Making snowcones from real snow is easy and fun!

It's just snowed or it's a hot summer day and your kids are asking for snocones. Summer or winter, whether you spell it snocones or snowcones; kids love snow cones. My children and their freinds say these are the best snocons they have ever had. You can make them yourselves easily and inexpensively in 3 minutes or less. No cooking is involved. If you can stir, you can make this. Here's how

Ingredients and equipment

• Jello mix - 1 small pack makes about 10 snocones, a large packet makes about 20 - Jello makes flavors of all types; just choose the flavor you like; most kids seem to prefer grape, strawberry, raspberry, berry blue and cherry.
• Sugar - ordinary sugar will work. Of course if your kids are diabetic, you could use stevia, splenda, sweetNlo, etc.
• Food color - I add a few drops of food coloring to make the color intense and bright. Otherwise, its kind of pale. Just choose the color that matches the flavor you are using.
• Measuring cup - I use them not to measure anything, but just because they have a good spout for pouring.
• Snow - or ice. If your freezer makes shaved ice, that's perfect. If not, just put crushed ice or ice cubes in a blender.

Directions

Step 1 - make the syrup

For each 4 or 5 snocones, I use a half of a small packet of jello, and 1/2 cup sugar, plus about 10 drops of food coloring.

Just put all of those ingredients in your measuring cup and stir. It doesn't really matter if it all dissolves right away; eventually it will. You can use warm water or cold. I suppose, idealy you would usewarm water, dissolve everything, then cool it in the fridge to use later, but this is ussually a spur of them moment thing for my kids, sooo...

Step 2 - Gather your cups and spoons

Snow melts fast, so get everything ready. I usualy use disposable solo cups and plastic spoons because my kids will be sitting outside in the snow eating this, and I'm not a fan of flosing spoons and cups from the kitchen.

Step 3 - Gather the snow - or make it!

If it is winter and there is fresh clean snow, you can just walk outside and gather some. Obviously, you want clean snow (lemon and chocolate snow allong the street are not natural flavorings; recall Frank Zappa's warnings about that. I scoop snow from an elevated surface away from sources of contamination.

Step 4 - Pack your cups and add the syrup

It's simple, just pack the snow in the cups and pour the syrup over it. Enjoy!

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