On this very day last year, I was also writing about popsicles. Strange synchronicity. Although thoughts do tend to turn that way when the mercury soars and fresh fruit abounds. The thing about popsicles is that they are SO EASY to make. Frozen liquid, that's all they are. So you could puree bananas with almond milk and caradamom. Or blend coconut water with fresh blueberries and mint. Or even juice some carrots with a little ginger and freeze that. Willing to turn on the stove? Cook strawberries with honey and a dried ancho chile. Puree it then freeze. You don't really need a lot of involved recipes to make popsicles. Your imagination and what's in the fridge can be your guide. That said, Fany Gerson's new book Paletas (Spanish for popsicles) is quite handy. From yogurt with berries to apricot-chamomile to mezcal-orange, she'll steer you toward original combinations, many of them quite adult. Not that you won't feel like a kid again when you're slurping something sweet and icy from a stick.
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It's hot. And evidently it's hot everywhere. A record-setting year. 113 degrees in Baghdad. 122 in Kuwait. Tempers must be running high. Even the most verbose turn laconic. So I'll just say one word: Popsicles. And maybe I'll just add: Easy. Cooling. Refreshing. Light. (My cat looks like a mink throw tossed onto the windowsill.) Take these recipes and run with them. (Or walk very slowly, fanning yourself with a large palm leaf.) Substitute whatever fruits you have on hand; use a little sugar, honey or agave; try a bit of cream instead of the yogurt, or no dairy at all. G is about to try an herbal protocol from the multi-talented Bryan Thomson, and he can't have dairy for a minimum of 6 weeks, but I can't promise I'll be that restrained. (I'm quite addicted to my morning chai made with raw milk. I even had it today, and promptly almost passed out from the heat! Surely not an Ayurvedically-approved choice...) Anyway, basta with the chit-chat. Whiz up these popsicles in no time flat and you can lie prostrate on your hardwood floor, covered with a wet towel, and eat several while watching the entire season of Dexter which you've wisely downloaded from iTunes. I used these molds which I recommend with reservation. They make a nice shape but getting the stick in at the right height was challenging. (I really wanted these but they are expensive and weren't available right away. Plus they come from a site called The Tickle Trunk. WTF?) Even though Jake Godby, the wizard behind the Bay Area's Humphrey Slocombe, wouldn't deign to offer you such a pedestrian combo as strawberry-rhubarb, I do it with pride. For you flavor snobs out there (and I know none of you is actually reading this blog), there's always the esoteric tang of wild lime to the rescue.
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