Birthday Festivities, Part II

My sister and daughter-in-law gave considerable thought to just what my 60th birthday party should look like. Jen said she knew she wanted something interactive. They considered a pottery painting party. She said (and I think she was serious) they even spent a few minutes discussing ziplining. Thank you God for that being a short-lived consideration.

The driving force in their decision-making is that they knew that what would make me happiest is if the grandkids could be involved in a major way. My daughter-in-law’s sister told her she had used Mark and Susan and their cooking lessons for a team-building day for her staff to great success. Pasta-making was involved. Kids can make pasta. Voila!

I am sorry to say that I don’t know much about Mark and Susan (except that they are excellent chefs). My suspicion, however, is that they spend most of their time working with groups exactly as described above – in team-building exercises or holiday functions for adults. I would guess they don’t often work with children – much less six children between the ages of 3 and 10. They were amazing. I can’t emphasize that enough. They never got impatient. They stayed calm as flour was flying. They didn’t appear to get worried when a 5-year-old was seasoning the meat. And they got every single child involved in a way that was fun for everyone.

The first task they undertook was the meatballs. Susan brought over the ground meat, eggs, cheese, breadcrumbs and seasonings to the table.

She gave each of the smaller kids an egg, and allowed them to crack their egg into the meat mixture (after which she spent a bit of time removing eggshells!). Then each child put in a handful of cheese. Finally Susan passed around the pepper shaker, allowing each child to grind a bit of pepper into the mix. The meatballs were mostly made by the smaller kids, with Addie helping with supervision.

But the real fun came a bit later in the evening, after all of the sauces were almost finished. The kids were called to the table to make the pasta. There were two Kitchen Aid mixers with pasta-makers attached. If you have ever made fresh pasta, you know that you roll out the pasta, sprinkle it with flour, make the rolling mechanism one click thinner, and continue in this manner until your dough is nearly transparent. Then you cut the pasta in the shape you desire.

Addie’s job was to roll the pasta. She would lay a piece of rolled pasta onto the table. Dagny, Magnolia and Kaiya added flour. (Mylee was happily playing downstairs by herself where she apparently realized at long last she wouldn’t have to fight bigger kids for the toys she wanted. In her mind, her work was done with the meatballs!)

I can’t even begin to describe the amount of flour that was coursing through the air, onto the table, under the table, and into the pasta at the hands of a 7-year-old, and two 5-year-olds. There were literally mounds of flour on the table, of which they would

take handfuls and begin rubbing it into the pasta (and onto their faces and clothes in the process). Mark assured us that you really couldn’t have too much flour, and that was a very good thing. Flour everywhere.

Once a piece of dough was thin enough, Addie would hand it to 8-year-old Alastair, who did the cutting. He was masterful at it. He really did figure out how to carefully hold the cut pasta and lay it carefully in a mound on the table sprinkled with flour (not that it needed a lot more flour).

It was quite an assembly line, and the pasta turned out delicious.

I have watched my grandkids in school performances. I have attended dance recitals and piano recitals. I’m always happy to be there and proud of them. But I don’t think I will ever enjoy watching them more than Saturday night as I watched them prepare the meatballs and the pasta for my birthday dinner.

And now…..

Last week I gave you my recipe for caramel corn. My daughter-in-law sent me this recipe for the caramel corn she makes every year. It is, my friends, infinitely better. It is from orangette.blogspot.com.

Caramel Corn, via Lauren H.

Ingredients
1 (3½-ounce) package plain (unbuttered natural flavor) microwave popcorn, or about 10 cups fresh popcorn popped by any method, lightly salted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
¼ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup lightly salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Process
Preheat the oven to 250°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

If using microwave popcorn, pop the popcorn according to the package instructions. Coat a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray, and dump the popcorn into the bowl, taking care to pick out and discard any unpopped kernels.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt, and 2 tablespoons of water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer, whisking often, until the mixture reads 250°F on a candy thermometer, about 3 to 4 minutes. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the baking soda and vanilla. Quickly pour the hot caramel over the popcorn. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the caramel into the popcorn, taking care to distribute it as evenly as you can. Stir in the peanuts, and transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour, stirring and turning the popcorn with a spatula every 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and place on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Gently break up the popcorn, and serve.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days (or thereabouts).

Yield: about 10 cups

Nana's Note: I didn't use a candy thermometer because the boiling temperature at high altitude is different than at sea level and I didn't have time to figure out the difference. So the candy thermometer would have been useless. So I just boiled the sugar mixture for 4 minutes as my other caramel corn recipe proscribes. Also, I didn't happen to have peanuts on hand, but that would be a delicious addition -- the salty and sweet would be yummy.

Birthday Festivities, Part I

My birthday has come and gone, and my celebration is certainly one I will never forget.

The party planners (mostly my sister Jen and my daughter-in-law Jll, with suggestions, advice, and help from others) know me well. They know that they didn’t need to plan a party at a fancy restaurant. They know that I wasn’t looking for a cocktail party with friends I haven’t seen for ages bringing me gifts I don’t need. But mostly they know that if I’m going to celebrate anything, it had better be with my family and there better be a role for my grandkids. And there had better be food!

I knew something was up. The kids have been giggling and whispering for a couple of weeks now. I had no idea what to expect. And even if I had given it a lot of thought, I would not have predicted what actually transpired.

When I entered the kitchen I was introduced to Mark and Susan who were going to be my personal chefs and cooking teachers for the evening! And the cuisine was my very favorite – Italian. Over the next couple of days, I am going to tell you what my evening was like.

After I realized what was happening and had a glass of wine placed in my hand and a birthday tiara placed on my head, I saw that Susan had begun making the appetizers. She had already prepared an amazing chicken liver pate. Delicious. Susan didn’t give me the specific recipe, but she noted it – and lots of the things they would be cooking and teaching us to cook – would include cream and butter. Get used to it, she pretty much said. Oh, I could easily get used to it.

To go with the pate, Mark grilled French bread that had been brushed with olive oil, giving it a delicious smoky flavor. It was perfect. He brought in a tray of bread that I thought we would never eat, but of course we did.

At the same time, Susan was preparing skewers on which she placed a grape tomato, a fresh basil leaf, and a piece of fresh mozzarella, and then drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. The colors of the Italian flag, she pointed out. They were delicious, especially if you put all three pieces in your mouth at once and tasted the explosion of flavor. Mylee was a bit more selective, however. She probably ate seven or eight of them, but she would bite off the mozzarella cheese and hand the rest of the skewer to me. A symbiotic relationship.

Mark and Susan made three types of sauce for the pasta which would be made later. They

made a fresh marinara sauce, which started with a gigantic bowl of a variety of fresh tomatoes. A mixture of tomatoes gives a more complex flavor, Mark explained to me. He cooked the tomatoes for probably an hour, along with onions that he had cooked slowly until they were as sweet as candy. As the tomatoes cooked, you could see them soften and condense. In the end, Susan used a hand blender to puree the soft tomatoes that he had cooked with the onions.


The second sauce was a meat sauce that consisted of a mixture of hot and mild Italian sausage, seasonings, and finished off with fresh red, green, and yellow peppers that had been cooked separately in olive oil to preserve some crispness.

Finally, they made an alfredo sauce with a very different twist. Instead of using butter, Mark used bacon. I was somewhat doubtful, being sort of an alfredo purist. Wow. It was amazing. And really, why should I have doubted? Parmagiano Reggiano cheese, cream, and bacon in one dish? What could go wrong with that?

All of these sauces were served over homemade pasta, which I will tell you about tomorrow. That memory will stay with me the rest of my life.

To conclude our meal, we had a wonderful desserts. Susan fixed the kids special ice cream sundaes, which included the long, thin, cookies filled with chocolate. Those cookies were a hit with the kids. At one point Dagny was just walking around eating the cookies right out of the box.

The adults were given an adult dessert of tiramisu, heavily flavored with coffee liquor. It was light and delicious. And beautiful, as you can see.

My sister had asked me some time ago to pick out a cake from Mixandmatchmama’s list of 100 bundt cakes. I picked hummingbird cake, which is a southern favorite that includes

bananas, pineapple, and pecans, and is frosted in a cream cheese frosting. It was awesome, and looked terribly festive with my 6 and 0 candles.

You know, I have been complaining about turning 60, and that is silly. I am so blessed with my family and friends, and with good health. I have a wonderful husband I’m crazy about, three siblings who are my very best friends, daughters-in-law who are so kind and loving to me, and nine grandchildren (going on 10) who make me laugh every day.

Wait until you see the pictures and stories I will post tomorrow of the kids making the pasta. Don’t miss it.

And now.....

Peanut Butter Balls, via Jen S.

Ingredients
2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. butter
4 c. confectioners' sugar
3 c. crisp rice cereal
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Process
Melt peanut butter and butter in saucepan, ovr low heat. In large bowl, mix crispy rice cereal and confectioners' sugar well. Pour melted peanut butter and butter over cereal and sugar and blend together thoroughly.

Form into 1 inc. or smaller balls, spread on cookie sheets, chill until firm in refrigerator (overnight is okay).

Melt chocolate in double boiler and keep melted while working with balls. A teaspoon is best to use in dipping the balls in chocolate. Dip and place on cookie sheet. Keep chilled until firm.

They Say It's Your Birthday, It's My Birthday Too, Yeah

Since I started this blog in August, I keep referring to the fact that I’m almost 60. Well, I can no longer say that. Today, I AM 60.

Not really sure how I feel about it. Well, come to think about it, I am sure. I’m not crazy about it. I know, I know, it’s better than the alternative. Still, 60 truly is what I considered to be elderly as a child and a young adult. And the fact that my mother died at age 69 doesn’t help matters.

Growing old is funny business. I certainly have more aches and pains, but aside from that, I feel the same as I did when I was 30. Or 10, for that matter. Unless I look in the mirror of course. But growing old is so gradual that you hardly feel it happening. That’s good I guess.

I remember my landmark birthdays. When I turned 20, I was in college at the University of Nebraska, and my mom and dad, who by that time had moved to Leadville, Colorado, had a big birthday cake delivered to the sorority house where I lived so that the whole group could celebrate my birthday. Fun.

I spent my 30th birthday in bed with strep throat. I was sick as a dog. I was also in the throes of my divorce, so it definitely wasn’t the best time of my life. I had a difficult time turning 30, and I’m sure that’s why. I felt as though I was a failure.

Turning 40, however, was a piece of cake. I was happily remarried and my career was in full swing. I was just about to earn my master’s degree. We had recently moved into a pretty house. All was good.

Bill and I spent Thanksgiving in London the year I turned 50. On the way home, there was a man sitting in the seat in front of me on the plane who had a terrible cold. He spent the entire flight hacking and sniffing. I managed to catch that cold. It’s the worst cold I have ever had to this day. It was in my head and my chest, and I even managed to get pink eye. The cold went on for weeks. But the thing is, I had made plans for a gigantic birthday celebration .My sister flew in from Washington, DC, and my brother drove in from Arizona. My sibs even ordered a turducken for the occasion! (A chicken stuffed into a duck which is stuffed into a turkey.) Unfortunately, it was a party I barely remember. Here is a photo we took on that day 10 years ago:

My pink eyes were barely open!

So here I am, age 60, and very content with my life. My family is having some sort of celebration in my honor. The details are at this point a secret, though the grandkids know and it is all they can do to keep from telling me. The other night when I tucked 5-year-old Maggie into bed, she said, “Your birthday is coming and I know something I can’t tell you.” She giggled and snuggled her face deep into the pillow in an effort to keep the words from coming out. So I will be surprised. And what’s more, my sister who now lives in Arizona instead of D.C. flew in yesterday for the celebration. What joy.

I just have to remember that birthdays are just another day and 60 is just another age. I have a wonderful life and I am mostly healthy so I am grateful for all 60 years.

Friday Book Whimsy: Monument Road

I have to confess that Monument Road by Charlie Quimby is the book my book club discussed on Tuesday, so some of my thoughts may have been influenced by the wonderful insights of the members of my group, all who enjoyed the book thoroughly.

The story is fairly simple. Leonard Self’s wife Inetta died of pancreatic cancer. Before she died, she made Leonard promise that one year to the day after her death, he will take her ashes to the cliff edge at Artists Point and toss them over the edge. Said Inetta, “I want to be good and dry. Me and Jesus’ll be watching, and I want to float for a while.”

So begins one of the loveliest and most complex stories I have read in a while. What a treat, coming so soon after reading My Antonia. Great Christmas gifts to myself.

Leonard intends to make good on his promise. However, he also intends to follow the ashes in a suicidal leap, since he believes he has nothing much to live for without Inetta. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn more about this wonderful man and the amazing relationship he had with Inetta, and with others he encountered in his life. Reminiscent of the McPheron brothers in Kent Haruf’s magnificent Plainsong series, Leonard is someone I spent the entire book wishing I knew in real life. I wish he was my next door neighbor. Though a devout Christian, Inetta promised Leonard when they married that she wouldn’t require him to attend church, and she didn’t. While he didn’t consider himself a Christian, and certainly had no patience for churches and their services, he undoubtedly lived the life of a Christian whether he called it that or not. This apparently was enough for Inetta. (Inetta, by the way, was also a lovely character.)

There are a couple of other story lines introduced throughout the book. At first, I was really startled and confused. Why do I care about a teenage girl and her desire for a lead role in the high school play? While sad, what did it matter that she apparently fell off the edge of Artists Point? Several other story lines and characters were also introduced. Quimby ties them all together at the end of the book in such a way that I actually said, “Ah ha!” out loud. Some of the story lines are quite sad, but overall the book is so sweet that I found it joyful.

Quimby’s writing is absolutely beautiful. The book takes place in and around Grand Junction, which made it kind of fun and interesting to me since I’m familiar with that

part of Colorado. His descriptions of the land really did remind me of Willa Cather’s descriptions of Nebraska. As he wrote, you could not only visualize the setting, but you could taste the dust in your mouth and hear the sound of the cattle and the horses. Amazing writing. As one of our book club members pointed out, the setting almost becomes one of the characters.

I give a big thumbs up to this book, and to this author. This is his first novel.


And now……

Candy Cane Cookies, via Rebecca B.

Ingredients
1 c. sugar
1 c. butter or margarine, softened
½ c. milk
1 t. vanilla
1 t. almond extract
1 egg
3-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. baking powder
¼ t. salt
½ t. red food color
2 T. finely crushed peppermint candies
2 T. sugar

Process
Stir together 1 c. sugar, the butter, milk, vanilla, almond extract and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Divide dough in half. Stir food color into one half. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Heat oven to 375. Meanwhile, stir together peppermint candy and 2 T. sugar; set aside.

For each candy cane, shape 1 rounded teaspoon dough from each half into 4-in rope by rolling back and forth on floured surface. Place 1 red and white rope side by side; press together lightly and twist. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; curve top of cookie down to form handle of cane.

Bake 9 to 12 min. or until set and very light brown. Immediately sprinkle candy mixture over cookies. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely, about 30 min.

Makes about 4-1/2 doz. cookies

Nana’s Notes: The original recipe calls for peppermint extract instead of almond extract, but Bec said she didn’t want them to be so pepperminty, and I agreed. I was fearful that they were going to be more complicated than they actually were. They are very Christmasy and delicious.

All Booked Up

Tuesday night, I hosted my book club. It’s not a hard job. As host, you basically have three duties: 1) buy a bottle of red and a bottle of white and put out some wine glasses; 2) bake or buy some kind of dessert; and 3) provide a selection of four or five books on which the group will vote to read for the next meeting. I have been a member of this group since 1996 – almost 18 years – so I have hosted many times.

Yesterday I baked a batch of brownies and made a simple ganache frosting by heating up cream and pouring it over 8 oz. of chocolate chips to melt, then adding a teaspoon of instant coffee. Because I was feeling particularly festive and clever, I crunched up three or four candy canes and sprinkled them over the top of the brownies after I frosted them with the ganache, for some added Christmas spirit. Furthermore, I made a special trip to our neighborhood liquor store where I bought a nice red zin and a crisp pinot grigio. I cleaned the house and set up the room for our gathering at 7:30.

Bill and I were sitting down and eating a quick dinner at 6:45, when – and I don’t know why – it suddenly hit me that I hadn’t gotten any books on which the members could vote for next time. Generally, the host actually has the books on hand so that the members can peruse them prior to making their collective decision. I had nothing. I said a bad word.

Thank goodness that I keep a running list of books that I want to read. Our book club has two rules regarding the books: 1) (and aren’t I using a lot of numerated lists in this post?) the book must be available in paperback; and 2) the book selected must be a book that no one in the group has already read.

The problem with my list of books I want to read is that it includes hard cover books, and it also includes many mysteries (which I happen to love but the rest of the group doesn’t). In a matter of minutes, however, Bill had figured out the perfect answer: 1) (I can’t resist) go through my list, and upon finding a suitable book, find it on Amazon; 2) hit the “share” button and email it to him; and 3) he would do the rest.

I used my list, coupled with the section of Amazon that says “customers who bought this item also bought…”, and was able, in about 20 minutes, to come up with a list of six books. Bill worked his magic, and in 10 more minutes, he handed me six sheets of paper, each with a picture of a book and the synopsis. I had time to pour myself a glass of wine to calm down!

Our book club was founded in 1994, and we have seen many members come and go over the years. It is a awesome group of women of different ages and different backgrounds who all happen to love to read. Our conversations about the books are always interesting but never snooty or overly intellectual. Just intellectual enough! And we digress – a lot! I will, of course, be unable to attend for the next four months or so as I will be in AZ. But I will continue to read the books they select and maybe even – if I’m really ambitious – electronically provide my thoughts about the book, perhaps via Nanaswhimsies!

They, by the way, didn’t blink an eye when I handed them sheets of paper instead of books. Thanks friends.

In addition to my numerated lists, I also seem to be using a lot more exclamation points than usual. Too much coffee perhaps? And now that I’ve mentioned it, I’m not going to change them!

Yesterday morning I made my annual holiday batch of caramel corn. Who doesn’t like caramel corn? I can tell you that I brought a batch in a tin to my son with whom I ate lunch, and he was very happy. I even snuck in a leftover brownie from last night. The recipe is simple and delicious.

Caramel Corn

Ingredients
1 c. butter
2 c. brown sugar
½ c. corn syrup
1 t. salt
½ t. soda
1 t. vanilla
5 quarts popped popcorn

Process
Preheat oven to 250 and place popped corn on tray(s) in oven to keep warm.

In medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Then boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla. Pour in then stream over corn; stir to coat.

Bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven; let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Nana’s Notes: Every year, including this year, I use too much popcorn. The result is the corn isn’t as thickly coated as I would like. Use less. Pretend I said 4 quarts of popped corn.

And now......

Cream Cheese Kolacky Cookie, via Margaret M.


Ingredients
3 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla (lemon or orange are nice also, depending on what filling you use)
1/2 cup filling (jam or pie filling)
1/4 - 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Process
Mix the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla. Add the flour slowly until well blended. Shape into a log and chill overnight or for several hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the log in the powdered sugar. Slice off 1/8 in thick slices and place about 1/2 tsp filling in the middle of the cookie. Fold ends of cookie over the jam. (The original recipe calls for rolling out the dough and cutting 2-1/2 inch squares then overlapping opposite corners. The modification is just easier when we are doing this with kids, and we don't handle the dough as much, so it's flakier). Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes in the preheated oven. If desired, sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar after cooling.

Source (before modifications) : Allrecipes

Makes about 3 dozen.

Nana's Notes: Thanks for the great recipe. I rolled the dough out and used a biscuit cutter to cut circles. I placed about a half tsp of blueberry or apricot peach preserves in the center and folded the cookie over. I didn't have a lot of success getting them to

stick. But, while they aren't lovely, they are definitely delicious. I should have rolled them thinner and used egg to seal.

Anyone else have a recipe they want to share? Comment or send an email to the address on top right.

Organized Chaos

I’m good at many things. Wrapping gifts is not one of them.

I’m not being modest. Look at that picture and you’ll know I speak the truth. I was never happier than when gift bags became popular. If I get some wrap around a gift with about a foot of scotch tape and slap a sticker on, I’m good. I used to do bows, but they looked so sad. I’m really being serious. It’s the worst thing about Christmas for me. But I turn on Christmas music really loud and that makes it bearable. This year I wrapped to Christmas music from Glee, and I got it all done yesterday afternoon.

One of the best things about Christmas is holiday baking and cooking. And I’m never

happier than on my annual Grandchildren-Sugar-Cookie-Decorating Day. It is organized chaos at its best. There is colored sugar and pieces of dough everywhere. For days I find drips and drops of colored icing hidden in places where icing doesn’t belong. The cookies invariably turn out garishly but lovingly decorated, heavy on the colored sugar. This year I allowed the use of M&Ms, marshmallows, and chocolate chips.

The decorating was done in two shifts. The two little granddaughters came over early because they weren’t in school. Mylee is much more interested in eating the icing than

in decorating the cookies, but she managed to complete a couple. Hers are the ones with the sugar only dumped in the middle. Kaiya, on the other hand, carefully arranged her chocolate chips. She insisted on using my heart cookie cutter as well. You can’t, after all, have too many pink hearts, no matter the season.

Later, the three older McLains came by (the little one had a dance lesson) to decorate.

Kaiya and Mylee watched. Addie led the show, or tried to. Her suggestions generally fell on deaf ears, particularly when it came to 7-year-old Dagny, who has a mind of her own. Even 8-year-old Alastair joined in, again ignoring Addie’s advice. “You can’t make a Christmas tree red,” she tells him. Wanna bet? I just stand back and make sure no one gets hurt.

At the tail end, while the others had moved on to hide-and-seek, Dagny carefully took her last Christmas tree shaped cookie, and poured all of the remaining icing over the entire cookie, decorated it with every last remaining M&M and chocolate chip, and grinned her little missing-teeth grin in total satisfaction.

I know there are a million sugar cookie recipes, and they’re all pretty much the same. But this is one I have used for years. I got the book, Better Homes and Gardens Cookies and Candies, in 1972. I know this because I put my name and the date inside the cover. That means it has been assisting me in making cookies for over 30 years. Way to go Better Homes and Gardens.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients
2/3 c. shortening
¾ c. granulated sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
4 t. milk
2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1-1/2 t. baking powder
¼ t. salt

Process
Thoroughly cream shortening, sugar, and vanilla. Add egg; beat till light and fluffy. Stir in milk. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; blend into creamed mixture. Divide dough in half. Chill 1 hour.

On lightly floured surface, roll to 1/8 in. thickness. Cut in desired shapes with cutters. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 about 6 to 8 min. Cool slightly; remove from pan. Cool on rack. Makes about 2 doz. cookies.

Nana’s Notes: At the bakery, my dad would sprinkle colored sugar on the cookies before he would bake them. That’s the easiest thing to do, but not nearly as much fun. The kids simply love cutting out the cookies, patiently waiting the 6 minutes or so for them to bake and the 5 minutes or so for them to cool, and then look out! No holds barred! Close your eyes and know that the mess will be cleaned up soon enough.

Kids' Whimsical Cooking: "Snow" Made Ice Cream

Hey this is Addie and I made Snow Made Ice Cream. This is a great sweet snack that looks, tastes, and smells like regular ice cream. As long as you keep stirring and chilling, your treat will turn out right.

This snack only works if you have snow. Half and half, sugar, vanilla, and snow are the essential ingredients to the mix. (You may use candy to flavor up your ice cream.) I am sure you have those ingredients in you cabinets. I hope you try making this fun snack.

Snow Made Ice Cream

Ingredients
3 c. loose clean snow
2 T milk or half and half
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract

Process
Mix all the ingredients and adjust sugar and vanilla as needed. Continue to stir until mixture resembles ice cream.

Nana's Notes: Not to be too nitpicky, but I'm guessing you probably don't have fresh snow in your cabinets as Addie suggests you might. The rest of the ingredients are likely there. While this is not technically a holiday treat, it is certainly a winter treat. My grandkids absolutely LOVE to make this ice cream. Supervise the collection of the snow as smaller kids can include leaves in with the snow. Make sure they are not using yellow snow! Addie added chocolate chips and toffee chips to her treat.

And hey! I haven't heard from a single person. Can't have a cookie exchange without the exchange. Send me your faves.