Pina Colada Popsicles

Every once in a while, living with twin boys means there will be a meltdown at my house by one boy or the other. There will be tears and yelling or screaming, possibly a brother being hit. They're boys, hits happen. If the boys happen to stay up for any length of time after their normal bedtime, at least one of these meltdowns will occur and there will be especially dramatic screaming and crying. One such meltdown occurred just the other night.

It was just me and the boys at home, so I let them stay up late to finish watching a movie. Logan decided he needed a popsicle about halfway through the movie, so he brought me one that was in the freezer.

"You know these are Daddy's popsicles, right?"

"Yes, Momma."

The dirty rascal knows I'm sucker for being called Momma. His twang helps his cause. He bats his eyelashes at me and knows I'm going to let him have it.

That part of the evening was uneventful. Then the movie ended. Then my little demon Trip decided that he could not go to sleep without a popsicle.

Please Momma!

Ok, fine. But you have to take actual bites out of it, not just licks.

He looks at me and bats his eyelashes and knows he can do whatever he wants.

Then the meltdown happened. Logan wanted another popsicle. As lenient as I can be with their diet, I do limit their sweets, and as this particular delicacy has 400 calories per serving, I was not going to budge.

Tears ensued. My poor little boy sat down behind the far side of the couch and threw a fit. Screaming, begging, pleading for just one more popsicle. Unfortunately for Logan, he tickled my funny bone. I started laughing and could not stop. I was doubled over, clutching my sides, laughing with tears streaming down my face at my poor boys plight. This made Logie scream more. He could not understand why his momma was laughing at him. The poor boy. Momma is an ICU nurse and that comes with a sick sense of humor.

I did finally scoop him up and take him upstairs to bed, promising him more popsicles the next day.


The lineup:

One can cream of coconut (I think it's an 8 oz can, found with the adult beverage mixes)
Two 6 oz cans pineapple juice.

The cream of coconut will be separated when you open the can. Empty the cream of coconut into a measuring glass, scraping all of the delectable coconut out of the can. Microwave for about 20 seconds to melt the milky goodness. Stir to incorporate. Add in the pineapple juice and stir well. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 8 hours. If you try to take these out of the molds early, the sticks will slide out and you'll be scooping the popsicle out with a spoon.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Popsicles

Now I realize that this recipe will be almost exactly like the blueberry popsicles, but I did have to experiment a bit fot this one. I figured the lime juice was the catalyst to that flavor pop for all fruit. I was wrong. Raspberries and lime juice are gross. The flavor is just wrong. The perfect flavor booster for raspberries is pineapple juice! It takes more raspberries for this recipe than blueberries because the raspberries don't have quite as much juice per berry. It's a scientific fact.

Try it and see. The only thing I might need help with is the adult beverage that might be made with this.

The lineup:

5 cups raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup pineapple juice

Put the raspberries and sugar in a saucepan an bring to a boil. Boil over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Make sure all of the raspberries have burst and the sugar has turned into a syrup. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a glass bowl. Add the pineapple juice. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze!

Blueberry popsicles

I got the original blueberry popsicle recipe from Gourmet magazine a couple of years ago. The recipe include pints or quarts and I don't really remember some of the details. The one I'm going to show you is a bit more specific, but the flavor is the same. Think back on the popsicles you had when you were a kid. They were decadent and the flavors popped. Now think about the popsicles you may have shared with your children. They are bland, watered-down, almost flavorless. Try these once and you will never want your children to eat store-bought popsicles again.

The lineup:

4 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lime juice

Really. That's it.

Put the blueberries and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Boil for about 8-10 minutes. The blueberries will burst when they are done. You want to make sure all of the blueberries have burst and all of the sugar has turned into sugar. Remove from heat and strain into a glass bowl. Mash on the berries to get out all of the juice. The skin from the blueberries is trash, so get out all the juice you can. The blueberry syrup will yield approximately 2 cups of liquid. Add the lime juice to the berry syrup. Pour into popsicle molds or ice cube trays. Really. That's all there is to it. Freeze them for at least 4 hours.

Your children will proclaim you the best cook in the world.

Now take the blueberry pops you put in the ice cube trays and put one in an old fashioned glass. Let it melt a bit. Pour in about 1/4 cup (1 jigger, I think) of rum or vodka. Maybe coconut rum. Then top off with ginger ale.

I haven't tried the adult beverage yet, but I'm dying too. It just hasn't been warm enough yet to have a party.

And yes, I do realize the hypocrisy of that statement. My kids love popsicles when it's 20 degrees out, but I'm not willing to have a few friends over for adult beverages because it's too cold. Maybe I should start planning that party...