For those of you who don’t have that fancy contraption called air conditioning (myself included), you can probably appreciate the deliciously cold wonder of popsicles. Even if you’re currently reading this from a comfortably chilled room, eventually you’ll find yourself in a place where the temperature forces you to seek out whatever cooling methods are available. If you also happen to have tastebuds and sweat glands (again, myself included), you might be dreaming of popsicles at some point. This was exactly how it went last week; temperatures soared, I got cranky from the heat and lack of hydration, and visions of frozen juice danced in my head. The heat can make you do crazy things, so I called and drove to stores all day long trying to find the means to turn my kitchen into a popsicle factory. Target, K-Mart, every local grocery store and dollar store, Sears, Macy’s, and JC Penny all let me down. Perhaps earlier in the season this wouldn’t have been true (in fact, I had seen one style of mold at K-Mart about a month prior), but this late in the game there seemed to be a shortage on all things summer, including my beloved popsicle molds.

As a last ditch effort I visited an outlet mall which had a kitchen store and managed to pick up some “castle” style popsicle molds on the cheap. My first choice was actually a more classic style from the same manufacturer, but those weren’t available in the store. D’oh! I also debated between the castle style and some really fancy looking rockets by Tovolo, but I’m kinda glad I stuck with the castles. See, the more detailed the design of the mold, the more chance the popsicles have of getting mangled when they are removed. The tips of the castles sometimes don’t come out in their entirety, and I imagine the rockets (as rad and sci-fi as they look) would probably be a little more tricky. Not everyone seems to be having trouble with the castle mold though. MormonChic has an article on homemade freezer pops featuring the castle mold, and as illustrated in the pictures, they look fab. There’s helpful info on keeping hydrated and a couple good recipes on there (as well as a huge, adorable picture of a be-popsicled toddler), but to step outside of the “throw a bucket of sugar into your mouth” norm that plagues most homemade popsicle recipes, check this metafilter thread about popsicles with “natural ingredients”. So far the most popular “recipe” I’ve made was to just wizz up some cantaloupe melon in the food processor. Incredibly simple, delicious, and refreshing. My favorite is a copy-cat of Fruitful’s Fuzzy Navel juicebar, which includes whizzed up peaches, orange juice, and a little pineapple, leaving some chunks for a fun texture. As long as it’s fresh or frozen fruit, pretty much no matter what the combination, it’s going to be really tasty. Just stay away from canned or otherwise pre-packaged ingredients. You’ll really taste the difference. And now, it’s back to the popsicle factory I go!

Posted by Lauren in Fun, Household, Kids
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