Frozen Summer Treats

On a hot summer day in the south, THE preferred beverage of many is an ICEE. Now, we're not talking Slurpee or Slushy, or any other such frozen drink. They are not the same. There is a special fizziness/texture/precise "frozen-ness" of an ICEE that cannot be duplicated. Also that cannot be duplicated are the childhood memories that a sip of cola ICEE can bring back. As a child, I lived in the same small town as my grandmother, however, my cousins did not. But when they would come to visit in the summer, we all liked to walk to the store for candy and other treats. My grandmother would give us all a little money (and believe me--she didn't have much to give) for ICEEs.

As we got older of course, the walks to the store became less frequent and over the years, we had our own money for things we wanted. Recently, as some of my cousins and I remembered our summer treats and visits, one of my cousins recalled the first time she took her husband to visit my grandmother. At some point during the visit, my cousin's husband came to her with a couple of dollars and said, "Your grandmother just gave me this and said it was ICEE money. What's that?" We've all had a good laugh at that, and a great memory of our grandmother, when times were simpler and all you really needed was "ICEE money."

In South Louisiana, where I live now, the preferred summer treat is a "snoball", a type of shaved ice (not to be confused with Hawaii's "shave ice", which is another category of frozen treat all to itself), available with any flavor of sweet, sugary syrup you can image. And in any combination, sometimes with sweetened condensed milk add for "sinful" creaminess!

And then, of course, for the adults, frozen treats often mean a trip to the "drive-thru daiquiri" shop. Only in Louisiana, folks!

So what's your favorite frozen treat? Flavor? And best of all, memory?
Have you had your ICEE today?