Here in the mountains the seasons seem to hit right on the Solstice and Equinox--well, except for Spring which can be slow to emerge out of the blanket of snow. So no surprise that 2 days after the Summer Solstice, it was summer! Yippee!!
We made up a bunch of fun frozen treats to celebrate. Look at at these goodies!
The "cooking" involved in making these is perfect for kids--toddlers to teens in my opinion. And if you've got craft sticks coming out the wazoo like me, this is a great project. I only have a 2 popsicle molds so we used Dixie Cups for most of them. You can also make mini pops using ice cube trays.
I saw the chocolate banana pops and grape skewers from this One Crafty Place round-up. The Banana Pop recipe looks great but I must admit we cut corners on that one and just used Santa Cruz Organic Chocolate Syrup instead. Still very good (note that there is only one left). The Watermelon & Orange Juice Pops are just made up but no less yummy.
Watermelon Pops
6-8 cups of watermelon chunks
2 tbsp sugar
I actually used all of one of those personal seedless watermelons. You could do this without any added sugar at all if you get a really sweet melon but a little added in does bring out the natural sweetness. Mix in a blender, pour in molds, put a stick in it, freeze.
OJ Pops
Enough Orange Juice to fill your pop molds
We used Simply Orange. Pour and put a stick in it. Couldn't be any simpler.
To keep the sticks upright when you're trying to freeze something thin, like OJ arrange all your cups on a baking sheet then wrap a layer of plastic wrap or tin foil over the entire thing. Then you can just poke holes in the wrap with the sticks before you freeze.
We're making a bunch more for the 4th. Stay cool!
