The Secret Ingredient

I found the perfect popsicle molds at World Market. They are the classic shape and they use regulation sticks, which make them better than the usual plastic handled set or even the Zoku Pop Maker in my book. I've had today's recipe in my head for a little while now.  By using coconut water you add some electrolytes to the treat (good on a hot day), plus it's sweet, but low in sugar.  I added a teensy bit of fresh ginger to the strawberries in the juicer to add a little kick.  The kids didn't seem to mind.  Here's the recipe:

Strawberry Popsicles

16 oz of fresh, sweet strawberries
4 limes (or meyer lemons, or tangerines)
2 cups coconut water 
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
1 tbsp fresh ginger (optional)

Push capped strawberries and ginger through a juicer*.  Juice limes and add to the strawberry puree, add coconut water and sugar if using.  Stir well and pour into popsicle molds.  Freeze for about 3 hours.  

* If you don't have a juicer (you should get one) you can also use a blender, omit ginger as it's will overpower the mix.  The strawberries will have seeds, but it will still be delicious!

Twiggy

Oh September in the Bay Area, it's hot and all I can think about is tweed.  A few weeks ago I found this article about foraging in the forest for the ingredients of what appeared to be a fairy and gnome style picnic, not my bag, but they had a recipe for homemade popsicles that made me abandon my ZOKU for the day and use up the leftover and afore mentioned olallieberries, simply because the recipe called for twigs, which are in my opinion, cool.

My Recipe

4 cups berries
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
12 twigs (washed)
3oz dixie cups
cupcake papers
rubber bands

Boil berries with water and sugar for 10 minutes until broken down. Cool.
Pour into dixie cups, using a toothpick, poke a hole in center of cupcake paper and cover the cup,wrap a rubber band around cupcake paper, insert twig. Freeze for 3 hours.  Enjoy.