Persian Soup (“Ash”) On a Snowy Day

Barely one week after New Year’s Day shows her pretty face, I wake up to a world covered in snow (?!) ... 
​Of course, there's any number of ways to respond:

--I could grumble as I slosh through the snow in my car...

 --I could notice how pretty the tree branches look when the sunlight glistens through their fingers and toes...

​OR

The ash that my niece Marjan made for one Iranian New Year celebration

--I could curl up in bed with a hot bowl of ash (pronounced "osh") and pour through the photos from the blog I've discovered: Brandon Stanton's website--already known by thousands as Humans of New York (it's got magical pictures of winter scenes too.) 

Now at this point, three questions might come to your mind:

1. What do I mean by a "hot bowl of ash" (and more importantly, how do you make it?)
2. What is "Humans of New York," the blog, all about ( ? ), and 
3. What in the world does a blog by that name have to do with a blog on a topic like mine? 

 I invite you to click on the links to find out ( ! )
(Hint: Check under “Countries” and find “Iran”)!