Snow Ice Cream Recipes

Ok, I admit it... I'm a purist. I consider snow ice cream to be snow that includes ice cream as an ingredient. However, some snow is just not edible. I'm not even talking about 'yellow' snow. It could be the only snow you can get comes from a slushy, gritty pile left by the snowdozer. Please don't eat that! If nasty snow is all you've got, then use this recipe:

1) Fill a large bowl or a gallon freezer bag halfway full of snow.

2) Add 6 tablespoons of salt to the snow. The salt lowers the freezing point of the ice, allowing you to freeze ice cream.

3) Mix together the following ingredients inside a quart-size freezer bag:

1/2 cup half and half
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

4) Squeeze the excess air out of the quart bag and seal it.

5) Place the quart bag inside the gallon bag or bowl, whichever you are using.

6) Squish the bag around until the ice cream inside the quart bag is frozen. Wear gloves or use a dishtowel to protect your hands from frostbite.

7) Remove the quart bag of ice cream, open it up, and enjoy your ice cream.

I grew up in central Nebraska, where there were days in the winter when all you had to do was open your door and clean, white snow would practically jump into the bowl to become ice cream. You probably can tell I wasn't that great with a snow shovel. This is my favorite snow ice cream recipe:

Take a big bowl and fill it with fresh snow (about 8 cups). Stir in one 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk and some Hershey's chocolate syrup, to taste (probably 1/4 to 1/2 cup). You don't actually need the chocolate syrup, unless you're a chocoholic like me, and then it's essential.

These recipes start out with the same basic ingredient, a huge bowl of snow (8-12 cups). You just stir in the other ingredients to make the snow.

Vanilla Snow Ice Cream

1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cream or milk

Vanilla Recipe #2

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Snow Ice Cream

1 cup sugar
1 cup chocolate milk

Quik Chocolate Recipe

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
Nestle's Quik, to taste

Strawberry Snow Ice Cream

1 package frozen sliced strawberries, thawed
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 small package strawberry-flavored gelatin