Snow Ice Cream

It snowed something like 10 inches yesterday,,, steady snow all day long.  (Could little kids ask for anything better on a February Friday???)  After tons of shoveling, snow angels, and snowballs the kids came in and we made snow ice cream.  I was going to write about it last night, but the pictures I took of the event were rubbish.  "Darn... I'll have to make it again tomorrow," I thought.  So I did, and here it is!

You will need:

1 c. milk

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 T. vanilla

snow!

two nested bowls

pot

salt

potato masher or other mixer

*  Gather all your ingredients and supplies before you being (including your boots ready to go near the door!)...  

* In the smaller of the nesting bowls, mix the milk, sugar, and vanilla until frothy

* Bring the larger bowl and a pot for snow outside.  Fill the pot with the snow that will become your ice cream.    Fill the bowl half way, and while outside, press the snow down to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl.

* Head back inside... and work quickly now that you've got the snow in the warm house!  

* Cover the snow in the larger bowl with salt. (I've read that rock salt works better, but I used table salt.)   Place the smaller bowl with the milk mixture onto the salty snow in the larger bowl.

* Begin adding snow to the mixture, using the potato masher to blend it.  Add until desired consistency.

* Serve it up right away.  You can store it in the freezer, but it's not as good :)

Enjoy your frozen treat!  

And don't forget - there's always some way to enjoy the season, even in the middle of February!

fyi:
When you are making ice cream, the temperature around the ice cream mixture needs to be lower than 32 F if you want the mixture to freeze. Salt mixed with ice creates a brine that has a temperature lower than 32 F. When you add salt to the ice water, you lower the melting temperature of the ice down to 0 F or so. The brine is so cold that it easily freezes the ice cream mixture. (from howstuffworks.com)