Husbandito and I were having a weighty discussion last night about the snack food we associate with summer. In Jersey, most people make their way “down the shore” at some point during the season and enjoy the sun, fun, and snacks that we offer here. But what about people who live in the middle of the United States or other countries across the world? Are they left without summertime snacks?
Where does someone in Nebraska get cotton candy or funnel cake in the summer? How about the people from South America or Asia? Where can they shuffle off to buy homemade, rough-cut french fries with lots of vinegar? Where in Europe do people buy Kohrs frozen custard? Does salt water taffy exist anywhere except for the Jersey shore?
Huzz and I seriously pondered these questions and came to the conclusion that these summertime treats can’t exist only in vacuum along the Jersey shore. We figured that maybe in the the midwest, a person can get boardwalk treats at a state fair, but since we’ve never been to one, we can’t say for sure. So, could you guys enlighten us?
Do you have the snacks I mentioned where you live? Where do you go to get them if you don’t have a boardwalk? If you don’t have these treats, what food do you associate with summer?
We have salt water taffy here on the west coast (of NY).
One of our summer foods around here is corn. on the cob. There is nothing better then fresh homegrown corn on the cob.
As far as other summer “treats”, I am partial to ice cream, “elephant ears” (fried dough) with butter and powdered sugar, Sam Adams Summer Ale and anything at Taste of Buffalo.
Unfortunately, my experience is similar to yours, CyWyGy. I grew up in Rockaway Beach, NY, which is pretty much the same shoreline as New Jersey’s. (In fact, Gateway National Park straddles the states.) My part of the beach didn’t have a boardwalk, but we did have ice cream trucks that would come by, as well as intrepid souls lugging coolers of dry-iced goodies. So we had king cones, patriotic rocket pops, creamsicles, ‘fudgicles’ [sic, the proper NY pronunciation], and so on. In the dry goods category, I remember Lik’um-Stix, jewel pops, and root beer bottlecaps.
In my experience, funnel cakes and cotton candy rube-ish things, the province of street fairs and upstate county fairs.
Nowadays, I make berry tarts and clafouti in the summertime. And a nice cold Hoegaarden is the best thing to drink.
Clarification: “Unfortunately” in the sense that I don’t have a markedly different viewpoint to offer.
Summer treats?? Hollow laugh, dear ladies.
I am from Florida where it was 1) tourist driven everywhere, and 2) summer almost all the time. I never thought of those as ’summer treats’, more like ‘theme park treats’.
I also thought of them as theme park treats or street fair treats until I moved to New York. But taffy is popular at pretty much any ocean side destination it seems!
Here in Nashville, we are partial to mexican popsicles, las paletas, on hot summer days. And of course, nothing beats the sound of the ice cream truck late on a Sunday afternoon!
I am partial to Hawaiian Ice–pina colada flavored. The absolute best place to find it is a music festival called Summerfest in Milwaukee. I am not sure why, maybe the atmosphere of being at the festival but it rocks!!!
My favorite summer treat is home-made ice cream. I remember as a kid we would fight for a turn at the crank (yes, I am showing my age!) until the ice cream got too hard for our skinny little arms and then all my uncles would take a turn. Ah, what a treat!
Oh, it was always great when we were running through the woods and happened upon the spring and lo and behold there was a watermelon cooling.
Can you tell we were country kids?
I grew up a five minute bike ride from the shores of Lake Huron in a little village. My summer treats were rice krispy squares and cold marble cheese on thick slices of fresh cut bread after swimming and playing at the beach for hours.
I think that might make me a weird kid – we never really did the ice cream/cotton candy thing.
Well, I live in South Bend, Indiana. (google map it..) Anyway, we too have summer food. Much like your experience, but we don’t go “down to the shore”. Who the hell wants to swim in the St. Joseph River (e.g., the Southern most Bend, thus South Bend), let alone buy anything on it. But since our down town is on the river we tend to spend a bit of time there anyway.
Try not to forget that it is not always a commercial product that makes the “summer snacks”. For example when I lived on the other side of the city, quite some distance from D.T. MOM made snacks. I’m sure mom’s everywhere are making snacks every day.
How about fried Oreos? We get those at the local fair in August every year! Ice pops are a summertime treat to my kids and me.
We go to county and state fairs here in Michigan and snatch up those funnel cakes and cotton candy. There are also some amusement parks that have a bunch of traditional summer food such as hot dogs, hamburgers, pop corn and the like.
You can also now vote for the photo contest on Exposaroonie. All the pictures are on the right down the side. Sorry for the confusion!
http://challenge.exposaroonie.com/
MMMmmmmm.. I am already hungry – this post is doing nothing to improve my lot. John better get HOME SOON W/ THE FOOOD!!
We eat a lot of watermelon here during the hot weather. I’d say we average 3 a week. We slice them and then sit on the front porch devouring. Even the rind gets eaten by Max.
I like taffy – I mentioned black licorice and peppermint. I also like spearmint. Heck, I’d probably eat most of the box if I had one.
I made funnel cake recently on The Daily Dish and have to say it was waay easy and very tasty. Though I found after consuming half of one myself I felt truly nauseous. I do not recommend funnel cake for breakfast.
I’ve never had funnel cake in my life, and until recently didn’t even know what it was. I don’t think it’s nearly as common in Arizona, but I’m willing to guess it can still be found at county/state fairs. Something a bit more common and rather similar is the popover or Indian fried bread. It’s pretty much a deep fried fat tortilla which is then topped with honey and/or powdered sugar. Quite yummy. I’m gonna have to hunt down and try one of these legendary funnel cakes one of these days. They look rather yummy.
Peter, stick with those sopapillas, with some honey-flavored ice cream if you can get it. Funnel cake is the boringest version of fried-stuff-with-sugary-stuff (tons of powdered sugar in this case) that I know. Even zeppoli are more interesting, and I’ve always figured it was just a clever way for pizzeria owners to sell us the nasty dough scraps that fell on the floor.
well, this has been so educational! i share a love for many of the snacks listed above–corn on the cob, fudge-ick-culls (nj pronunciation) but have never tried mexican popsicles or hawaiian ice.
rice krispey treats are popular here too, but i don’t really associate them with summer… cheese on bread sounds yummmmmy!
my mom did make homemade snacks–juice ice pops in the tupperware popsicle makers. as for fried oreos…well, i don’t eat regular oreos because i think they kinda taste like dirt.
for all the yappin’ i did about taffy, i don’t really like it…so dishy, i’ll ship ya mine. and spidey: get a funnel cake asap. but be warned: you’ll never be able to eat even 1/4 of it…and if you do, you’ll feel queasy. pan, stop bad mouthing the funnel cake. :b
sopapillas?!?! i need to visit places that have these things so i can look at them. i might be a touch too picky to actually eat them, though. now ’scuse me as i shuffle off to grab some snacks!!!
I think I have to go with Daily Disher. Watermelon is the quintessential summer treat, in simplicity and nostalgia.
CyWyGy – I thought it was only NYers who left out the s in fudgsicle! Learn something new every other day!
Oooo – that made me think of my favorite summer time mom made treat – frozen bananas dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts! Delicious!!!!!!
I want that funnel cake NOW.