(R: Tamarind and Tangerine; L: Hill Country Berry and Sour Cherry)
Ah, Texas.
Did you know - it gets hot here? I know, I know - hard to believe, but there it is. I guess Texas is even kinda famous for that. This is the time of year when we pay our karmic retribution for making fun of Yankees all winter.
Well, at least we have escapes like Sno-Beach to keep us from melting into tiny puddles on the sidewalk.
This is the thought we had on a recent sweltering Saturday deep in the heart of Texas.
Seems like we weren't the only ones to turn to Sno-Beach for cool relief...
Oh, well - when it's almost 100 degrees (about 38, for those of you using the eminently sensible metric system), it's actually worth it to stand in the middle of a baking parking lot to get a giant cup of ice with flavorings.
You're definitely spoiled for choice at this particular stand.
Not only can you get these flavors in any combination you might wish, you can also top your cup off with chocolate or cream. The array of flavor choices (and colors!) is dizzying.
The ice is shaved to order for each sno-cone. This way, you don't have the problem of the ice melting and refreezing into rock-hard ice cubes on which you can easily crack a tooth, a medical calamity often suffered by patrons at lesser sno-cone stands.
Our choices for that particular day are at the top of this post. Husbear chose the oddly monochromatic tamarind and tangerine, while I went for the inadvertently patriotic hill country berry paired with sour cherry. While both were good, I found mine to be overly sweet, which kept me sneaking tiny spoonfuls from Husbear's all the way to Central Market.
Husbear already knew his way around this particular sno-cone stand, though; since he spends a good chunk of his day driving around Austin, he's come to be quite a sno-cone connoisseur. He had already discovered the wonderfully tasty tamarind flavor on a previous visit, where he tried it with sangria (oddly white, in my mind - seems like it should be red? And yes, I know there is such a thing as sangria made with white wine, but isn't red more common? But I digress.)
They need a motto, there at Sno-Beach... perhaps "Sno-Beach. We make August in Austin almost liveable." Hrm... needs work.
Off-topic, wish us luck - on Tuesday, we're both taking the day off of work to drive to the Italian consulate in Houston to apply for our visas! Did you know the FBI doesn't have a file on either of us? Yay!
-girlie pants
