The first blast of summer occurred at approximately 3:07 pm last Thursday. Walking back from Mike's on the Avenue, the rising bands of heat off the sidewalk and sweat-stained shirt collar welcomed me back into summer's fold. Of course, we had a brief release from heat on Mother's Day, but really that is no different than the governor's eleventh hour phone call to the warden to hold off the execution for another 24 hours.
The good thing about the heat wave? It means we get to eat all manners of sticky, sweet, cold treats. Snowballs, gelato, spumoni, frozen yogurt, and Dackrees wait for you after a long day in the yard. My insatiable sweet tooth has been in overdrive as I've sampled gelato from Gaspare's (pitch-perfect Stracciatelli), frozen yogurt from newly opened, already a hit Pinkberry, and more.
But first, I have a little confession to make. I have never had a Hansen's snowball. I grew up in Old Metairie, near Sal's snowball stand. You may recall Lee's Theorem which holds that one's preference for a snowball stand is directly proportional to the distance it is from one's childhood home. While my summers were mostly spent riding my bike wherever we darn well pleased, the trek to Hansen's would have been a little out of reach. Needless to say my inaugural trek to Hanson's is what I am looking forward to most this summer.So the million dollar question is what flavor to get? My all time favorite flavor is grape, but orange, blackberry, and coconut have made strong lobbies in the past. The floor is yours.
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15 comments:
I could never bring myself to stray from grape either. Might have done spearmint once or twice, but the remorse was immediate. And crippling.
And bring that condensed milk within 10 feet of me at your own risk. Just sayin'. I don't wanna, but I will...
I will take credit for Lee's Theorem.
Coonhunter, Where ya been! Welcome back. If we knew all it took to get you to come home was to steal your idea and rename it we would have done so a long time ago.
Cream of nectar. Also spelled "nector" on one of the many boards. Bing bang bong
Doesn't sound like you're as big a fan of tart flavors, but as far as I'm concerned the lemonade and new-as-of-last-summer satsuma flavors cannot be beat.
Satsuma is the perfect combination of sweet & tart. It tastes and smells just like a fresh-picked satsuma.
Becky posted just as I was posting. Two votes for satsuma. You must try it.
For a first-timer, I think lemonade is a MUST...it's topped with a splash of bright-pink "sno-bliz" flavor, a super-tart, only at Hansen's item. The bright, lively flavor is a blast of cool air compared to (most snowball stands') ridiculously sweet syrups. I had a cardamom & cream of coffee last weekend; will definitely order that one again.
Strawberry is where it's at.
I agree with the votes for Satsuma - tart and very flavorful. My second recommendation would be cream of chocolate...because how can you go wrong with chocolate?
Give me old fashioned Wild Cherry. If one can choose between cherry and wild, obviously you go with wild. Derrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..............
Whammy. I had never been to Hansen's until last summer. Being a Newman-boy from LView, I'd always followed the soccer moms to Plum Street, but Hansen's (despite the agonizing line) is definitely my favorite joint.
Also, y'all should check out Pure Yogurt Culture. It's where the old Cool Uptown/Haagen Dasz used to be. Fantastic frozen yogurt and they're local too! And, they didn't jump on this Frozen Yogurt bandwagon. Very interesting story behind their construction versus the cookie-cutter Pinkberry...
Awren,
Thanks for the tip, on Pure Yogurt Culture. We will be sure to check it out.
Cream of ice cream, hands down the best!! Mine with condensed milk please!
I'll back everyone up here and say that satsuma is incredible. Orangeade satisfies the same craving but is a little sweeter and more artificially colored... and I go weak for nectar cream, always. Never had the grape, though; I'd love to hear someone's thoughts on their rendition!
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