Pop, Pop, Popsicles!?

Kay:

It is summertime in Texas and we have had triple digit temps here in North Texas. Whether you’re planning a July 4th celebration at the lake, the beach (in Lynda’s case), or you are celebrating at home, I found some refreshing and cold treats for your celebration.

I have wanted to try making these frozen treats since a co-worker shared an article about Buzz Pop Cocktails.. The 4th of July seemed like the perfect opportunity to make some booze laden popsicles and ice pops.

Who knew alcohol would freeze? You just have to be careful of the amount of alcohol you put in them.

I started with Prosecco Rum Strawberry Ice Pops. Remember Otter Pops? These are like drunken Otter Pops! You have to plan ahead in order to find the sleeves used to freeze them in. They are called Zipzicles. I found some at my local grocery, They are also available on Amazon and at Bed Bath and Beyond. They are available in quantities  from 18 ($3.99) to 100 ($12.99). The 100 count was from Amazon. You might want to order 100. After you do this once you are going to want to try all kinds of flavor profiles.

I also made a Pina Colada Popsicle using regular plastic popsicle molds. I have two different sizes, one is smaller and round with eight mold cups and the other is in the shape of a popsicle (shown here) and has four molds.

I used rum as the alcohol in both the ice pops and the popsicles. The ice pops also have prosecco (a sparkling Italian white wine) in them, so they were much boozier (is that a word) than the popsicles. I think the Pina Colada Popsicles could have used more rum. Just be careful not to add too much or they won’t freeze.

Experiment with a couple batches for your July 4th celebration. As hot as it is in Texas, you will be a very popular person!

Prosecco Rum Strawberry Ice Pops

3 cups frozen strawberries, cut in half

1/2 cup simple syrup

1 bottle of Prosecco ( pour yourself a glass, you have plenty, really I only used a bottle less 2 glasses)

1/2 cup of white rum

Put the strawberries and simple syrup in the blender and puree. Be careful adding the prosecco and run and blend for a short time (30 seconds)

Carefully fill each Zipzicle pouch to fill line, close and place in freezer overnight.

Pina Colada Popsicles

Makes 8 popsicles, in popsicle shaped molds

1 cup chopped pineapple (fresh or canned)

1 1/2 Tbsp white rum (like I said earlier, I think you could get away with about 4 Tbsp)

Soak the pineapple in the rum for at least 10 minutes.

In the blender add the pineapple and rum. Pulse until coarsely chopped.

Add:

1 -13.5 ounce can coconut milk (full fat)

3 Tbsp simple syrup

Blend for 1 minute. Fill popsicle molds. Place in freezer overnight.

Lynda:

Happy 4th of July to all of our US readers! I ran across this cocktail recently that seemed to have all the makings of a great drink for the 4th—tequila, watermelon and jalapeno. It’s called a Tequila Mockingbird so it’s also named after the state bird of Texas. I wanted to see if I could find out who created this cocktail and in my searches I turned up a book called Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist by Tim Federle. Just say Tequila Mockingbird a few times and the light bulb will go on.

Tequila Mockingbird

Makes one cocktail

1 Jalapeno slice

About 1/3 cup of watermelon cubes

2 oz. Silver Tequila

3/4 oz. fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)

3/4 oz. of agave syrup

Put watermelon cubes and the jalapeno slice in a cocktail shaker and muddle. Be sure to crush the jalapeno pepper slice. Add tequila, lime juice, agave and ice. Shake until cold, then strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.

You get the fragrance of the jalapeno and the sweetness of the watermelon in this super refreshing drink.

I think everyone has their favorite and standard menus for the 4th of July but I thought I’d share an old standard recipe that works well in cast iron. You probably have all the ingredients for these baked beans in your pantry and fridge.

Baked Beans in Cast Iron

1 – 28 oz. can pork and beans

1 small onion, chopped

1 T Worcestershire Sauce

1-2 tsps. mustard (whatever kind you have on hand)

1 T brown sugar

1 T Siracha ketchup or hot sauce (use plain ketchup if you don’t like the heat)

Black pepper to taste

4 strips bacon

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet*, saute onions until translucent (3-4 minutes). Add pork and beans and stir in other ingredients except bacon. Lay the bacon strips on top of the beans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until bacon is done and beans are bubbling. The great thing about using cast iron is that you can put the pan on the grill if you’re cooking outside.

These tasty beans will complement all of those 4th of July hamburgers, hot dogs and ribs.

*In my opinion, if you can only have one piece of cast iron in your kitchen, the 10-inch skillet is the one you want.

Thanks for reading. We’ll be back next week with more cocktails, inspiration and accompaniments. If a friend sent you this post, click here to sign up for your own copy.