to see an official recipe published in the More with Less Mennonite cookbook. We usually just "wing it."

We don't have the opportunity to enjoy it very often, partially because we're picky about the snow (making sure it's fresh, etc.). Just before our last snow storm, I grabbed my giant stainless steel mixing bowl and placed it outside (out of reach of our precious beagle) just before the snow started. By morning we had 8 quarts of beautiful snow! Since it had been a while, I used the recipe as a guide, but made some adjustments. The published recipe is below, but first I'll tell you what I did most recently. To the 8 quarts of snow, I added 2 cups of skim milk, 2 cups of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla. Then I stirred, and stirred, and stirred... until it became soft and creamy, much like soft-serve ice cream. Even better, I just happened to have made chocolate chip cookies the previous day - yum! Cookies and ice cream. It was quite the treat. I hope you have the opportunity to make some snow ice cream. It's easy and worth every bite!

Snow Ice Cream

Stir together lightly:
2 1/2 quarts clean snow
1/2 cup milk or cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar

Eat right away.