Snow Day = Snow Cream

Well, we finally managed to finagle some snow out of the skies. And, boy... did it EVER snow!!! Almost a foot at our house. My oldest was so excited. She hasn't seen snow like this except for a handful of times while visiting my parents in Alaska. She was in heaven...

Our oldest boy was back inside with "stinging skin" before I could get even ready the camera. And, this little guy, well...

I think that's fairly self-explanatory. He really doesn't like getting wet. In ANY form or fashion. He did mellow out just a bit, and played....

Five minutes later... back inside the warm house. As beautiful as this foot of fluffy white stuff is... it's of the dry variety. Not too great for making snowmen. Or snowballs. And, a bit too deep for snow angels. But, one thing snow is ALWAYS good for... SNOW CREAM!!!

Truly simple, and there isn't a kid that doesn't love to help make (or eat) it! Generally, snow cream is just snow, milk, sugar, and vanilla extract. I wanted something a little different, though. One of my favorite treats during the holidays is peppermint ice cream. Throughout the rest of the year... the stuff is at best hard to find, but mostly completely unavailable. Now you can make your own! Well, providing that Mother Nature blesses you with some of the white stuff. Here's what you'll need...

Snow Cream

8 C Fresh Snow

1 C Whole Milk

1/3 C Sugar

1 tsp Peppermint Extract

Crushed Peppermints (I found a little jar of pre-crushed mints at the store back around Christmas, but you can always crush up that stash that were delivered with your restaurant checks that I know you have hiding somewhere)

Sprinkles

Start off by adding your milk to a large mixing bowl. I like to use a metal bowl because it keeps everything so much chillier! Next, sprinkle in the sugar...

Then the peppermint extract...

Whisk to combine until sugar is dissolved...

Put bowl in the freezer while you go out to play in... er... gather the snow. Don't let your kid eat your stash on the way back inside...

Remove the bowl from the freezer, and add the snow to it. Gently fold in the snow until combined...

Serve it up! Scoop snow cream into dishes, and top with sprinkles, and crushed peppermints!

Enjoy! Quickly. This stuff melts much faster than the grocery store stuff! 

***After I made this, I considered that adding the crushed peppermints right into the snow cream while combining the snow & milk mixture would be a really neat idea! I will definitely be doing that next time. I would say about 1/4 - 1/2 C of crushed peppermints would do the trick! I'll definitely be giving that a go next time!***