I remember when I was a kid in Oklahoma. When it would snow we would always have snow ice cream. And we did say it all. It wasn't snow cream, it was snow ice cream. We loved it.
We went to Vimy Ridge School, a very small rural school just outside Rush Springs. There was one classroom, the combination lunch room/auditorium, and outside toilets. The teacher was provided with a small house on the school grounds, so she was always available for school no matter the weather. If memory serves me right, we had a total of about 22 students and 13 had to be present for it to be officially counted towards the yearly number required by the state school board.
Four of the students were from my own family. I remember more than once when my dad would bundle us up well and put us on the wagon pulled by the tractor and take us and the kids from the farms between us and the school and we had enough for the day to count. Education was that important to him. His kids weren't going to miss school just because of a little snow. Not if he could help it.
A nearby lady was the school cook. She did a wonderful job, and was also known to have a tender heart for the kids, looking for special treats for us. Snow ice cream was one such treat. She'd get out and get enough for us all to have a nice dish of it. As did everyone in the area, she fixed it with real cream, very rich and tasty. (Incidentally, if she knew a kid had to stay after school for any reason, she'd feel sorry for him/her and would set aside a few cookies for their enjoyment.)
It was a few years later that the government came out with the scary information that we should not eat the snow because of the radiation in the air that accumulated in the snow as it fell. We. Could. Die. If. We. Ate. Snow. Ice. Cream. Oh, no.
This is the first of the scare tactics authorities used to try to make us do what they deemed healthy for us. They still use this method of dispersing information to the citizens. When will they learn it usually leads to folks tuning out the message. I mean, I ate snow ice cream as a kid, and here I am today. Still alive and kicking. Maybe not the best reasoning in the world, but it does seem to turn out that way more often than not.
Over the years my snow ice cream eating has been sporadic. Every now and then we'll get some snow and make the treat. But you know what? It never lives up to my memory's expectations. So this year I didn't even try. Now even with our record-setting snow fall.
What about you? Do you eat snow ice cream?
I have never eaten snow ice cream; it's not because of the scare tactics or hazards. It's because we don't have snow. (Lip poking out!)
ReplyDeleteI would if I could!!!
:)))
Hugs,
J.
It can be tasty indeed, Jackie. Actually the main reason I didn't get out this year is I wasn't sure how I'd negotiate the year with a gimpy hip. It isn't worth a nasty fall. Maybe another year. - Karen
DeleteOh my, to this day when I smell vanilla, I am reminded of my Dad's excitement at making snow ice cream. Thanks for this memory! xx (In Georgia, we don't have snow often, that's why it was so exciting!)
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Kay. You need enough snow to get a good clean scrapping, not digging down into the dirt below. And the vanilla was the flavoring of chooice. It seems I heard someone mention using maple flavoring but we never did that. Vanilla all the way. - Karen
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