More than a century ago, southern Italian immigrants Giovanni and Caterina DiCosmo decided to offer a taste of their homeland in their new community of Elizabeth when they started selling lemon Italian ice, a take on granita, which is a Sicilian frozen treat.

They knew it would help their neighbors cool down during the particularly hot summer of 1915. What they didn’t know was that 110 years later, their great-granddaughter Eileen DiCosmo O’Connor would keep their legacy alive in Metuchen.