“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” (John Ruskin)
Snow is in the air tonight. The temperature plunged and the rain started turning white. Frankie went outside a while ago and came back with white sprinkled all across his black furry back.
Snow has been scarce around here in Kentucky this winter. We had a smidgen early in December. We’ve had a few flurries since then. Mostly the kind where if you didn’t look quick, you wouldn’t see any snow. If it does snow as forecast tonight and Friday, I think it’s going to be that kind again. Or at least even if it does leave some on the ground it won’t last long since Sunday it’s supposed to be 60 degrees again. But that’s weather in Kentucky, especially in March. One weatherman said we’d had a whole winter of March this year.
I’m okay with no snow. We’ve had plenty in years past. The pictures are from one of the big snows we had back in 2015. The dog is my sweet Oscar who enjoyed the snow. Frankie loves it too, but he hasn’t had as much snow to enjoy as yet. While I don’t mind one good snow a year if it doesn’t stick around long, mostly I tend to agree with Carl Reiner who said, “Some people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.”
But I know plenty of people get excited by the prospect of snow. There are some things that you can’t do without a little snow. Go sledding for one. And you can’t make a snowman without a good snow or dig out a snow fort and have a snowball fight. No snow means no days off from school. All kids need a few of those. And you can’t make snow cream.
That leads me to a memory sent in by a reader some time ago. So if you’re one of the lucky snow lovers who have plenty of the white stuff on the ground and you’ve ever wanted an actual recipe to make snow cream, here it is from Virginia along with her story.
My grandmother was ‘the greatest cook ever’ and used to make delicious snow ice cream. Fresh clean snow (yes, it was cleaner in the “good olde days” ) whole milk or cream, sugar, and vanilla. For some reason, I crave ice cream in the Winter–maybe because of Gran’s “Snow Cream”. One of my mother’s favorite holiday treats from her childhood was “boiled custard” (which you must not allow to boil). A rich, cooked drink similar to eggnog, boiled custard is actually a custard which is thin enough to drink from a cup. My grandmother used to make it and pour it into glass jars which she would set down outside in the snow to cool. Mom and her brother and sister would drink it outside straight from the jar and then get “switched” by Gran for stealing the family treat!
Fresh Snow Ice Cream
1 small pkg of regular (not instant) vanilla pudding mix
1 cup sugar
1/2 milk
1 pint cream
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 to 2 gallons fresh, clean snow
In an extra-large, heavy mixing bowl, combine pudding mix and sugar. Stir in milk and blend until dry ingredients are dissolved. Blend in cream, vanilla extract, and nutmeg. Cover and chill until ready to serve ice cream. To make ice cream: Stir mixture well and add in enough snow to make desired consistency. Do not over-stir. Serve immediately.
Thanks, Virginia, for sharing your story and your grandmother’s recipe. So if you have a heaping bowl of clean snow – actually, the fun spoilers, er, I mean the experts, tell us that no snow is clean enough anymore, but it’s still fun to think about snow cream.
My mom used to make snow cream sometimes too. Dad liked it, but she just stirred some milk or cream and sugar into the snow, I think. I didn’t like it much then and have never made it myself. I just eat my snow sugar free and wait for summertime to make the real stuff by cooking up some ice cream stock, adding some mashed fruit–nearly always bananas–vanilla and cream to put in an ice cream freezer surround with ice and salt and churn away.
Have you ever made or eaten snow cream?
Thanks for reading. I borrowed some of this post from a previous post back in 2012 so I could get back to churning out some words for my work in progress.
Comments 22
Mama used to make us snow cream. It was SO good and such a special treat.
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I think some of us older folks didn’t have the many treats kids have these days. We ate home grown and home cooked food. We had plenty of desserts but they were my mom’s cakes and cookies and then that homemade ice cream in the summer. When we did get ice cream it didn’t last long at our house. My mom would get the three flavor kind and slice it for us instead of dipping it. I always saved the strawberry part for last.
I wish we had enough snow to make snow cream. Mama always made when we were growing up. I haven’t made it in the last couple of years because we haven’t had enough snow. We just put in snow, vanilla, sugar and milk. I never measure it, I just mix it until it looks right. That is how Mama has always does it.
Now I wish I had a bowl of snow cream.
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You have to have more than flurries for that snow cream, April, but you’ll have snow one of these winters to make some snow cream for Emma. How you made it sounds like how my mother made it too.
I have heard of snow cream, but never have had any. I used to eat a lot of snow when I was a kid. I never thought of adding cream and sugar. Lol. I sure love your photo of your bird feeder with all the birds. Cardinals are one of my favorite birds. What other birds feed at your feeder? You most likely have to fill that feeder often.
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It was never my favorite, Eileen, but my dad who loved ice cream liked it because we didn’t always have store bought ice cream in the freezer.
As for the birds, I have a variety. A lot of cardinals as you could see in the picture. Then I have the titmice that I think are so cute and the black-capped chickadee. A ladderback woodpecker is an every day visitor along with blue jays. I sometimes have finches. I used to draw goldfinches to my finch feeder but lately they haven’t been coming to that feeder. I bought new seeds but it didn’t draw them back. Usually I have juncos but I haven’t seen that many this year. Maybe they stayed in the north since the winter was milder. I have had a rufous sided towhee rarely and blue birds come to my bird bath but I don’t think they eat the seeds. Doves eat on the ground because I have a squirrel proof bird feeder that is also dove proof since it operates on weight. Unfortunately the black birds that start showing up when spring is almost here have figured out how to balance on the feeder without springing the apparatus that covers the seed. Also, at this time of the year I have many red-winged blackbirds. They can go through a feeder full of seeds in no time. So I’ll have to start buying the more expensive safflower seeds that the starlings and black birds don’t like as much soon so that the bully blackbirds won’t hog all the seeds. Maybe I should do a post about my birds sometime.
Where did you find your squirrel proof feeder? We stopped filling our bird feeders because of the squirrels. We tried several suggestions but none worked. 🙄
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Those squirrels are determined at times. This one I have now is several years old and I have had a few squirrels to try to defeat it and they’ve sometimes managed a few seeds. Last year two chipmunks would jump on it from a nearby branch and then cling to the top edge and get some seeds. But they often tell off too. Not sure if that’s what discouraged them or their fear that Frankie would be out in the yard to try to catch them. That may be why the squirrels quit trying too. I did have to put the feeder on a metal holder and far away from those nearby branches that they couldn’t reach the seeds from a perch on the branch. I also bought my daughter a squirrel proof one that she says doesn’t work as well as advertised. I shopped online and while I don’t remember, may have found it on Amazon. We got Mom a squirrel proof one that the squirrel figured out practically overnight. So they don’t always work.
Very true. We tried three different ones and the squirrels figured all three out! They would empty the feeder! Squirrels got fat and we got poorer! 🙄 Then they would thank us by chewing the holes bigger in our bluebird houses or in our roof! What a menace! 😕
I remember my mom making us some snow cream. It was almost like eating ice cream. Fond memories.
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It’s so good to think back on those fond memories, Connie, and remember the sweet times with our parents. People with happy childhood memories are so blessed.
I remember Daddy making snow cream when I was a young girl. He always found the best ways to enjoy a snowfall. Great memories.
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It is good to have such great memories of good times with your dad, Melissa. What a blessing for you.
Sounds like fun and tasty too. I do have one question… 1/2 of what for the milk?
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That’s an excellent question, Lee. Hmm. I tried to find Virginia’s original e-mail but it was too long ago. So since one pint of cream is mentioned, I would guess it’s 1/2 cup of milk. If it was 1/2 pint, I think she would have simply said 1 cup. But that is only a guess. So anybody else have any ideas? One thing for sure, you could always add more milk if you thought that was needed later. I am certainly no expert with snow cream. I’m thinking the vanilla pudding might give it more body and more flavor than the way Mom made it with just milk, sugar and maybe vanilla flavoring.
Never made snow cream even though I’ve lived plenty of places with snow till coming South at age 13. I always wanted to put snow in our freezer to save for summer. Mother didn’t think much of that idea!😊 Thank you for the sweet picture of Oscar. The birds feeding looks familiar. Such a pretty picture!
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The birds do flock to my feeder when snow is on the ground, Karen. Yesterday I had a tree full of birds even before the rain turned to snow. Today with the sun shining the cardinals are searching farther afield for their seeds. A little black capped chickadee is considering flying down from its branch to grab a seed right now.
So your mom didn’t like a freezer of snow. LOL. Once when we had an ice storm and our electricity was off for days, I went out and collected bags of ice off the bushes and put it in the freezer to save my food. Worked.
What a clever idea!!! Instant freezer! 😊
I never made snow cream but we had maple syrup pour over snow, boy that was some delicious. When I was young the snow was usually up to the top of the door and you had to dig to get out. Of course no school and we would go and help our elderly neighbors and run errands for them. We are getting a snow storm today and tomorrow, right now it’s freezing rain too.
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Now that’s snow, Marjorie. I’ve seen photos of how people have to dig out their doors and read stories about people digging tunnels out to the barn. Very glad we don’t have snow like that here. One year, we did have drifts high as fence posts that made getting around difficult, but the house has never been covered up to the top of the doors. Maple syrup on snow sounds like a different kind of snow cream. Delicious and easy. Hope the freezing rain didn’t cause you difficulties. I’d much rather see snow than ice.
We grew up eating snow ice cream. I’ve made it several times.
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Then you might be an expert, Lucy, who could answer Lee’s question above. How much milk or cream did you use in relationship to how much snow?