I'm dreaming of some snow cream

Since most of the blizzard in the Northeast has passed (at least that's what I hear), I should have posted this a couple days ago. But better late than never.

When my mom was growing up, snow storms meant her mother would make snow cream for my mother and her siblings. This tradition was passed on to me and my sister. Since my sister still lives in the Northeast, she's keeping the tradition alive and passing it along to her son.

Not surprisingly, this is a very simple "recipe." The ingredients are fresh fallen snow, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and sugar. That's it. If the snow is still falling, put a bowl outside and catch it while it's fresh from the sky. If the snow storm just stopped, you can scoop up some snow...keeping in mind to avoid...erm...discolored snow. In Brooklyn, we would open up the kitchen door, put our two bowls on the verandah (as we call our little landing leading to the sprial stairs), and wait not so patiently for the snow to fill up the bowls.

Don't use much vanilla - that stuff is strong, and if you put too much in, it's pretty nasty. Just do a tiny bit, taste it, add more if necessary.

The same thing applies to heavy cream - if you add too little, it tastes too much like, well, snow. If you add too much, the heavy cream melts the snow so much that you're really just eating iced heavy cream. Start with a little, and add more if it's needed.

Lastly, the sugar. This is a point of debate. One might think that you would want something like confectioner's sugar so the sugar would melt nicely into the rest of the concoction. But my sister and I agree - granulated sugar is the way to go. The grit is what makes it (and, as my mother says, what disguises the grit you might have gotten from the snow).

If you're in an area that is receiving snow, seriously, try this. It's one of my most favorite memories of childhood winters. And once you try it, you won't be able to go through a snowstorm without it. While other people might have been stocking up on salt or snow shovels, my sister (wise beyond her years) was stocking up on heavy cream.