"Snowmade" Vanilla Ice Cream

As a displaced New Yorker, one of my unsatisfied cravings, besides pizza, is Italian ices. They just don't exist out here in Colorado. My college summers, spent working at a day camp on Long Island, were amazing and full of insane amounts of Italian ices. When we grew tired of night swimming or having impromptu dance parties, we would all borrow my parents' mini-van, pack in as many bodies as possible and drive to Ralph's Italian Ices. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Italian ices don't simply come in lemon or cherry. Ralph's had more flavors than an ice cream shop: snickers, almond joy, jelly ring, toasted coconut. It was so good!

Yesterday, while frolicking in the snow with Emmett, I wanted a sweet treat. I vaguely remembered my mom letting us gather snow and pour juice over it. Then I thought, "Maybe a little milk, sugar and vanilla would work instead of juice?" I left the boy outside to play with the snow mountain that we made for his cars, and gathered my supplies. I filled a bowl with clean, non-yellow snow, whisked together my other ingredients, poured them on top of the snow, mixed it all together, took a taste and was whisked back to Long Island. The vanilla snow ice cream had the same texture and flavor as my beloved, long-lost Italian cream ices. If you decide to try this recipes, the world is your oyster. Try tossing in some mini-chocolate chips or blending some raspberries or strawberries into your milk mixture! I currently have a batch chilling and solidifying slightly in the freezer. Can't wait to save it for my "child is napping" treat!

"Snowmade" Vanilla Ice Cream
*Yields about 6 cups of ice cream
1 1/2 cups of whole milk [if you don't have whole milk, feel free to play around with a mixture of milks: equal parts half and half and nonfat milk or nonfat milk with a couple tablespoons of heavy cream added in]
2 t good vanilla extract
3 T sugar
8 cups-ish of snow

Whisk together the milk, vanilla and sugar. Let stand for a minute or two while you gather your snow.

Fill a mixing bowl with approximately 8 cups of snow. Pour the milk mixture over your snow, feel free to let little ones help with the whole process. This boy could hardly wait!

After the mixture has been poured, it will look like this:

Mix the snow and milk mixture until the milk mixture is fully incorporated into the snow. The snow will melt slightly during this process.

Dish up immediately or scoop some into tupperware and freeze for later.