Happy Spring!

Happy First Day of Spring!  The weather may be a little colder today than Friday, but today is the official start of Spring.  Tonight at 7:20pm to be exact.  The first of Spring is also the “official opening day” of a Spring and Summer staple, Rita’s .  When all the seasonal-only stores open up.

Growing up in Philly, we would have Water Ice every Summer.  Not Italian Ice, we called it Water Ice!  It was as natural as running through the sprinkler or going to the local pool.  On Sundays after Mass my family and I would take a car ride and stop at one of various mom and pop water ice stands in the area.  But, as things change and time goes on, a lot of those places closed up and we were left searching for an alternative to the homemade ice we always remembered.

Now that I am away from home, I wondered how I was going to quell my craving for the taste I remembered.  Thankfully Rita’s are popping up in the NYC area!  They have a variety of flavors, but I am a traditionalist and usually get the lemon.  But, on a trip to the Shore last Summer I went a little crazy and tried the Swedish Fish flavor!  It was uncanny how close the flavor was to the iconic childhood candy

Happy Spring, no matter how you spend it, I hope it is sweet!