Spring fever

It’s that time of year! Are you infected with spring fever and preparing for March Madness? This is one of my favorite months — and not just because it’s my birthday month! I love it because spring in the city is the most FabuLyss time! We start to see the most incredible display of early flowering pastels in Central Park.

You can savor springtime at a very sweet new ice cream parlour on the Upper East Side: Cool Mess. The upstairs of Burger Heaven has been transformed into a full-blown, make-it-yourself ice cream cafe. The entrance is on 62nd Street, complete with a hot-pink velvet rope. Even the ceilings are covered in decorative sprinkles.

My older son was excited to make and eat his very own cool mess. Each table is equipped with a small ice cream maker, and customers start the creation process by choosing an ice cream base — vanilla or chocolate.

Then you select a baked good to add to the mix (pound cake, brownie, cookie, or the treat of the day), and finally, pick three toppings from the menu of 25, which includes everything under the sun from candy to sweet treats!

You can also book birthday parties and rent out the space for private events. I have a feeling lots of kids are going to think this new ice cream shoppe is sweet!

Cool Mess [137 E. 62nd St. between Park and Lexington avenues on the Upper East Side, (212) 355–9834]

I am sure you have been seeing all the TV segments about the most amazing, deLysscious $15 milkshakes from Black Tap NYC, which has two locations: one in SoHo and one in the Meatpacking district. The three-hour wait is really worth it. Your kids will say, “Wow!” These magical milkshakes are amazing! Can you believe they are selling more than 1,000 milkshakes a day? My personal favorite is the Cotton Candy Strawberry Shake with a vanilla-frosted rim with blue, pink, and pearl chocolates, topped with a pink lollipop, rock candy, whipped cream, and yes, cotton candy.

My boys loved the “Sweet N’ Salty,” it’s chock full of M&Ms and peanut butter cups topped with a Sugar Daddy, pretzel rod, a chocolate-covered pretzel, whipped cream, and a chocolate drizzle.

Black Tap NYC [529 Broome St. between Thompson and Sullivan streets in SOHO, (917) 639–3089, blacktapnyc.com]

If you have 90 minutes of free time, a must see is “Tappin’ Thru Life.” Tickets to see the extraordinary show will leave you dancing and smiling for days! Broadway legend Maurice Hines pulls out all the stops in this song and dance celebration of his brother, Gregory, and the performers who inspired him — from Frank Sinatra to Lena Horne. He’s tapping with the Manzari Brothers and singing standards like “Luck Be A Lady,” “Smile,” and “It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” all backed by The Diva Jazz Orchestra, an all-female big band. You will not be disappointed!

“Tappin’ Through Life” at New World Stages–Stage 1 (340 W. 50th St. between Eighth and Ninth avenues in Midtown, www.telecharge.com/Off-Broadway/Tappin-Thru-Life/Overview). Until March 13.

Lyss Stern is the founder of DivaLysscious Moms (www.divamoms.com).

Nutella-stuffed s’mores French toast

INGREDIENTS:

2 slices Texas toast

2 eggs

3/4 cup half-and-half

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Salt

4 graham crackers, crushed

1 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. Nutella

2 tbsp. marshmallow fluff

Mini-marshmallows, for garnish

Mini chocolate chips, for garnish

Chocolate syrup, for garnish

DIRECTIONS: In a shallow bowl large enough to dip the bread into, whisk together eggs and half-and-half. Add cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Crush graham crackers and add to another shallow bowl. Dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture, letting it soak up the egg and the cream for about 10 seconds on each side. Then dip it into the graham cracker crumbs, pressing to adhere the crumbs to the bread.

Melt the butter in a skillet set over medium-low heat. Add both slices of bread to the skillet and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on one side before flipping them over. Once you flip them over, add marshmallow fluff to one slice of bread and Nutella to the other. Let the bread cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove the slices of French toast from the pan, and press them together, making a Nutella-marshmallow sandwich. Transfer to a plate and garnish with mini marshmallows. Use a kitchen torch to toast the marshmallows until golden brown. Alternatively, use your oven’s broiler setting to toast the marshmallows for a few minutes. (Make sure to keep a close eye on the marshmallows, as they’ll go from toasted to burned quickly.) Sprinkle with a handful of mini chocolate chips, drizzle with chocolate syrup, and enjoy!

Academics West

Academics West is an accredited high-support college preparatory school designed to meet the academic and social-emotional goals of its students. Our unique model allows for each student to benefit from a customized educational experience to ensure they are acquiring the skills necessary to navigate their post-secondary lives whether they attend college or pursue another path to future success. Students can select different tracks to construct the most beneficial program to suit their needs and goals. Unlike conventional education, this innovative model enables students to prepare for an ever-changing world that requires young people to have advanced executive functioning, interpersonal and leadership skills to become independent and resilient adults. &nbsp;

Family Speech Center

Family Speech Center has been servicing children, adolescents, and adults since 2003. Our Speech-Language Pathologists are trained professionals who evaluate and diagnose adults and children to identify specific speech, language and swallowing difficulties. Once the communication difficulties are assessed and identified, our Speech-Language Pathologists develop and implement a therapy plan individualized to meet a client&rsquo;s needs. Our staff has experience with many types of communication disorders and difficulties, including language delay and weak vocabulary skills, articulation/phonological disorders, myofunctional disorders, apraxia, language learning disabilities, auditory/language processing difficulties, fluency disorders, and pragmatic/social disorders.

Enabling Devices

Enabling Devices is a family-run business that designs, manufactures and sells adapted toys and accessible devices that make life more joyful and fulfilling for children and adults living with disabilities. &nbsp; It started with a train set, a mercury switch, and a young boy whose therapist thought he couldn&rsquo;t play with toys. In 1975 our founder, Dr. Steven Kanor, walked into a room at United Cerebral Palsy/Long Island and saw a boy sitting in a wheelchair, his head resting on his shoulder. When he asked where the toys were, the OT said, &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t have the motor skills to play with toys, and he can&rsquo;t lift his head.&rdquo; But Dr. Kanor was not interested in what the boy couldn&rsquo;t do. He was interested in the boy's potential. The next morning, he was back. He&rsquo;d brought a train set, which he&rsquo;d connected to a mercury switch. The switch, the first capability switch he&rsquo;d designed, was attached to the boy&rsquo;s ear. When the boy raised his head, the switch made contact and the train ran around the tracks. After several weeks of playing with this toy, the boy was holding his head up straight, even when the train was not running. Dr. Kanor was elated. Since that day, he never stopped innovating, never stopped trying to make our products better, never stopped designing new devices. Today, our design team is just as passionate, just as creative, and just as committed to innovation as the man who founded this company. Enabling Devices is the place to find toys, devices and tools that help build more joyful, fulfilling lives. We have an extensive selection of adapted toys, capability switches, Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices, adapted electronics, mounts, iPad products, sensory items and products for the visually impaired. Over the years, the important constants remain. We&rsquo;re still the same small, family-run company Steven Kanor founded in 1978, with the same values of personal connection and deep product knowledge. We&rsquo;re still committed to providing caring, individualized service to each customer. And we&rsquo;re still grateful for the privilege of sharing in your journey.