When Life Gives You Snow, Make Ice Cream

The Polar Vortex came through town last week and we had snow. Lots of snow (12 inches on top of the 10 on the ground already). We also had freezing temperatures (-16 and wind chills in the negative 40s!) Then we had extra days off school for it. As if we weren't going crazy from two weeks off of school for Christmas break already! So, I found myself with two kids with severe cabin fever and asking myself what do I do with them! Then a little piece of my childhood came back to me. How's the saying go: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"? Well, no lemons, but the spirit of that saying rang true with all this snow on the ground, we made snow ice cream.

It's pretty simple really, even a dad can do it! All it takes is a little snow, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Oh, and depending on the kids, a lot of patience. The kids can do practically all the work for this dish, and there is very little cleanup. In a bowl, let the kids mix up about a cup of milk, a cup of sugar, and a few teaspoons of vanilla. Stick it in the freezer and then head outside to get the snow (I advise sending the kids to get it, it's cold out there!) And make sure it's fresh, you certainly don't want any dirt or *gasp* yellow snow in your ice cream.  Now, a few scoops at a time, mix in the snow until you have a good thick consistency. Once it kind of resembles ice cream, grab a spoon and dig in!

Even picky kids can't go wrong with this stuff. The whole time we were mixing, Godzilla kept saying he wouldn't try it unless it was real ice cream, but as you can see, he turned out to be a fan.





Be prepared though, for they will get hyper after devouring all that ice cream. But that just offers me a great chance to share my mantra with you when dealing with kids and treats: what goes up, must come down!