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| Reese Witherspoon enjoying her "Snow Salt Chococcino" made with snow from her back yard. This precipitated a crisis/uproar for some reason. |
That sounds like a nonsensical sentence, but hear me out.
A few days ago, Witherspoon made a nice little snow treat for herself and she shared the recipe on TikTok. One ingredient was snow she collected from her Nashville, Tennessee property during the recent cold snap. She created sort of a fancy sugar on snow, a version perhaps a little chichi for us Green Mountain Boys and Girls, but still intriguing.
Anyway, she got immediate blowback from hordes of very wimpy, horrified fans. A typical response:
"No no no, snow is not made to eat.....u can get seriously sick."
Um, probably not.
This thing has really blown up with TV talk shows, Facebook, X, TikTok you name it earnestly debating Witherspoon and her snow drink/dessert concoction. If space aliens came to Earth this week, they'd think the Witherspoon snow drink situation was the biggest crisis facing the planet ever.
As a hale and healthy 61 year old, I'm firmly in Camp Witherspoon. I've eaten way more sugar on snow in my lifetime than anyone should admit. Sure, sometimes it was on shaved ice, but most of the time, I ate real snow - the stuff that falls from the sky in the winter - as part of my sugar on snow.
(For the uninitiated, sugar on snow is packed snow with heated maple syrup drizzled onto it. You end up with a delicious taffy-like dessert).
Also, as a kid, when I was out sledding or building snowmen or something and I got thirsty, I'd just grab a handful of snow and eat it.
Snow is safe. Unless you are exceedingly stupid.
You have to use common sense, of course. How many times have you heard "Don't eat the yellow snow"? Also most people understand that the gross stuff the snow plow piles on the side of the road is not for consumption, either.
And frankly, I probably wouldn't trust snow that has been sitting on the ground in Central Park in New York City for a week. Gawd knows what's in that.
For the record, the Washington Post and others have weighed in on the Great Reese Witherspoon Snow Crisis Of '24.
As the Post explains, there probably is trace amounts of pollutants in falling snow, but certainly not enough to harm you. Unless perhaps if you ate buckets of snow daily through decades of Vermont winters.
If you're really worried about safety, eat the snow that lands more than two hours into the storm.
When snow begins to fall, it scrubs the atmosphere of pollutants, so the first inch or two has slightly higher amounts of contaminants in it. But those first couple of inches aren't exactly Love Canal.
To her credit, Witherspoon pushed back against her critics, saying she (like me!) drank tap water as a kid and drank water directly out of garden hoses. And we're fine.
Witherspoon gathered up some snow, melted it down in a glass container and showed her followers that the resulting water from the melted snow looked nice and clear.
Besides, she asked, how the hell do you filter snow?
Yeah, good question.
For the record, here's how to make Witherspoon's "snow salt chococinno"
Gather fresh, clean snow from the yard and put the snow in a mug. Drizzle the snow with salted caramel and chocolate syrup, then pour in some cold brew coffee. It does look good, judging from the videos.
Witherspoon started a movement. Do you have any snow drink or dessert recipes?
Maybe I should experiment with snow desserts and dishes. If I get ambitious, I could become the Barefoot Contessa of gourmet snow recipes.
