A Week Full of Questions: Monday

Inspired by the upcoming Summer Solstice, I've got a week's worth of summer-questions for you!

As the weather heats up and we spend more time outside, what summer-y treats do you like to eat? (Or drink?) Is it the same kind of treats you remember loving as a child? Or have your tastes changed over the years?

As for me . . . when I was a kid, my favorite thing was waiting to hear the (highly annoying) Mister Softee jingle as the ice cream truck rolled through the streets of my neighborhood. I loved getting "bomb pops" (pictured above; I think they're called "rocket pops" now) or a soft-serve twist cone or a Creamsicle. Other beloved summer treats of my childhood included burgers on the grill, watermelon slices, and my mom's Kool-Aid popsicles.

Some things never change . . . I still like ice cream. And watermelon. And though I don't eat meat much anymore, I do like an occasional burger on the grill. Not so much on the popsicles these days, although I will take a refreshing glass of Chardonnay or a cold gin and tonic instead!

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How about YOU? I'd love to hear about your favorite summer treats . . . then and now!

 

 

Comments

[Bonny]

We didn't have an ice cream truck come down our dirt road in the summer, but we loved Freeze-pops. My mother would buy them at the grocery store, we'd wait for them to get frozen, and then we were allowed one/day. Some days we'd try to eat two, but that just meant we ran out before the next visit to the grocery store. I loved watermelon (and seed-spitting contests with my sister). I still like watermelon but without seeds. My favorite treat now is probably an ice-cold vodka and tonic with lots of lime!

[Vera]

I loved popsicles - especially the blue raspberry and rootbeer ones. Also, the swim club we belonged to had frozen candy bars available! So good. On the healthy side, I loved my Mom's fruit salad - she put EVERYTHING in it. Today I still love a good fruit salad. I have not had a frozen candybar in years...or a popsicle. (Sometimes growing up is not so much fun - lol). I enjoy plain seltzer or seltzer with a sprig of rosemary or mint in it. Icy G&Ts or V&Ts are also very refreshing!

[kat]

We did not have an ice cream truck in our neighborhood either, but my gosh... I loved getting a dime from my nana and walking to what eventually the corner market to get an ice cream sandwich and it was so good!

As for today... yes, I still enjoy ice cream. But I, like you, prefer a glass of wine or a gin and tonic.

[Debbie]

The summer after kindergarten I went to a week of day camp in the Catskills, not too far from home. I wouldn't turn 6 until September, was very small for my age, and had trouble pronouncing some words. My parents were told that my speech wasn't a problem because once my palate grew a bit, I would not have any trouble. I was very aware of the words I mis-pronounced. Every afternoon at camp we could have an ice cream treat, and I really wanted the chocolate fudge ice pop, but I was so worried about mis-pronouncing the word chocolate, that I would always ask for a Creamsicle. Ever since then I've always asked for the chocolate ice cream and I hate Creamsicles!
Today I prefer an ice cold G & T for refreshment on a hot day!

[Mary]

My favorite summer treats then - fresh-squeezed lemonade (my great aunt and uncle owned a drugstore downtown in the tiny town were my grandparents lived - it was pretty much a daily thing when we visited them to walk downtown, sit at the counter, and sip that lemonade), and homemade ice cream with fresh peaches. I can't remember the last time I had a fresh lemonade, but peaches and ice cream is still one of my favorite summer treats ... along with a cold sauvignon blanc!

[Vicki]

"The Dilly Wagon" is coming!! We lived in a fairly new neighborhood -- lots of young families, LOTS OF KIDS! They weren't dummies over at DQ HQ!! I loved a chocolate Dilly Bar back in the day or an orange Creamsicle (and once in a while now). Summer memories also include Kool-aid & Popcorn parties under the shade tree in the front yard. And this might not qualify as a "treat" for some, but I also loved a good summertime pasta salad (still do!).

[Carole]

The ice cream truck didn't come to my house but it always came to my grandparent's house (they lived at a beach) and I would wait for it with great anticipation. I liked some sort of orange sherbet in a plastic cone and there was a gum ball at the bottom. I also loved walked to the corner store with my Nana and getting a Nutty Buddy. I do still like ice cream, especially on vacation.

[Sarah]

I was never very into popsicles; I guess I've always preferred chocolate! Summer treats from my childhood make me think of chocolate soft serve from Dairy Queen. I was just lamenting to my daughter that we don't have one near us! We do have a gelato place a few blocks away, but it's not quite a satisfying as licking a cone before it melts!

[Chloe]

Ice cream in any form (though Eskimo bars were a favorite) and watermelon. Was never big on popsicles.

[kim in oregon]

We had bomb pops from the bomb pop man. Quite a treat! And as I got older (high school age) it was soft serve ice cream from DQ dipped in chocolate (dip cone?).

[Carolyn]

So fun. I love these posts, Kym... Fave then: custard at the old school ice cream stand. Fave now: while I still love the custard, I also love a root beer-bourbon float! (Which reminds me, I haven't had one in a looong time. Maybe this summer!)

[Dee]

ALL the things everyone else mentioned loving as kids. We had the Good Humor man and I liked the rocket pops and creamsicles best.

We also had Philadelphia water ice from Salerno's or a vanilla custard cone dipped in chocolate from Jack Frost. Back then water ice only came in one flavor . . . lemon.

Now it's a world of flavors, but none quite as good as the original Salerno's with bits of lemon peel in it.

[Suzanne]

We have a local soft ice cream shop open from March till October. They have new owners since last summer and they are so nice. We knew the owner before them (her family bought it from the original owner) so it's strange not to see her when I stop in at least once a month during the summer. There is another hard ice cream shop that is open a similar time frame that I drove by Friday while I was out at a shore town but I haven't made it there yet for ice cream. My parents had a cottage near there and we used to go there and I still try to go once a summer. We also used to have an ice cream truck stop at the beach when we were at our cottage.

[sustainablemum]

I don't think I ate any watermelon until I was an adult they are expensive here as they all have to be imported. I don't remember them being on sale when I was a child but they would have been too expensive for my parents to buy them.

Strawberries and cream would have to be my favourite summer treat, I still love them but nowadays my favourite thing about the summer would be picking food from the garden and bringing it straight inside to use in a meal and salad, I love salad all year round but particularly at this time of year.