LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
JUST Desserts |
by Barry Becker |
We All Scream for Ice Cream
Ice cream, to me, is the most perfect food on the planet. I could live on it, have it for every meal. So imagine how thrilled I was to be invited to JOE'S WATER ICE & PETRUCCI'S ICE CREAM (24 Rehoboth Ave., just off the Boardwalk) on a recent summer night for an ice cream tasting! Is this heaven or what? Joe's, owned by Mary McElhoneher third season in downtown Rehobothis a franchise that started out in Philadelphia, as did Petrucci's ice cream. They're two great worlds of summer treats together under one roof...and what a merger it is! What's so special about this wonderful place Mary put together? It has a lot to do with the fact that the ice cream is all homemade right on the premises. Mary makes it all herself with the secret Petrucci recipesat least 22 fabulous flavors. She also makes all the water ice, fresh daily, and there are about 32 flavors to choose from. On any given day you can find about 8 flavors of each. There were 5 of us samplers (I will not divulge their names, because some ate way too much. Oh, wait, that was me.) We tried black forest cake, which is a rich chocolate ice cream with bing cherries and brownies in it, a favorite of all of us. Peanut butter cupanother chocolate ice cream with big swirls of peanut butterwas a rare and fabulous treat. But how can you go wrong with the butter pecan, coffee heath bar, mint chocolate chip, pistachio, or your essential chocolate, vanilla and strawberry? It's all delicious, and the homemade quality showed through in a big way. You can get these served on a cake cone, sugar cone, waffle cone or decorated waffle cone! Next was the water ice. I grew up in a very Italian area in Pennsylvania and had water ice as a youth, but, as an ice cream purist, I wasn't expecting to fall in love with the ices like I did. We tried the mango, lemon, blueberry, cherry, grape, root beer and chocolate, but you may also find tangerine, passion fruit, orange, bubblegum or much more. All were very refreshing and wonderful. Actually, I discovered my New Favorite Thing, what they call a Joe Latti, which is water ice and soft serve ice cream served together in alternating layers. Can I just say, this may be THE perfect summer concoction to beat the heat. I tried the root beer water ice with vanilla ice cream, and it was like a root beer float, only better. I liked this so much I went back the next night and had a mango water ice with vanilla, which was so amazing and light and refreshing. I could live on this stuff! You can, of course, also get milk shakes and sundaes (with lots of toppings), banana splits, and chocolate covered frozen bananas (yes, I wanted to try one of these very badly, but I had too much ice cream). You can also have a Joe Smoothie (a water ice and ice cream shake) and a Mega Blend, which is soft serve ice cream mixed with cookies or candies. Joe's Water Ice, 24 Rehoboth Avenue, is open seven days a week from noon to 11:30 p.m. See you there! |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 11, No. 8, June 29, 2001. |