Eat This: Homemade Popsicles

This is what I have been obsessively doing for the past month--making bazillions of popsicles.  Our freezer became so overrun it was starting to look like I should I just buy an ice cream truck that plays that creepy music-box-y music and head down to the beach and go into business.  

But instead, all the kids who visit our house get to luck out and eat a popsicle of her/his choice upon entry.  The thing is, popsicles are really, really easy to make.  And so delicious--and some are even relatively healthy for you--or at least they are corn syrup free and may involve some yogurt and fresh fruit, so there's that.

I began this odyssey making some of the frozen pops from this book--Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon--which is an excellent book all around, by the way--full of how-tos on making everything from ricotta cheese to poptarts ...

...to marshmallows to several varieties of crackers...

...and even real jamaican ginger beer...and photos of everything (I love photos in a cookbook--it is always the photos that woo me into buying)--plus, an entire chapter devoted to frozen confections (the fudgesicle recipe in here is delish--a little dark, fudgey and nothing like what you find in the store in such a good way).

So, this was my popsicle primer--and then I just sort of took off from there and went freestyle--mixing all sorts of fruits and ingredients together willynilly--my family dutifully trying each new variety of popsicle and letting me know if it was a keeper.  And now I am here to share my fave new frozen pop creations with you--orange vanilla, coconut pineapple, banana-strawberry-pineapple bomb pop, and cherry lemonade.  Have at it:
DOWNLOAD RECIPE

Keep on enjoying summer with a vengeance and make some for yourself.  (and when I say make some, I mean make lots because you should, and that vanilla orange popsicle might-be mood-altering all on its own.  If you know what I mean.)