By Lily
As soon as my brother, sister and I saw the first snowflakes of Winter, we would begin asking; “Can we make snow cream?” My dad always answered the same, “No, not from the first snowfall, you have to wait.” So, on the third or fourth good snowfall, we would get our snow cream. We loved it, gobbled it up and went back for more. My mother would make a big batch for us. After mom’s initial batch, we’d grab a bowl and make it for ourselves. It was simple; snow, milk (or half and half), sugar and a little vanilla. I loved sucking the sweetened milk through the crystals of ice. It’s not a frequent memory, but it all came rushing back as my daughter and I were were looking out the window at the world of white. I heard; “You said if it snowed a lot, we could make snow cream.” When did I ever say that? Oh well, my little girl could have had that filed away for years. I knew I had used up the last of the vanilla, but the snow was deep and freshly fallen. So, off we went to purchase some vanilla and gather up some snow.
We went to the edge of civilization, which is pretty close to our home. The deer are the only ones who play on the baseball field. We were warming up back home when I realized the vanilla had disappeared. While I was out retracing our steps in the snow, my daughter found the bottle of vanilla in my purse. It was right where I had left it for safe-keeping. Luckily, our snow was still nicely frozen and we got on with the mixing and the eating.
The hardest ingredient is the clean snow. If I think too much about it, I’m unable to eat it and wouldn’t be able to feed it to my children. Because of that, it is a rare treat. It’s been ten years since I last made some. I believe it was a pregnancy craving when I was living out towards the country. There has to have been a lot of snow and it has to be collected away from the city. Even then, I can get queasy knowing it fell through the atmosphere to get here. At this point, I tell myself it can’t be worse than any of the other chemicals I breathe and ingest, eating snow every great once in awhile isn’t going to kill me.
I had the impression this delicacy was a carryover from my mother’s childhood. I had learned from my father how to eat the inside of young birch twigs and how to make chewing gum from the sap of a sweet gum tree. So, where did this dessert of nature come from? I had my daughter call her grandmother and listened in as my mother told the story of the first time she had eaten snow cream. The cleanliness of the snow wasn’t a factor when my mother was a 6yo in the pristine mountains of Virginia. While her father was laid up from an explosion in the coal mine, she remembered a heavy snowfall had trapped them inside. The fence posts couldn’t be seen and my grandmother’s attempt to trudge to the communal area where their cow was kept
had failed. She was forced to turn back as the snow was up to her shoulders. Afterwards, my mother watched as her mother opened the back kitchen window and reached out to scrape snow into a pan. She had the attention of her children while she added in the ingredients and served it out in bowls. My mother said “we kids thought it was delicious. I asked about the cow and she said, her mother probably had to wait until a neighbor came by to help, theirs wasn’t the only cow that needed milking.
It was a fun day. My daughter devoured the snow cream. She ate so much it made her cold. Perhaps, someday she’ll be able to make it for her children and tell them the story of the first time their great grandmother ate snow cream.
Lily Doe has written for ImperfectWomen.com since 2009. She has never been shy about sharing her opinion and enjoys writing on a variety of topics. Her life’s focus is sharing good times with family and friends.
Oh my, I have never had this. I didn’t grow up with snow, my kids did for a few years but I’d never heard of this tasty delight.
My grand kids have only known living in the desert but we always take a couple trips up the mountain so they can play in the snow.
We will have to wait until next winter but I will make sure to take the ingredients with us. I can’t wait
🙂
Yum! I have always wanted to try this!
Growing up in snow country we did this once a year, even tho we had milk and ice cream delivery to our house. On special days when ice cream was ordered, it came in a small round light colored no frill wrapped tin. Great post!
I need a recipe, Lily! Dare I try it? I am a bit squeamish too.
Ann, it’s just sugar, milk (or half and half) and a little vanilla mixed with the snow. When it starts to melt a little, you just add more snow. The sweet stuff all gets frozen and it is good.
This is kind of making me want to have some more. We won’t be able to have anymore until next Winter. I hope that was the last of the cold. We had several late snowfalls this year.
Ann, I forgot to say that once you taste it, you forget being squeamish. The older I get, the more particular I get about my food. But you got to let go and be reckless every now and then. 😉
We have let our kids do this a few times. My kids like to add chocolate syrup to the mix. Thanks for sharing your special day with us Lily!
This sounds like such fun! I’ve heard of snow cream and always wanted to try it. Yeah, if you think about it too hard you’ll feel squeamish, but really, I could say that about any number of foods I eat!
What a great story. I love hearing about this little pieces in time that are long time simple family traditions. Thank you for sharing it!
I love this! I don’t remember doing this as a kid and we definitely had a ton of snow. I do remember my mom using snow to make ice cream with an old fashion ice cream maker that she had. Best ice cream ever.
Love when people pass down traditions to their little ones.
What a wonderful article Lilly, thank you for sharing your day with your daughter with us. I love passing on family traditions!
I love this! I don’t think I fully realized just what “snow cream” is. I’m with you and others – I doubt an occasional snow cream is more dangerous than some of the chemicals we are daily exposed to. And what a great treat and bonding experience for you and your daughter. I have the feeling your sweet daughter will carry on the tradition with her own children.
I love this and will have to bookmark and remember this for next winter! When I was young, we used to make an almond granita (almond shaved ice). Lily…Thanks for sharing 🙂