Let me tell you about David Mebane, born eating snow balls in New Orleans, who's love for fluffy Southern ice has turned into a full-fledged fleet of trailers you'll be able to find sprinkled throughout Austin in the near future. It's a family affair that started when his grandparents would walk with him up to the snow ball stand on Roosevelt Avenue after dinner.
One of the recipes for chocolate cream was contributed by David's aunt, who found the recipe in the rubble after she lost her home in the wake of Katrina. A special recipe no doubt, she received it from a friend who had worked at Hansen's (popular snow ball shop in Nawlins').
Sweet Caroline's namesake is David's daughter (Caroline), and the Wild Weston snow ball is named after his son (Weston). Since kids like to order by color (as opposed to flavor), Weston's preference is rainbow - therefore, the Wild Weston has Red (strawberry), Yellow (pineapple), and Blue (blue raspberry).
The 'Pink Lady' is David's favorite - which utilizes a special nectar cream flavor. In fact, the cream drizzled on top of flavored ice is what makes a New Orleans snow ball a little different than the snow cones we grew up with here in Texas. Another interesting menu item from Sweet Caroline's that migrated it's way to Austin is the stuffed snow ball. It starts with ice and syrup in the bottom, followed by a scoop of Blue Bell Vanilla ice cream, and then topped with more fluffy ice and flavor-dy goodness-sakes!
Eco-conscious, these guys do not use styrofoam. Rather, you can carry your treat out in a chinese paper to go square container. Now thats what I call Sno-Ballin'. Check them out: www.sweetcarolinessnowshack.com
