Strawberry, Guava, Campari Ice Pop-tails

If, like me, you discover yourself at that point of the summer when deadlines are heaping upon you at a mad rate because it's almost the end of summer and everything that you planned to get done (which was too much and too ambitious to begin with) in June when summer first started and everything that's gotten piled on since (beacuse it's hard to say "No" when there are seemingly open-ended months with long daylight hours),... make these strawberry, guava, and Campari ice pop-tails, and take a deep breath. In that order, please.

Seriously, the making process (aside from the freezing) takes all about 5 minutes, and you will thank me because the payoff is worth way more than 5 minutes.... which is more than I can say about the other tasks on my to-do list! Anyways, these are inspired by a good friend and collaborator of mine who was the first one to introduce me to Campari and the first one to show me strawberry guavas picked off a real life tree. Of course, strawberry guavas aren't easily available outside of SoCal, so here I've subbed in a combo of fresh summertime strawberries and guava juice. The great thing about guava juice is that it's often sweet enough where you won't need to add any extra sugar to this ice pop. Even so, it's sweet and summery and lightly exotic--not your childhood's strawberry popsicle!

Grab a ice pop, and ganbatte to all of us.

Read on for recipe....

Smashed Berry-Lime-Coconut Yogurt Ice Pops

At long last! a new recipe. :) I put these smashed berry, lime, and coconut yogurt ice pops together when I discovered a huge number of berries sitting in my refrigerator that needed to be eaten before I left for BlogHer Food in Seattle. Wasted berries are so sad! Also in my fridge sat an open can of coconut milk from a project that I'll post about in the coming weeks or so, and on my counter, there sat a bag of limes (there seems to always be random bags of citrusfruit scattered all about every room in the house!). Thankfully, these ingredients--mixed with a tub of thick Greek yogurt--go together like one creamy dream.

These ice pops are a wee bit tart from the combination of tangy yogurt, berries, and lime juice (mellowed a bit by the coconut milk), and they are not very sweet at all, which makes them perfect for sneaking out of the freezer for breakfast on a hot summer morning. To be fair, yogurt+berries are a socially accepted form of breakfast, and I actually think this frozen version would taste really good dipped in a crunch of cornflakes! I won't tell anyone that you ate popsicles for breakfast if you don't tell on me. ;P

With that, I'm off to Seattle. Any recommendations for must-visit eateries, drinkeries, ice cream parlors, and sights? I haven't been to Seattle since elementary school (and one day in high school when we were passing through to Alaska), so I'm quite excited. Please leave any recs you might have in the comments--they will be put to good use! :)


Read on for recipe....

Kiwi Orange Creamsicles

Last week, we had a bit of a preview of summer: ~90 degree Fahrenheit weather, cloudless, sunny skies, and mild nights when you don't need a long-sleeve shirt to go outside.  It was even warm enough to have a midnight picnic out on the roof of our garage, which was pretty awesome because we snaked an extension cord from the house to the roof, moved an Ikea coffee table and a floor lamp out there, blasted Joni Mitchell from an open window, and sat, laughing and joking, on a blanket around a big spread of triple cream goat cheese and grapes and Piela Deen underneath the stars.

While warm summer-preview nights are a special treat, I often curse the hotter days during the daytime when I have to bike to and from school because who wants to arrive at class or at their meetings hot, sweaty, and coated with a layer of sticky grime?  Elghk.  Plus, I grew up in a different micro-climate around the Bay Area, where the weather really only rises above 80 degrees F for a few days out of the year.  I like my 50-75 F range perfectly well, thankyouverymuch.  So, on these days, the thing I look forward to the most is coming home from school, stowing the bike away, reaching into the freezer, and sucking down an ice cold packed-with-fruity-awesomeness popsicle.  I love how it makes my core temperature say 'ahhhhhhhhhh' in great relief.

Just so I'm armed and ready for any more hot days the current micro-climate that I live in might throw at me, I've packed our freezer with these little beauts: kiwi and orange creamsicles--little ice pops with tangy kiwi puree, unadulterated fresh-squeezed orange juice, and sweet, creamy custard, layered thinly so that you can get every flavor together in one long lick.  I also did the layers sort of haphazardly, pouring whichever one I felt like into random molds just so when unmolded, each one is a special little surprise.  I can't help but squeal a bit every time I pop one out of a mold just to see the different patterns of layers.  It's the little things like this that keep me happy.  :-)

Anyways, you really shouldn't be too jealous of our weather here.  This always seems to happen around the end of April and the beginning of May in parts of the Bay Area, but then we're cursed with grey skies throughout the month of June.  Alas, you can't always have it all when it comes to the weather.  But, you can always have popsicles ready and standing by.

[Don't forget to go and vote for desserts for breakfast for Best Baking/Desserts Blog in Saveur's Best Food Blog Awards!  Voting closes in just three days!  So stop dallying about and go vote!]


Read on for recipe....

Spicy Curry Chocolate Fudgesicles

Yes, yes.  I am well aware that popsicle season is likely well behind us, but I just had to share this recipe, because it's one of my absolute favorite flavors that I made this summer.  First off, you *didn't* read the title wrong.  These are spicy curry chocolate fudgesicles.  Yes.  Curry.  It sounds crazy, but trust me--it's just crazy good.  I started out making just plain old spicy chocolate fudgesicles, which pack a decent kick and potency in and of themselves.  But, as I leaned over to taste the mix, suddenly, I couldn't shake the feeling that curry would go so well with the dark chocolate, cream, and the spiciness.  And, since I've learned to always trust my instincts when it comes to food no matter how crazy they may seem, I went with it--and the results were fantastic!  The flavor is unexpected but strangely familiar, with the flavor of the curry playing off really nicely against the creaminess and rich chocolatety-ness of the fudgesicle.  The recipe below uses spicy fudgesicles as the base for the curry fudgesicles, but I highly recommend trying the curry ones--you won't regret it!

Here's wishing everyone a happy weekend and warm weather suitable for curry chocolate fudgesicles!


Read on for recipe...