Gotta make some snow cream!

When I was growing up, I thought evaporated milk was good for one thing — making snow cream!

The familiar red and white Carnation can was always at arm’s length in the pantry at my parents’ house. Daddy kept several on hand so he would be prepared if we had enough snow to make snow cream.

Anytime a small snow was in the forecast, he’d spread a bed sheet in the front yard to make a barrier between the grassy surface and falling snow. He wanted clean snow, after all, for his snow cream. If a big snow was forecast, it was fine to get the snow from the top layer on the ground, the cars or the picnic table out back.

He’d go out as soon as there was enough to gather and fill large kitchen bowls with soft snow. Snow with ice crystals was frowned upon, but if it’s all we had, we made it anyway!

Some of the snow would remain in bowls on the front porch for later batches. The rest would be brought into the kitchen.

My daddy’s background was in dairy manufacturing, so he took anything that involved dairy products very seriously. When he made homemade ice cream, he would get out a commercial glass thermometer and check the temperature of the icy water inside the ice cream freezer. He would add cold water or salt to regulate the temperature he wanted.

He took his job of making snow cream seriously as well.

With Mama at his side helping, Daddy added evaporated milk, whole milk, sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl and stirred it until it was combined. Then he would start adding the snow, being careful to remove any grass or debris that might have made its way into the bowl of snow. It takes a lot of snow to make snow cream, and he’d keep mixing it into the milk mixture until he had it to the right consistency. He made the snow cream the consistency of soft-serve ice cream — not too thick and not to runny. All along, he and Mama and would taste it to make sure it was the right sweetness or texture. If not, they’d add what was needed to make it perfect.

We couldn’t wait to eat Daddy’s snow cream. The rich taste of the sweetened milk and vanilla is etched in my memory. We usually scooped snow cream into foam cups so it would stay frozen longer while we ate it, and, yes, Mama and Daddy kept foam cups in the pantry as well, just for snow cream.

What we didn’t eat went into more of those foam cups. Mama topped them with a piece of plastic held down with a rubber band. Then into the freezer they went. Sometimes they stayed in the freezer for just a few days. Other times, Mama would pull them out on a hot summer day and let them thaw a bit on the counter. Once the snow cream was softened enough, we would take it outside to the front porch and eat it, talking about the fun we had in the snow several months before.

Snow cream is not a lost art at my own house. Daddy wrote down his recipe, and that’s what we use every time it snows. My children love it the same way my sister, Susan, and I did as young girls.

Last Wednesday morning, I was heading out to work a little after 7:30. There was such a pretty coating of snow everywhere. I hadn’t planned on making snow cream for breakfast until my daughter, Anna, walked onto the front porch.

“Can we make snow cream?” she asked.

She didn’t have to ask twice.

lisa@wilsontimes.com | 265-7810

Snow Cream

2 (12 oz.) cans evaporated milk

3⁄4 to 1 cup milk (I use skim; Daddy would have used whole)

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

Snow

Mix milks in a large bowl. Add sugar and vanilla and stir. Stir in snow to desired consistency.

L.H. Boykin Jr.

Note: I asked my friends for some variations to this recipe. Quite a few use condensed milk instead of evaporated and don’t have to add sugar. You might need to add water with condensed milk. Former co-worker Heather Wilkerson wrote, “I just use snow, whole milk, vanilla and Splenda. No measuring — just “eyeball it” as my grandma taught me!” Sandi Ingram wrote this: “One of my bosses didn’t have any of the above ingredients last time it snowed and just used her french vanilla coffee creamer and said it was delish!”

Tasty side dish easy to prepare

My daughter, Anna, has a new love for zucchini. Over the last few years, we have tried zucchini in several forms. We’ve used them in casseroles and on the grill and ordered zucchini in restaurants. Her favorite way might be hibachi-style, with soy sauce and sesame seeds.

On her Pinterest page, she has pinned a number of recipes featuring zucchini, but one in particular caught my eye when we were looking at her page last week.

It’s a simple side dish of rice cooked in chicken broth with cheese and grated zucchini mixed in. 

This recipe pops up across the Internet, and there are a few variations. 

I only made a few changes to the recipe I chose, including cutting the butter and leaving out garlic powder. I’ve never been a fan of garlic powder!

I made this dish Monday night and served it with a chicken I roasted. It’s a very simple recipe and only takes about 20 minutes to prepare.

I had told my husband about the recipe the evening before, when I was picking out zucchini at the grocery store. He was skeptical. But it was Reggie who went back for seconds last night; he also claimed the leftovers for his lunch today!

There are so many ways to personalize this recipe. You could use vegetable broth, a different cheese, broccoli or spices to individualize it.

This recipe will stay on mind, and I feel sure I will be making it again soon.

Cheesy Zucchini Rice

Olive oil

1 cup long-grain white rice

1 can (14.5 oz.) reduced-fat, reduced-sodium chicken broth

1⁄2 tablespoon butter

1 medium zucchini, grated (can use food processor or cheese grater)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste (I added neither)

Milk

Heat the olive oil in sauce pan; add rice and toast, stirring so it doesn’t burn. Cook until rice starts to brown. Slowly add chicken broth (it will sizzle). Bring to boil, reduce heat and cover pan. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed; add water if necessary.

Remove pan from heat and add butter, zucchini and cheese. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a little milk for more moisture, if desired.

Adapted from bunsinmyovencom

lisa@wilsontimes.com | 265-7810

Slimming it down the Southern way

For more than a week now, I’ve been wanting to make carrot cake muffins from “The Slim Down South Cookbook” from Southern Living.

I loved the idea of making the breakfast treat, packed with grated carrots and crushed pineapple. The day before I had made cinnamon swirl cake from this book, and it was very good, but I really wanted to make these muffins before writing my food column. So I did.

Not only are these tasty muffins a beautiful shade of brown, speckled with pineapple and carrot, but they are very good! Don’t make them thinking you will be sampling a slice of carrot cake topped with cream cheese frosting. This is something different. This is a lightly sweet cousin of that decadent dessert, and I enjoyed it Tuesday morning as my morning snack. So did co-workers I shared them with; several immediately asked how I made them.

Author Carolyn O’Neil has packed her cookbook with recipes that have roots in our Southern favorites. Her purpose is to show readers that favorite Southern foods can fit in a healthy, modern lifestyle.

“The stay-slim philosophy of ‘The Slim Down Cookbook’ starts with wholesome ingredients you should be eating more of, not avoiding. Fresh peaches, pecans, okra, greens and sweet potatoes fill Southern pantries with good health and great taste,” she writes.

O’Neil, a dietitian and food writer, offers plenty of advice along with her recipes.

She suggests teaming a healthy diet with physical activity and a few treats thrown in for good measure.

“The Slim Down South Cookbook” is divided by categories with an introduction at each chapter on ways to eat better. In the dessert chapter, O’Neil discusses the advantages of choosing desserts with fruit, serving smaller portions and making smart substitutions such as low-fat or skim milk instead of whole milk.

In addition to the two recipes I’ve already tried from this book, I have marked a number of others, including chopped chicken sandwiches that are topped with crunchy pecan slaw. I really want to make this slaw that features Napa cabbage and apples with a sweet and spicy dressing. I’d also like to try her apple-a-day pork chops and the honey pecan chicken thighs in the entertainment chapter.

O’Neil’s book is more than a cookbook, really. It’s a guide to healthy eating and is enjoyable to read.

Throughout the book, O’Neil includes comments from food writers and others, who tell their stay slim secrets. Evelyn Crayton, a nutrition professor, says she makes it a rule to never fry food at home. Instead, when the craving hits, she goes to a restaurant.

As you start the new year and are trying to stick to resolutions to eat better, this book could be a good guide for some new recipes and inspiration.

“Slim Down South” by Oxmoor House has a $24.95 sticker price but is offered for less online.

Carrot Cake Muffins

• 13⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon table salt
• 11⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 (8 oz.) cans crushed pineapple in juice, drained*
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• Paper baking cups
• Vegetable cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

Whisk together oil and next 3 ingredients; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Fold in carrots. Place paper baking cups in 18 muffin cups and coat with baking spray; spoon batter into cups, filling two-thirds full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Serve warm or at room temperature.

“The Slim Down South Cookbook”

*Notes: I had a 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple in its own juice. I took out a little of the pineapple for 16 ounces, but next time I will use it all. I “grated” my carrots in my small food processor; the author mentions you can buy carrots already grated to make the recipe even easier. I failed to spray my cupcake liners, and the muffins did stick. 

lisa@wilsontimes.com | 265-7810