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Serves 1, as generously as you'd like, and
easily multiplied
As a child growing up on the East Coast, one predictable winter pleasure
was snow ice cream. You'd go outside during, or just after, a fresh, heavy
snowfall, scoop up a bowl of snow, drizzle heavy cream on it, stir in
vanilla and white sugar, and quickly eat it. It was icy cold (though the
snow had to be not icy but light and fluffy-textured) and the ingredients
amalgamated together instantly and oh, so deliciously.
One snowbound day this winter, which for us in Northwest Arkansas as for
most of the country, has had an amount of heavy snow, I was searching
for something with which to pleasure myself in the here-and-now of a
grey, overcast, isolated, long winter afternoon, fast coming on to
night. I remembered the
snow ice creams of my childhood, and with that suddenly the snow which lay
around the cottage, deep, silent, mysterious, isolating, began to beckon
to me, not merely to look at it as a beautiful, remote, and slightly
threatening phenomenon, but to get into it.
Snow Ice Cream was one of the earliest things I "cooked", and ate with
rapt joy. I hadn't thought of it, let alone tasted it, in years. Would it
still be as good? Could it be made in accord with the way I ate now? I am
happy to report it not only could be but was --- in fact, even better. Far
more delicious and flavorful (with maple syrup replacing the white sugar,
well, right there you've got a big-time flavor boost; you've got a taste,
not just sweetness), this present-day Snow Ice Cream is also vegan and
low-fat. Since it is all custom-mixed to taste, quantities are just not
possible. Assemble everything and go at it; be prepared to go back for
seconds (fortunately, if there's enough to make one bowlful, there's
probably plenty of snow out there). Make it soon for someone you love. I
hope that begins with your gorgeous, lovable self. |
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Ingredients: |
| Fresh, clean, soft, fluffy snow Vanilla
soy milk, such as White Wave's Vanilla Soy Silk (available in the
refrigerated section of most supermarkets)
Pure vanilla extract
Pure maple syrup
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Directions: |
1. Go outside with a large soup-bowl. Scoop it full, if not slightly
overfull, with nice virginal snow. Take a deep breath. Look around.
Shiver. Appreciate the cold white wet big world.
2. Run back inside. Add a good pour of vanilla soy milk, a tiny bit of
vanilla, and a healthy but not overly generous drizzle of maple syrup.
3. Stir well, quickly, with a spoon. The snow should almost immediately
be incorporated into the liquid, making an ice-creamy / sorbet-ish
confection. If it doesn't, or if you taste it and it's not absolutely
perfect, add any one of the four ingredients until it's just right. Sit
down, eat it up, possibly do it all again, and celebrate life!
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| P.S. Want some
recipes for "real" ice cream? Check pages 1043 to 1045 of
PASSIONATE VEGETARIAN
--- you'll find a gorgeous creamy Burnt Sugar Ice Cream plus the
incredibly refreshing Jay's Buttermilk Ice Cream.. perfect for lazy summer
days. Try the former with anything chocolate, the latter piled high with
sliced fresh strawberries and peaches. Mmmmm! |
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