Frozen Treats: Ice Queens

(2013 UPDATE: Ice Queens is no longer in business. :-( )

Saturday I went to Ice Queens with my mom, my brother and our friends Liefen, Tor and Freia. They had lots of interesting flavors, including four natural syrups made with brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup. I ordered dreamsicle and I liked it a lot. I also tasted Tor's yummy wild cherry and Mom's not-so-yummy Ginger Ale. She liked it though. I also didn't care for Liefen's tamarind, but my mom and Liefen both thought it was tasty. Clifford mixed root beer and bubblegum. I didn't even want to try that. Next time we go we are all going to try licorice! My mom didn't spot it until after we ordered. Licorice! I think Ice Queens is a very nice place to cool down.

Really cool thing about this place: They have Junior Sizes for $1. You can eat just enough snow cone and finish without a tummyache.

GET ONE: Ice Queens, 1210 Rosewood, Austin, Texas 78702

Frozen Treats: Sno-Beach

Last Wednesday my brother, my friend Sydnie and I went to Sno-Beach. It was pretty good. I got the flavor sour cherry. It sort of tasted like Bahama Freeze. The small is $2.50 and enough to fill you up ... well, at least to fill me up.Lots of flavors, but not as many as Bahama Freeze.This snow cone stand is right across from Butler Park and just down the street from Barton Springs Pool. We ran through the fountains before heading over.

GET ONE: Sno-Beach, 801 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, Texas 78704

Frozen Treats: Bahama Freeze

All winter long my brother and I looked forward to Bahama Freeze opening it's trailer window for sweet, frozen goodness. On the first day that the temperature reached 100 degrees my mom and dad took us for snow cones before the pool. We both picked Bahama Freeze flavor. It was blue and coconuty. I liked it, but I wished I had mixed something else in with it. My brother had no complaints. My mom got piña colada because it has no color and she got my dad coconut because she thought he'd like it. He didn't. He thought it tasted like fake sweetener. And he said the same thing about mine. I thought it was yummy. We always pick size small. For $2.25 it's the perfect amount to cool you off and make you crazy with sugar! And check out the sign behind us ... they have hundreds of flavors and you can mix and match all of them!This weekend we went back with my friend Bridget and we both got cherry. YUMMY! Clifford got pink bubble gum and as usual was the first one finished.We also visited the Bahama Breeze with Liefen and Tor. Here I tried Ocean Pacific flavor which I didn't like at all. Too sour. They were really sweet and traded me for a Cherry snow cone instead. It was perfect.

GET ONE: Bahama Freeze, 8213 Brodie Ln. Austin, Texas 78745

Frozen Treats: Jim Jim's

Officially these are not called snow cones, Jim calls them WATER ICE, but they are most definitely part of my "Snow Cones Around Town" series because these are my favorite frozen treats in Austin! For $1.50 you can get just enough water ice to fill your tummy and cool you off after a hot day in the sun. Jim's 6th Street location is the best because they have ALL the flavors, including cotton candy and cherry, but he has stands at Deep Eddy, Barton Springs and the farmer's market that usually carry 3 or 4 really good flavors at a time.


GET ONE: Jim Jim's, 615-A. East 6th Street, Austin, Texas

Frozen Treats: Zilker Cafe

Last weekend after a hot and sweaty bike ride to Zilker Park my brother and I headed straight for the concession stand for icy cold goodness. For $2.50 you can get a sugary sweet snow cone (they call it "snowie ice") in all sorts of fun flavors at the Zilker Cafe. I chose pina colada and blue raspberry. Super yummy! Clifford picked root beer and lime, a combination I don't recommend unless you like toothpaste, because that's what it tasted like.
GET ONE: Zilker Cafe, 2201 Barton Springs Road, Austin, Texas

Frozen Treats: Oak Hill Concession Stand

Snow cone season is just getting started in Austin. Every year I plan to visit as many stands as I can. This is the one I've been visiting regularly so far. These are $1.00 at the ball field concession stand and worth every penny. I highly recommend a "rainbow" snow cone, but plain cherry is excellent too!
GET ONE: Oak Hill Baseball/Softball Complex, 6300 Joe Tanner Lane, Austin, Texas

Episode 39: Falafels

This makes a quick, easy, and super yummy dinner. (And if your little brother won't try falafel then he can have a pita filled with veggies and sauce.)


Ingredients:2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
flour for your hands
oil for frying

Mash the chickpeas with a fork, masher thing or food processor.
Stir in cumin and coriander.
Add onion, garlic and parsley. Stir together.
Roll the mixture into small balls then flatten them to make patties.
Fry the patties in hot oil for a few minutes on each side until browned.

Serve it in a pita with veggies and yogurt sauce.

Yogurt sauce recipe:Mix plain yogurt, chopped herbs (I used parsley, mint and dill) and salt and pepper to taste.