Alcademics

Just for fun I bought an ice shaver (raspador de hielo) off of Amazon. I didn't particularly need one, I just wanted to try it. 

It is used to make flavored shaved ices around the world. (Or Mint Juleps in my world.) To use it you slide it across a slab of ice and a blade on the bottom shaves it and collects it inside. 

There's absolutely no reason to use clear ice for this but that's all I have at home :) 

I used it to make a flat surface on slab of clear ice. When you make slabs of ice in the cooler, the bottom side in particular is a bit wavy after you dump out its contents. So using the shaver I made it all even, and then so that it has a smooth surface I smoothed it with a thaw plate. (You can just use the bottom of a pot, back of an ice designer plate, or other flat metal.)