Snow Buckets in DeLand, FL

I was in Downtown Deland and got dessert from a shop called Snow Buckets. They specialized in snow cones and are located in the space once occupied by an ice cream shop called Cone Heads. I really didn't know what to expect from Snow Buckets' snow cones. Would they be the lower end snow cones consisting of chopped ice and syrup? Would they be the delicate, finely shaved ice found in Hawaiian shaved ice? Asian style shaved ice topped with fruit and condensed milk was also a potential option here. Curiosity of what sort icy dessert was served was my main reason for stopping here.

It turned out Snow Buckets served the classic snow cone. First they coarsely chopped ice into a cup. Syrups were then selected. I chose passion fruit and guyabana. I was sort of expecting them to pour one syrup over half the cup and the other over the other half, but the two syrups mixed right on top of each other. This created in interesting flavor combination that tasted like neither passion fruit or guyabana.

I now know what sort of snow cones are served at Snow Buckets...

Jeremiah's Italian Ice in Maitland, FL

When it comes to Italian Ice in Orlando, Jeremiah's is the best I've tasted. On this particular visit, I stopped by their location in Maitland.

I ordered a passion fruit gelati. Calling what Jeremiah's serves gelati is actually a bit tricky. In most other places, gelati would be plural of gelato, which is more along the lines of normal ice cream. Jeremiah's gelati is a parfait consisting of layers of Italian ice and soft serve ice cream. Out of curiosity, I did some searching and found that this type of gelati is a regional specialty coming out of Philadelphia. Don't set yourself up for disappointment by expecting the traditional gelati/gelato.

The Italian ice was nice and tasty. It was slightly tart and slightly sweet, but it didn't skew too far towards either flavor. Mixed with the soft serve vanilla, the gelati was pushed more to the sweet side. As hot as it was on the day I had my dessert from Jeremiah's, this gelati was nice and refreshing!

Like I said earlier, Jeremiah's has the best Italian Ice in Orlando in my opinion. Still, as good as their ices are, it can't compare to some of the Italian ice places up north. I'm still waiting for a store to open with a huge variety of flavors, at least double or triple of what Jeremiah's has, selling both cream and water ices, along with other types of ice cream. Jeremiah's may be the king of Italian Ice in Orlando right now, but there's a chance that they may be eventually be decrowned. And that could turn into a good thing for us. It could mean more places to get Italian ice in Central Florida!

Java Coast at the Gaylord Palms

I went to see ICE at the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Kissimmee, FL. Pretty cool exhibit where you go into a tent cooled to 9°F and see all sorts of ice carvings and ride down ice slides.

After you leaving the freezing temperatures, everyone got a very small complementary cup of hot cocoa.

While at the hotel, I bought a dessert from a coffee place called Java Coast. It was in the hotel's gigantic lobby, right next to their re-creation of St. Augustine's Castillo de San Marcos. Their pastries looked good in their display case and I decided to get a Cinnamon Bavarian Twist.

The Cinnamon Bavarian Twist had a consistency similar to that of a doughnut. Doughnut wasn't exactly what I was thinking of when I saw the pastry in the case, but it was still tasty. I just wish it had the flaky, crunchy crust that I've had elsewhere with similar desserts.

Leo's Italian Ice Factory

I found a coupon in a newspaper for a free Italian ice from a place called Leo's Italian Ice Factory in Oviedo, FL. On one hot afternoon, I decided to go and utilize my coupon.

The ice I ordered was half lemon and half passion fruit. The lemon tasted like a normal lemon ice, but the passion fruit tasted much more like grapefruit. I like grapefruit, so this was no problem for me. The ices weren't as solid as other ices that I've had in the past, but were still really good.

Weekend Trip: Ralph's Famous Italian Ices

Since I was up in the area, I had to stop by Ralph's Famous Italian Ices in Franklin Square, NY. Back in Florida, there are a few good Italian ice places, but none of them compare to Ralph's, just on the sheer number of flavors alone.

The weather was in the 40s when I went to Ralph's so I assumed there would be no other customers, but apparently cold weather doesn't stop people from buying Italian ices. I tried a scoop of orange, black cherry cheesecake, and lemon meringue pie.

My personal favorite of this cup of ices was the black cherry cheesecake.

More Italian Ices from Ralph's

I had more Italian ices from the good Ralph's in Franklin Square. I tried black cherry cheesecake, coconut, and passion fruit. It was a good combination...

Lunch in Freeport, New York

I ate lunch in Freeport, New York on Long Island. The restaurant that was decided upon was called Capt. Phil Ehrhart's. Being a beachy seaside town, I was hoping to eat some sort of seafood in Freeport. Capt. Phil Ehrhart's couldn't really provide that. They didn't seem to specialize in seafood all too much, but I picked out some coconut shrimp. They were unable to prepare them though due to lack of ingredents, so I ended up just going with a Caesar Salad. It was a good salad and there was nothing wrong with it. I just wasn't what I had in mind...

There was a nice view from the restaurant's deck of the nearby fishing boats. There was also a live band playing out here.



After eating lunch it was time for dessert from Ralph's Italian Ices. The Ralph's in Freeport was a short walk up the road from Capt. Phil Ehrhart's, and I tried lime and passion fruit water ices. The flavors themselves were good, but this Freeport Ralph's wasn't as good in general when compared to the Franklin Square Ralph's. A small ice here cost $0.25 more than the Franklin Square Ralph's. For the extra quarter, you received a smaller portion in a paper cup that quickly got soggy compared to a larger styrofoam cup. The ices were good, the rest of this Ralph's wasn't quite as good...

Ralph's Italian Ices

I ate dessert at Ralph's Italian Ices in Franklin Square, NY. They have very tasty Italian ices. I had lemon, passion fruit, and sour cherry. The first two flavors were good, the third was not as good.