Snow Ice Cream

Bill's mom grew up in El Paso and passed along a family recipe for Snow Ice Cream. Being a snow snob myself and coming from the land of white falls, winters and springs, celebrating snow was a little beyond me. But I will have to admit there is some magical and yummy about snow ice cream made with the first snow of the year. And midwest snow is purer than East Coast snow because it doesn't stop over in Detroit to pick up car factory emissions. I worked until 9 pm last night and it started to snow sometime in the afternoon. Bill called, "You want snow ice cream when you get home? I did an inventory, all we need is cream and I'm headed to the store". Heck ya, I want snow ice cream. And the baby wants it too. Bill loves to make it with Gabby (Nile doesn't like it) and I look forward to many winters teaching the baby how to make the perfect bowl. Here is the recipe. You should try it- that is if you have snow.

1. snow- preferably fresh fallen snow. Bill likes to get it from the top of the hedges

2. cream- skim milk won't cut it, 2% if you have to but nothing beats half and half
3. vanilla

4. vanilla pudding mix

5. sugar

Fill your bowl with snow, add some cream then a few drops of vanilla with a dusting of vanilla pudding mix along with not even half a spoonful of sugar. Stir. Taste. Add whatever you need more of and enjoy. I like to stir mine totally until it is almost the consistency of a thick milk shake. Bill likes to eat his more 'au natural' in its more solid form. The fun of snow ice cream is that there is no real right way. Bill and the kids have tried different flavors, choc pudding mix with choc milk and they say nothing beats the original.

We only have this a few times a winter and it is really only best with new fallen snow. Day old snow just doesn't seem to make good ice cream. It is a real treat in places that never really snows like the South but even us, Northeners, can enjoy it especially during the first major snow fall of the winter.