Snow Ice Cream

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. So it follows that when life dumps a ton of snow on you, you make ice cream. Yes, ice cream!

Eliza Barclay wrote a fun article for the Washington Post about the history of "snow cream." She even checked with the EPA and learned that while they wouldn't recommend consuming snow in large quantities, a dish of snow probably couldn't hurt you. Furthermore, it seems that when snow falls in copious quantities as we've had of late, the tiny flakes actually scrub the sky clean. (Clean-ish?)

Fortified by this research, and by the total mind-numbing boredom of cabin fever, I decided to give the treat a try.

First, I grabbed a long handled ladle so I could reach deep into a snow drift. Then I filled a bowl with scoops of snow.

Next, I opened a can of condensed milk, a bag of Spenda and my bottle of vanilla. I stirred a can and a half into the snow, added a layer of Spenda and three teaspoons of vanilla. (I suggest you adjust the amounts and taste as you go along.)

Finally, I poured the semi-frozen mix into a plastic container and set it in the freezer for an hour. Voila! Tasty, yummy, ice cream. Oh, and that dark dollop on top is chocolate syrup. (Yes, I know. It looks like ... well...it isn't!)

Read Eliza's enchanting article here:

http://http//elevatedsouthern.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/when-life-hands-you-snow-make-dessert/

SnowFall of 2010

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Rain, Rain Go Away

When you move to a new place, you don't know what to expect. I had looked up DC weather before we came, and I thought, "Gee, this is pretty much what I'm accustomed to here in St. Louis."

Now I've discovered they are calling Fall 2009, "A season of soakers." Yes, it's evidentally the 15th wettest October on record. Downpours continued and made this the wettest November since 2004. And December is 2 inches ahead of last year. I'm not sure if that takes into account the snow we've had and the snow that's predicted.

What gives?

I walked the dogs an hour ago and stared at the heavy clouds.

Sigh.

Our yard is so wet that I'm thinking, "This would be a great place to try water lilies."

The dogs' paws get so muddy, that I keep washing them off in the laundry sink, and the pups are even getting used to this Marine bath situation. (By the way, what is a Marine bath? My mom used to call quick slooshes in the sink by that name.)

It's a good time for writing. I mean...I have to force myself to get up and get out, but it's also a hard time for writing because the incessant drum-drum-drumming of rain on the roof at night keeps me awake.

Sigh.

I hope it dries up soon.