Strawberry Paletas

"The word Paletas derives from Palo, meaning stick, a reference to how they are made and eaten. They are essentially ice pops: delicious flavored liquids frozen with a stick to hold as you eat them...The most popular type (of Paletas in Mexico) are paletas de agua, which are typically made with fresh fruit, water, sweetener (typically made from sugar cane) and sometimes other flavorings."-Paletas by Fany Gerson

4 cups fresh, ripe strawberries, tops cut off and quartered
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
juice of one lemon

Stir the prepared strawberries and sugar together in a bowl. Let them sit for 15 minutes or so. This gives the berries a chance to soften and release their juices. Transfer the berries to a small saucepan, and add in the water. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.Pour the strawberries into a blender, or food processor and add the lemon juice. Blend until the texture you like -smooth or some chunks remaining, process less}. Divide the mixture evenly between the molds, and follow the popsicle mold manufacturer's instructions. Freeze for about 5 hours, or until completely frozen. If you don't have molds, you can make these in paper cups. Let the pureed mixture freeze inside the paper cups for about 2 hours, insert the popsicle sticks in the center of each pop, then freeze for the remaining 3 hours, or until firm.

source: The Parsley Thief via Little Wonder's Days and Paletas by Fany Gerson

Rainbow Fruit Pops

from Kitchen Daily

Remember the fruit we used in the Rainbow Fruit Pizza? Well, we had lots of fruit left over and we couldn't let it go to waste, so I used it in this lovely treat. The Capri Sun drinks are almost clear, which lets the beautiful colors of the pops show through. This is a healthy and refreshing drink for summertime, too.

About 3 cups of any fresh fruit you like or have, cut into bite-sized pieces, such as seedless green grapes, strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges, kiwi,

2 6-ounce Capri Sun pouches or 1 1/2 cups fruit punch

Combine the fruit in a large mixing bowl. Spoon the mixture into 8 popsicle molds. Fill each mold with enough punch to reach the fill line. Add the popsicle stick and place in the freezer. Freeze for at least 4 hours up to overnight, or until the popsicles are frozen solid. Allow the molds to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes or place under warm running water for 10-20 seconds to remove popsicles. Serve immediately.

By the way, these can also be made with any juice you have on hand, it just won't be as clear as with the Capri Sun juice pouches. Here are some I made with Minute Maid Cherry Limeaid.

Pink Lemonade Pound Cake

source

1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
1 (3 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
4 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup pink lemonade concentrate
4 drops pink or red food color, optional

Glaze:
1 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup white sugar


Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour one 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.
Combine the cake mix, lemon pudding mix, eggs, vegetable oil, 1/2 cup lemon concentrate and the milk. Mix until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 350 for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
Remove from oven and prick cake all over with a fork. Immediately pour lemonade glaze over top of cake.
Let cake stand in pan until almost cool.
Make glaze by combining the remaining thawed frozen lemonade and the white sugar. Mix thoroughly and pour over still warm cake.
Source: Sugar Baby Aprons

In The Kitchen In Summer

In the lazy days of summer...
nothing tastes better than fresh lemonade...

fried squash...

fresh salsa...

and you can preserve what is left for winter days.