#Blizzard2016

The last time I remember Nashville having this much snow, my mom and I got stuck at the bottom of my parent’s hill. We were in my Toyota Celica and we had to walk up the steep hill to their house. Forty-five minutes later, we were thawing by the fire, and drinking hot chocolate. Here in the South, it’s rare that we see this kind of snow. The fact that we can actually go sledding and build a snowman is a miracle! Sadly, we do struggle as a community, when we get even an inch. We simply do not have the resources that northern states do. HOWEVER, The Sweet’s do have Snow Day traditions. I always make a big breakfast and Penelopi helps me make the 7-Up biscuits, fried bacon, and soft scrambled eggs. Then, we gear up for the snow! We always make sure that we have several layers and our waterproof gloves and boots on. Even Disney wears a coat and rubber footies! The coat is a hand-me-down from Penelopi and it is super important for our pets to be properly dressed. Especially when they are indoor puppies.

When we head out, we have a perfect driveway to sled down. Disney will race us down the hill, and sometimes ride the sled with us. Penelopi and Disney will eat snow together, catch it in their mouths, and we all make snow angels.

When we start to get red faced, we gather some clean snow, and head inside to make Snow Cream!

Snow Cream Recipe:
8 cups snow, or shaved ice
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place snow or shaved ice into a large bowl. Pour condensed milk over and add vanilla. Mix to combine. Serve immediately in bowls.

If you don’t have sweetened condensed milk:

Ingredients:
• 1½ c. whole milk
• ½ or ⅔ c. unrefined sugar
• 3 Tbs. butter
• 1 tsp. homemade vanilla or vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Mix sugar and milk together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Stirring often, bring to a low simmer over medium-low heat. As soon as steam starts lifting off the milk, lower the heat even further, and when the sugar is entirely dissolved, put the heat as low as it can go. A simmer burner is great for this.

2. The goal is to reduce the quantity in the pot (which is now about 1¾ cups) by approximately half. It takes about 2 hours at very low heat to reduce to one cup of liquid. You could speed it up a bit if you watch carefully and stir often. I preferred the freedom to wander the house doing other tasks, and thus allowed my process to take quite some time.

3. Once reduced to your satisfaction, whisk in the butter and vanilla. The recipe is equivalent to just less than one whole can of brand name sweetened condensed milk.

Be safe in the weather and enjoy your Southern Holiday, a Snow Day!