Snow Day Nostalgia (Edible Poetry)

I bury my face in my dog's cool fur after a brisk walk in the snow. He smells like winter, like ozone and pine trees and fresh frost. During the rest of the year he just smells like dog but in winter, he smells like magic. The memories of playing in the snow all day flood over me; I remember our special fried doughnut snow day breakfasts to start off the day, and the cardamom-flavored hot milks my parents made for us in the evenings. In between: snow. ice. play. That morning my dad and sister and I went snowboarding off the roof, or the day we skated 20 miles on a black ice-frozen lake... This dish is an adult take on snowday nostalgia, featuring a gin granita (made with spruce tip-infused gin) and frosty branches made from deep-fried rice noodles with cardamom sugar. ‪