Popsicles

It's summer. Well, in Houston it is. And in summer, the popsicle is a staple.

Now, you can get popsicles from the store no problem. Then you can feast on frozen high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors. Not that I have any issues with that- I've downed my fair share of those delicious popsicles.

But, with an abundance of ripe summer fruits, why not make your own? This way you can combine all kinds of fruits to make the perfect flavor combinations. I remember making 'popsicles' as a kid with orange juice in ice cube trays. They would come out mostly water, as the juice had settled during freezing, but there was a thin layer of orangey goodness at the bottom.

I have come up with some guidelines for making popsicles:

-Use as little water as you can. Avoid using only juices, as it will settle during freezing and leave you with mostly frozen water.

-Stick to fruit purees, and use very ripe fruit.

-Most popsicles from the store have a certain texture to them. To avoid a rock-hard popsicle, you can add a little alcohol [adults only!]. I like to use jello- from the box in the powdered form; not already made. It keeps them bite-able and not like you're sucking on a fruit-flavored ice cube.

-You can freeze them in any container, but popsicle molds are so easy and so convenient, and they're inexpensive. I found mine at the dollar store.

Because popsicle mold sizes differ, it's kinda hard to say how much of what to use- just eyeball it. For the ones I made, I pureed some watermelon and strawberries and added some strawberry jello mix. At this point you should take a taste to make sure it's sweet enough. If it needs sweetening, add honey instead of sugar, as it will dissolve better. However, use sugar if you're not using anything else to keep it from freezing solid- sugar doesn't freeze so it keeps the popsicle bite-able. Once it tastes right, pour it into popsicle molds. A few hours in the freezer and they'll be ready to eat.

You can experiment with practically any flavor, and I've started taking the leftovers from smoothies and making popsicles.

Here are a couple of flavor combinations I've been thinking about:

peach-strawberry
banana-chocolate
something with soda- I wonder how it would turn out?
creamsicle
strawberry lime

Anybody got any other ideas?