Feast After Famine

So, does it really matter if we got 20 inches of snow? Or 30? Or more? Can't we all agree on one thing: We got walloped. Buried. Hammered by a major snow thumping.

OK, so that's three things. But, Lord, did we ever. And wasn't it a blast?

What could be more fun than scaling snow mountains?

Building towering snowmen?

Taking a first sled ride?

Licking snow? 

And running off leash as a blizzard blankets the city in snowy silence? 

Nothing. Nothing could be more fun than all of that. 

I didn't grow up in the desert or the Deep South or any other part of the country where snow was a foreign concept. 

I spent winters sledding, building snowmen and shoveling snow. 

So, how is it that I made it through more than three decades without ever eating snow cream? Scratch that. How is it that I never even heard of it?

Kent too. And he grew up in Illinois where they got heaps of snow regularly. 

A few weeks ago a friend in Raleigh posted a Facebook update about making snow cream after a big snowfall. What's this? And how does a daughter of Georgia know about such frozen treats?

I did some Google searches and turned up a ton of different recipes but the main ingredients seem to hold: a pile of snow, a dash of vanilla, sugar and milk.

My friend used turbinado sugar and bourbon vanilla extract this past time. Plus maple syrup.

Before I share the nitty gritty, let me just say OH MY SWEET HEAVEN. It's a dream.

We started the process Friday. I read somewhere that it's best to let the snow fall for two to three hours - to clear out the pollutants - before putting out your pots. So we did. 

We got clobbered with snow throughout the night and when I walked out this morning, the pots were buried beneath at least 15 inches of snow. Probably more. 

I dug out two of them and left the others for a second round of the snow dessert. 

Ok. So, once inside, I started mixing the evaporated milk, sugar and vanilla.

But we had so much snow that I needed to add more. So I used regular milk from the fridge. I sampled the snow cream and KNOCK ME OVER WITH LOVE it was delicious. I'm a huge fan of simple vanilla ice cream. This was better.

I decided it could stand for even more sweetness though so I opened a can of sweetened condensed milk and stirred it in too. 

And look! Snow cream!

For breakfast!

Kent pronounced it "fantastic" and says he's looking forward to more. Desmond thinks it tastes like hot chocolate. Translation: it's really, really good. The biggest fan? Check out this little guy here. He couldn't get enough. 

As the city edges dangerously close to mass hysteria over SNOWPOCALYPSE 2010, I'd like to remind everyone: spring is around the corner. 

No, seriously. 

The snow will melt. Stores will open. Kids will return to school. Lazy sports fans across the country will stuff their faces with chips and dip on Super Bowl Sunday.

The weather will warm. And flowers will bloom. Just lookey here:

I shot this Camellia the other day. Six inches of snow sat on top of the gorgeous bush but this bloom was clear of anything white and frozen and menacing. A sure sign that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was the day before Thanksgiving. Or Christmas. Or some other holiday where people gorge on food and wine.

Cars jammed the grocery store parking lot first thing this morning and drivers honked at each other angrily. People pushed carts overflowing with milk, eggs, bread and other provisions down clogged aisles. Long lines snaked out from the cash registers. 

On any other day at this time, I share the store with fewer than a dozen shoppers. Drive right into my favorite spot next to the door. Linger at the cheese display. Yak with the friendly clerk. 

So, what gives? Oh, just a little thing called snow. "LOTS OF IT!" according to forecasters. A 40 percent chance of 16 inches or more. Which in these parts translates rather simply to:

SNOWPOCALYPSE!

Prepare for the end, people. 

Before today, more snow fell on the region this winter than over the past three years combined. Then we woke up to even more this morning. In truth, it wasn't a lot. Six inches. Tops.

But it sent school officials into a tizzy of fright and worry and they cancelled school. Despite the fact that the roads and sidewalks were entirely clear by 6 a.m.

The upside: we got to play with Esme all day. 

Desmond looks a little indifferent.

But Josephine enjoyed the heck out of it. 

They rolled a snowman. 

And reamed each other with snow balls. 

Then fell asleep fast and hard. Which meant I had a few blissful hours of quiet. Just enough to contemplate the snow Armageddon they're predicting this weekend: 20 inches! If six inches of mostly wet snow can shut the schools down for a day, just imagine what a deluge will do.

Looks like we're going to have Esme home a lot in the coming days. Now there's a happy prospect.