TEXAS SNOW & A RECEIPE FOR ICE CREAM

Texas is a huge state, and was once an independent republic.  Its population of 25,145,581 (2010 U.S. Census - and yes, I helped with the count) and land mass of 261,797.12 square miles (at low tide)  makes it the second most populous state in the Union and would rank it as the 47th largest country by head count (between Saudi Arabia and N. Korea) and the 76th largest country by land mass (between Gabon and Guinea).  Texas stretches across eight climate zones. (we live in zone 8a)  Precipitation varies from desert in the southwest to near tropical in the south east.  We live in East Texas, which is in the upper right of the attached precipitation map.

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map  

We are blessed with a long spring (mid-March through the end of June), and a long autumn (late September though late November.  The rest of the time it's either too hot (with more than adequate humidity) or too cold. (with inadequate snow)  About once each winter, occasionally more, we have meaningful snow.  It's usually two inches or less, but on special occasions we receive more snow.  This week we had snow.  Wonderful snow! It was a classic snow day.  Joy and happiness filled our little home!

As my daughter and I ate breakfast on the morning of the 10th I called the local public school district and relayed the sad news that school was closed.  Though she loves school, she loves snow even more.  Within bare minutes breakfast was done and she was outside reveling in the wonders of snow.  It was still dark-thirty so I delayed leaving the relative warmth of the house to put away the breakfast things.  I had barely cleared the table when she returned and presented me with a handful of snow to taste.  It was both cold and fresh.  It was snow ice cream time!

I checked on our animals while my daughter made snow ice cream.  The cat and horse are seasoned veterans of winters and were indifferent to the snow (the cat was even more indifferent than the horse, though younger by five winters), but it was a first for the dog,  the sheep and the poultry.  Birds are birds and they cared only that foraging was impeded by the snow and  this made their demands for feed more strident.  As I dug corn from the metal bins in the small  barn, I looked at their alien-like three toed tracks in the snow. I marveled that they could walk barefoot on the snow apparently without discomfort.  They could have perched in the barn or lain comfortably in the hay stored there, but instead were out and about as briskly as ever.  Perhaps hunger overrides comfort in avians due to their lightweight, streamlined but inefficient digestive system's voracious need for food.

Goldilocks, our young golden retriever, had not seen snow before.  She ran and pranced in it, tasting it, rolling in it and gradually overcoming her initial awkwardness with its slick coldness.  The sheep always follows the horse's lead and though a bit perplexed, made no special attempts to enjoy or exploit the new phenomena.

A batch of snow ice cream was soon ready.  The ingredients are basically:

1. a large bowl of clean, fresh snow

2. 2-3 oz of condensed milk

3. 2-3 tablespoons of white sugar or fructose

4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

This is mixed together in the large bowl and eaten immediately.  It can be kept in the freezer, but tends to turn to solid ice over an extended period of time.  We tried several variations including chocolate snow ice cream made without the vanilla and with about a tablespoon of cocoa powder added and varied the proportions of the flavoring ingredients in a variety of ways.  It was all good. :)

Next came the snow balls.  They were small and then big and all light, round and pristine white.  We intended to have a snow ball fight as is traditional,in the family but ran out of daylight later after fort building.  I saved some snowballs in the freezer for later use: ;) My daughter did use the turkeys for a warm up practice session and since they were raiding the dog's food, this seemed a legitimate, defensive use of snow balls.

The snow wasn't deep enough to form large balls by rolling across the lawn, so we raked it into piles and packed it into a cardboard box lined with a plastic bag.  This made handy brick s from which we built a low defensive wall for the snow fort.

With temperatures so low, the animals' drinking water was freezing and with the precipitation the birds were getting wet and bedraggled looking.  So I fashioned some heat lamps from odds and ends lying about and installed them in the barn and coop.  

We snapped some pictures that day and the next as the snow melted and icicles formed on the eaves and such.  It was beautiful but cold.  I had to ask the landlord to summon his A/C repairman because the undersized A/C unit was failing miserably at warding off the cold and the pipes were in danger of freezing and bursting.  He had ignored us all summer, but the prospect of burst pipes brought out the repairman within a day.  So I am doubly thankful for the snow day.

That night after the snowfall I lay in the darkness under thick comforters with Tabby, the soft ,warm cat, held close and thought how nice it is to be able to enjoy the cold, stark beauty of snow and then retreat to the warm comfort of a well made bed!