MAMA JOE'S SNOW CREAM

I still get emotional every time I start to write about my Mama Joe. Had it not of been for her and my grandather, 'Buddy' to us children, God only knows what would have happened to me and my sibblings. Their love, faith, and hope for us was never ending. It helped us through many a hard time. Some of the very best times we ever had as children, growing up in their home, was when the heavy snows fell. They never had a problem with us being outside, be it Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall. In fact, they encouraged it. Snow storms were frequent in the winters of the 50's and 60's, and we were always sent out into the deep snow, all bundled up, of course, with a large bowl and kitchen spoon to scoop up the new fallen snow. In those years, we were not worried about pollution. Those days were some of the best days of our lives.
1 older sister
1 older brother
1 me
Bundle up to the point of only being able to see through a tiny slit. Walk stiffly through the bracing wind and new fallen snow. When you come to a big drift, take your big spoon and dig down a couple of layers to the 'clean' snow. Pile the snow lightly into that huge old bowl. Do not pack it. Hurry back to that big old warm house as quickly as you can without falling down. Once inside, Mama Joe will be waiting on you, with a smile that could melt the snow. Undress from your many layers as quickly as you can, because you know what is to come at hand.
1 large bowl of freshly fallen buried snow, but no yellow snow!
2 cups of evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon pure, and it has to be PURE, vanilla extract
Beat the eggs, milk, and sugar together with an old-timey egg beater. Us children would always take turns doing that. Add the dry, fluffy snow until you have just the right consistency, almost, but not quite, the consistency of ice cream. Gather round the old wood stove with your red cheeks and high spirits and dig into that big white bowl of the most heavenly concoction ever!
COOKS NOTE: Notice that I emphasized the word PURE for the vanilla extract. Pure vanilla extract in 'those' days had a high alcohol content, thus my Mama Joe knew we would sleep better on those cold wintry nights, as if playing out in the snow all day did not help on it's own.
“When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow cream.”-anon