Ode to Popsicles

One night, long, long ago some college dorm mates celebrated a blender. This was no ordinary blender. A father had rummaged for it at a flea market, bartered for it, got it cheap, and given it to the mates as a party gift. This blender had made a long journey. It had a story, so to honor it, the kids made margaritas.

That tequila-inspired night, they schemed about making skirts from the ugly plaid curtains in their rooms. Yes, they were thinking of themselves as Marias from “The Sound of Music,” because, brilliantly, their dorm was named after the Greek letter, Mu, as in Mu-sic. How funny they were. How well they were spending their brains in college.

The witty did not end there. No, there was more. As they sipped their spiked, sugary lime juice, one of them said, “ I wish this could be a popsicle. Hey, we should make margarita popsicles!”
A fellow dormie ribbed, reminding her, “Ah, alcohol doesn’t freeze, but we could make margarita slushies.”

So the fearless students made their happy big gulps, stole the curtains for a future performance, and all was well.

Many more sober years later, the inquisitive popsicle lover, while not inventing a formula for freezing alcohol, did succeed in discovering some recipes for refreshing frozen treats. Here are some of her discoveries:

Pina Coladas (Sans the Buzz) Popsicles

1 8oz can of organic coconut milk
organic pineapple juice (equal parts to the coconut or to taste)

Blend and pour into molds.

Cherry Almond Popsicles (tweaked from a Real Simple recipe)

1 cup frozen organic cherries
1 cup organic vanilla almond milk
splash of cherry juice

Blend and pour into molds.

Horchata Popsicles (tweaked from a Real Simple recipe)

1 1/2 cups organic vanilla rice milk
5 T organic half -n-half
organic sugar (to taste)
1/8 t cinnamon

Blend and pour into molds.

Happy summer and enjoy!