Next up: Kiwi and watermelon. I saw photographs of this and thought, oh, pretty! I’m going to skip straight to the resulting photo:

3rd Photos for Uploading · More Info

Oh, pretty! Right? Well… ripe fruit is key here. I didn’t let my kiwi ripen. They were like little rocks. I added simple syrup and lime. Why? Because I’d read it in a recipe on the internet. And blended like there was no tomorrow. Poured it in the mold, let it freeze for 2 hours. Then I blended the watermelon, which was very ripe (and gives that very red color) with a bit of simple syrup. And because I’d seen photos of lovely watermelon pops with chunks of whole watermelon, I painstakingly diced teeny tiny Martha Stewart perfectsquares and tossed those in as well. Let me tell you, unripe kiwi, even frozen, is quite tart. Add lime juice, and it is downright sour. We made faces that would scare the most hardened of criminals. When we finally got to the watermelon (and I couldn’t taste the chunks, nor could I detect them visually) it was like walking into air conditioning after a day in the Sahara. A side note: Don’t wear a white shirt when eating fruit pops. I think an explanation is not needed here.

So, I had some homemade Greek yogurt in the fridge, some black cherries, and some blueberries. Let’s try that, shall we? Again, rather then follow a recipe, I just winged it, tasting as I went. You would too after the kiwi fiasco. I let blueberries macerate overnight with sugar. Blended them into submission and poured it into the tips of my molds. Except it was more than the tips. A lot more. Eh. 2 hours in the freezer later, I mixed honey and a smidgeon of vanilla into my homemade Greek yogurt (any yogurt would have been fine) and spooned that on top of the blueberry. And put the mold back into the freezer. And then I pulled it right back out and added the blended black cherries, because I thought it would be pretty, all mixed up. You’re still not buying that, are you? But it was pretty. I have to admit, the straight blueberry tip was strong, but still, it was all quite good. I loved the addition of yogurt with the black cherries.

3rd Photos for Uploading · More Info

more to follow...

Next up… Granny Smith apples. Because I had too many. I peeled mine, added enough simple syrup with a squeeze or three of lime, more water because I needed it for blending, and froze. This was the thickest mixture to date. They tasted like fresh apple cider! We both thought this was the best of the bunch thus far.

3rd Photos for Uploading · More Info

By now you’re thinking 2MD and her husband must stay all hopped up on sugar highs. And you’d be right.

As it turns out, homemade fruit pops are a fantastic middle-of-a-hot-summer-day treat. Perfect for cooling off after working in the garden, or slurping on the back patio, cold fruit juice dribbling down your chin.

Warning… Gentle ‘it’s good for you lecture’: According to the NIH, people don’t eat anywhere near 5-13 servings of fruit per day. Fruit has all kinds of magical health benefits. Fruit is rich in fiber and low in sodium, fats, and calories, and many are chockfull of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and all kinds of wonderful things. Fruit can possibly help prevent heart disease, cancer, diabetes, distemper, hangnails, and melancholia. Ok, I made up the last 3. But I don’t have any of those 3, so it could be true.

Back to the popsicles. Next up, dreamsicles. Or my version of. I squeezed the juice of a few oranges and added a bit of pulp and simple syrup, and dropped dollops of honey-sweetened yogurt (blended with a bit of heavy cream for fun). Very refreshing!

3rd Photos for Uploading · More Info

Another sidebar: After the first popsicles, I decided a pretty backdrop was needed, so I ran all over the back yard, arm outstretched holding a popsicle, often in my jammies (because of Covid, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it) and my Pentax. Why I thought it’d be easier to take a one-handed photo with a heavy Pentax, operating the zoom and focus one-handed as opposed to just snapping with my phone camera, I dunno. See above where it says our home has no shortage of fruits.

Onward! An ‘adult’ popsicle was in order for a Friday before-dinner treat. I had peaches, and what goes better with peaches than bourbon? Well, a lot of things, but that’s beside the point. But my peaches were rocks. Much like the kiwi, and I didn’t want to repeat that fiasco. Luckily, I have an oven (don’t make that fake shocked face). I popped the peaches in the oven and roasted until they were somewhat caramelized and nicely tender (20 minutes or so at 350 F). After a cool-down, I blended (skin on) with simple syrup and bourbon. Very little bourbon. Still, it was discernable, and quite good! I’m very glad I left the skins on.

3rd Photos for Uploading · More Info

Yep, still more to follow...

Wow, 2MD!!!

I just made some watermelon popsicles and am waiting for them to freeze before posting pics. It's a sugar syrup with mint and lemon juice and lemon rind. Strain out the mint leaves and lemon peel, puree the watermelon with the syrup and freeze.

2MD mentioned Paletas, and that's what my popsicles are called.....Watermelon Lemon ade Paleta. They don't have the chunks of fruit though everything is whizzed in the blender. But it uses fresh fruit, so that's why the name, vs popsicle.

I'm so tired of these seedless watermelons. I long for the real ones with big black seeds, they had flavour!!! Which is why, when I found this recipe, I put all the remaining watermelon into it.

I'll come back and post a pic.

I do make fudgesicles, so these popsicles will make a nice change.

Just in time! Yay! Jas, I don't like the seedless because they have seeds, those little white ones and I don't like eating them. DH will, but I won't Besides, there's always the watermelon growing in the tummy threat to be concerned about ; ) LOL!

Can't wait to see your watermelon mint lemon pops!

Ummm… did you or someone who resembles you have a pic of, and a recipe for... fudgesicles? Hmmm? Am I mistaken? If not, care to share? I know this is a fruit pop thread, but straying is most welcome!

Love popsicles! I have a couple of sets of molds too, but currently no room in my freezer 😟

Amazon.com: Helistar Popsicle Molds 6 Pieces Silicone Ice Pop Molds BPA Free Pop · More Info

These are the molds I purchased... LINK

I'm still waiting for that fudgesicle recipe Jas : ) When you've time, of course.

Carolb, tell me about it. I used up my mini cube tray space (which I use I our morning fruit smoothies) to make the pops, and store them.

Fudgesicles

2 tsp cornstarch

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/3 cups cream (I use half and half)

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

Whisk cornstarch with 2 tbsp of the milk in a saucepan until smooth. Whisk in remaining milk, cream, sugar and cocoa.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat stirring constantly, being careful that it doesn't boil over. Reduce to medium and cook 1 minute making sure sugar and cocoa is fully dissolved.

Remove from heat, add vanilla. Pour into a measuring cup and pour into popsicle molds. Freeze 6 hours.

: ) Thank you so much Jasdip!

Well, I've been sitting here for a while, raptly looking at all the gorgeous photos--I may have even drooled a bit out the side of my mouth.

2Many, you wrote "When you don’t add enough simple syrup, and the fruit is quite watery… you get ice. I prefer a popsicle I can bite into. I cannot bite ice." I'm the same way and whenever I made popsicles, I must have used the WRONG recipe b/c I got frozen solid flavored ice. I don't want flavored ice. I want something kinda on the creamy side!

Jasdip, ohhhhhhh I loves me a good fudgesicle! Thanks for the recipe! Looks creamy!!!! I don't have popsicle molds (donated them decades ago after too many popsicles that were nothing more than flavored frozen ice conglomerations), but I do have the old standby, paper cups and popsicle sticks (used for craft projects, not popsicles).

Sooz, those apple pops were far from ice... but that's because I had to add enough simple syrup to be able to blend them! You might try those. I found that straining made them too icy, and the fiber gives more flavor anyway.

That photo above with the molds I bought? Shows clear pops with big chunks of stuff in them? Not for me. Looks like ice with fruit in it. That's not a Popsicle!

Wow! Wanna be my supplier?

But seriously, I think my pears are doomed. ;) Bwahaha! I love the idea of apple cider pops, too, and I figure if apple works, so will pear. ;)

I got some 2% Greek yoghurt today, intending to see if I can get it to not turn into a total ice block in the new warm freezer. Good thing the popsicle mold is still more than half full!

I didn't know that about simple syrup keeping them from being ice, but I rarely put sugar in at all. So is that the difference between a real Popsicle texture and more like a Creamsicle?

Next up on my list though was parsley. I thought it would be refreshing. :)

Sure, but I don't deliver. You have to pick it up. And I don't take cash, checks, or money orders. Only sourdough bread ; )

I think the more fiber something has in it, the softer the texture, too. The apples turned brown while freezing, despite lemon juice, but as with something like apples, the flavor was good, and they were thicker in texture, but not rock ice hard, LOL!

The mint in the lemonade pops.. that was primarily simple syrup, ratio of 1:1, and from the photo, you can see, it's pretty slushy-wet, to the point that the tips didn't all come out.

One oddball flavor I found online that sounded good was tomato water pops, LINK HERE. Although I'd probably infuse the basil - after the rose petal debacle! I mean, there's pretty to look at, and there's pretty to look at but stuff sticks in your teeth! LOL! Ingredients are easy to find except maybe the basil, and I feel that could be left out. If I liked bloody mary's, there's one for that, but I don't really care for them.

For me, the popsicle is from water, fruit, and a sweetener of some kind. My definition of an icecream-sicle would have yogurt, or cream, or some dairy product or coconut milk. Which makes the orange and yogurt sicles above a cross between the two, as I didn't really mix them. And that was pretty good. But those are my definitions only. Officially, I've no idea!

I'd think a pear pop would be seriously good and refreshing. So similar to the apple in fiber, too.

Well, you've made me put on my thinking cap, plllog! And that's what you're good at, not me! Ok, Popsicles...
So, ice is just water. That's easy. Much harder than the typical Popsicle, which you can take bites from.

Adding a higher fiber fruit also lowers the freezing point, so it would be a bit softer due to the bits of fiber in it.

But take a fruit like watermelon, high water content, and don't add sugar, it's gonna freeze hard, I'd think. Especially if you strain it. Like I did with the melon.

And, from Science.com: Sugar particles are able to dissolve only in a liquid solvent and won't dissolve when the solvent is in a solid state. Therefore, adding sugar to water lowers the chemical potential of the solution, which also lowers its freezing point.

Aha! I knew I was on to something! So yes, more simple syrup lowers the freezing point, thus making a softer to eat popsicle : )

Wow, you ran with this one girlfriend. 😂

Keep a record. I did not, but have a few recipes I like. Does make sense that a bit of fat/sugar will keep it from being ice cubes. Spa water cubes. Too icy and hard. I can't do extra sugars but even nut milks have enough fat to lessen the hard ice cube outcome.

I still have not run across my trays or even one of them. Using my silicone hockey puck tray from making Reese cups. I think mine were from a PotteryBarn outlet years ago.

For sweet/savory try gazpacho. I prefer a mince gazpacho fresh. But in a pop I puree with a bit of yogurt.

Still looking for the best fudgesicle recipe. Serious eats is good but nice to see another recipe to try.

When I started making popsicles and ice cream sandies a few years ago it was all about big bbq's with so many guests that pie and most desserts involved forks and plates.

2MD. You will love this thread from EGullet. I give them credit for inspiration. Linky, HERE. It starts 2009 but recent years have perfected.

Most will find this gross...but I had a veg ginger... (kale/ginger/beet/radish/yogurt/tomato/peach/watermelon/cilantro) pop.

Ha! Well, that's me Sleevendog… I tend to run with things at times! Holy Cow, and Thank You! I checked out the EGullet link, and I'm utterly transfixed! Cucumber, lime, and basil???? Could I be dreaming? Sounds perfect for me! And the graham cracker crust... DH would love that! They just keep going. And I thought the tomato water with basil sounded good.

I do have coconut milk, which I've yet to try. I can see how just a bit of yogurt blended with gazpacho would be refreshing, too...

I gotta go back to that link... I'm in awe.

LOL! Ok, you did lose me at the kale and beet and radish, but the rest, yeah, that'd be good. Gotta love ginger. You've always been more veg forward though, and yes, that's a compliment.

Oh, now I see Vietnamese coffee pops on the EGullet forum, and it's a David Lebovitz recipe too. I could die happy once I make those...

Cool!! Thank-you for doing the science.

I think I bought pears for a particular reason, but I can't fathom what it was! So I'll put them in the fruit bowl and see if I can get them to sweet up a bit.

I like the color of the apple pop. It may be oxidation, but it has the color of apple pie so it looks appealing. :)

When I said "Creamsicle" I just meant texture. I'm going by summer camp memories, here, but I remember popsicles as sucking fruity ice, creamsicles as having a kind of flaky-ice texture inside (the outside is popsicle the inside is ice cream) but soft to bite, and push-ups (sherbet) as the most longed for favorite to be adored on rare days, with no ice texture at all (because they were sherbet). Fudgesciles had the same icy-flaky interior as creamsicles, but I don't remember getting them at camp (once a week we had something frozen after swim).

The icy yoghurt pops are biteable at 15° F. I'm thinking of raising it to 20° F, however, when I make the next ice cream or yoghurt. The chocolate was always less hard than other flavors. W hen you get all the work done at your house, you can just get a Craig's List freezer for your popsicle shop and have warmer, less icy, pops. :)

So, you don't grow basil? That's one of the few things I do grow. Occasionally, a pest gets it, but most of the time it just sits around happy. A couple of hours of sun and a lot of shade.

Your pops are beautiful!!! I will have to come back later to read the entire post, but for some reason it just popped into my head to make either kamikaze, margarita, or white russian pops! There's a theme there somewhere... :)

ETA: jasdip, I've been using a fudgesicle recipe I got on-line that's pretty good and it uses water! no milk or cream.

Ok, see? Now we're talking party_music! Be careful with your alcohol content. There are recipes online to give an idea of how much to use.

I see now I've only just begun 😋

Plllog, I didn't see your last post, and I'm on my cell now, stabbing with one finger (cut my thumb), so this will be brief... I have basil but not everyone does ; )

One of my favorites is cantaloupe, but they are not in season yet. When they are, you should try them.

.....aaaaand tonight, I just finished up making Jasdip's fudgesicles! They'll be done in time for breakfast tomorrow! 2Many, I may have to try a recipe or two of yours! Great link, SD!!! Plllog, let us know how the parsley one turns out!

Loves all the pics. Must make some. It's hot and sunny here, plllog! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Very Interesting post.

2many your pictures are gorgeous. Popsicles match the blended back ground perfect. The chair back ground with the Apple pop reminds me of our kitchen eating area chairs.

Jaspid thanks for your Idea and recipe for fudgesicles. We set on front porch lots in late afternoon or evening with something cold to drink and pass time. Now we will have a new treat to set with.

Plllog, I think of popsicles and ice-creamsicles (aka creamsicles) as a very simplified definition:

Popsicles are water-based

Creamsicles are milk-based.

Anything that falls in between, such as the orange-yogurt pops I made, where I didn't blend, but rather let the orange be like a popsicle, and the yogurt like a creamsicle as being something in and of their own : )

I keep our freezer at 0-1 F and find ice creams and popsicles easy to eat (bite).. the ice cream sometimes needs to sit on the counter 5 or 10 minutes so my weakling arms/hands can scoop it, but DH has no issues : ) It's softer in the bowl by the time we sit to eat it. But then, I use full fat heavy cream, too, LOL

Lars, in the original post, I did make cantaloupe and strawberry : ) They were delicious! Cantaloupe sorbet is also a favorite here : )

Sooz, you know I'm anticipating photos!

Thank you Islay and Shirl : )

Our porch is well-used... morning, afternoon, early evening, late evening... anytime is a good time!

I somehow missed the description of canteloupe, and I was not aware that cantaloupe was already in season! I've already gone to the grocery store today, and so I won't be going back for another week. I did not really spend much time in the fruit section. I guess I need to go back to L.A. to harvest some white sapote, which I think would be good for sorbet or popsicles. I'm getting quite a lot of them now and not sure what to do with them. I've told Kevin to pick them when they are ripe and put them straight into the freezer if he doesn't eat them, as they do not keep well once picked.

I also have a cherimoya tree, but I'm not getting much fruit from it this year because I was not around when it was flowering and needed to be hand-pollinated. However, it is possible to find cherimoya at the farmers' markets, especially the one in Hollywood, but they can be expensive. A lot of them are grown in Santa Barbara County. To me, they taste like vanilla custard, and I often make them into sorbet.

Interesting! My freezer is at -2° F and homemade, full fat ice cream is hard has rock, hence the warmer freezer. :)

I don't disagree with your definitions, except that a real Creamsicle is vanilla ice cream wrapped with orange popsicle. They're fab together. :) It sounds like your yoghurt is a creamsicle texture. :)

The parsley has to wait for me to have free molds, or buy more. :) The question is the simple syrup. I'm not sure I want all that sugar.

Using what I had, and necessity being the mother of invention and all that, I used little paper cups for the fudgesicles...recipe from Jasdip, as posted above. They are lovely little things, and DH has already had two! I used Droste cocoa powder. Very slightly icy, deliciously creamy, that little nugget of goodness! All that a fudgesicle should be!

Lars, no problem... you know I got very gabby, so it was easy to miss : ) I think cantaloupe is in season now for your location (late June, I've read). I had to google cherimoya, as we don't have it here. It sounds like the perfect fruit to just eat as is, and to make a sorbet or fruit popsicle. How incredibly fantastic to me there is a fruit that tastes like vanilla custard! Must be heavenly : )

Plllog, I thought it strange that your ice cream was so hard. Was it a cooked custard? I find those tend to be softer for some reason, and Lars' strawberry ice cream is also a nice scoop-able texture in our 1 F freezer, and it's not a cooked custard, but does have full fat cream. Regardless, you have the perfect ice cream freezer now, so it doesn't really matter : ) For your sugar, you could sub honey - I did that with the yogurt. Personally, I can't, or won't, eat or drink artificial sweeteners, but some people tolerate them. There's also Stevia (which I also can't use, I dislike the taste). Me, I'd go for honey, but we all have our personal preferences is taste ; )

Sooz, I knew I could count on you! And you taught us one can use much of anything as a mold, too! And what a great description - and how cute! They look nicely chocolaty : ) I'm going to have to make those... Thanks to Jasdip for sharing her recipe : )

I've yet to try the cucumber - basil pop - and I forgot to add cucumber to my grocery list so it'll have to wait until next week. Besides, my basil is still pretty tiny yet. Took 3 attempts to grow it, thanks to the basil-hungry slugs.

Sooz I'm so glad you and your DH like the fudgesicles! I Love your little pops!!

I'm finally getting around to eating my watermelon/lemon/mint popsicle. It's very good.

Jas, I'd not thought to add mint or lemon to watermelon. That sounds very refreshing! The size of your molds is only a little smaller than mine... I do like the smaller ones, as they are great when you want only a little snack : )

I'm thinking you have a couple flavors in your freezer... the chocolate and the watermelon. Be right over...

Jasdip, your recipe is a keeper!

We used to make a great watermelon and mint salad--the popsicle sounds even better!

2Many, yes the ice cream was cooked custard. I've tried making Philadelphia and didn't like it. Keeping the ice cream in insulated ice cream containers help, but even kept in the door, it's not scoopable. Surprisingly, the watermelon sorbet I made last year was sort of scoopable, like the superdedooper chocolate ice cream, but regular ice cream wasn't.

I don't mind chemical sweetener, or xylitol or sorbitol in things that are about not sugaring your teeth, like soda, gum or mints. I really hate sugar in most beverages (exceptions are the natural sugar in juice or milk, and the simple syrup in cocktails (like twice a year)). If I want something sweet, I'll have water--or diet soda--and a cookie, rather than a regular soda. Similarly, I don't like how sugar negates the freshness of a mint.

When I wasn't sure about the simple syrup with the parsley, I just meant I wasn't imagining it sweet, and wonder how much it's necessary for the texture. I don't usually add sugar to popsicles or frozen yoghurt. You've taught me that that's the iciness not having the simple syrup (a different kind of hardness than the too cold ice cream, though also too cold when in the main freezer). I'm not sure sweet parsley would taste good. At least mint and sugar taste good together even if it leaves my mouth tasting furry.

Parsley might be too strong on its own. I was thinking of putting it with the end of the cantaloupe, but forgot and severed the melon for dinner last night. It was from my farm box, and needed a few days in the paper bag, but was perfect and ripe to the skin. So Lars should have a good cantaloupe soon. :) Maybe I should sacrifice a pear to the parsley. Or tomatoes. That might be awesome!

I've now obtained a second scoopy container. It's an unappealing red, but I'll deal. :) I've also order a big box of popsicle molds with a couple of stands. Once frozen I can stack them any old way in the new cooler. ;)

And I ordered these as a birthday present for a warped friend: :)

Red : ) Was it this one? That's the one (came in a pack of 2) I have. Fits nicely in the fridge door.

Gotta say, I'm diggin' your warped friend... and I think the one on the far right strongly resembles me, right about now. Fuchsia, and rather tilty-headed, lol! I love those!

LOL, I'm sure your friend will love those Plllog!!! They're very cool!

Until you mentioned the watermelon salad, I completely forgot about that!!! That's what I did more often than not with the tasteless watermelons of today. Sliced red onion, or Spanish, minced basil or mint, and balsamic vinegar. Delicious! I'd sometimes put quinoa in it as well.

Sooz, that's terrific!

All those popsicle/creamsicle/fudgesicles look so good! I am going to have to get some molds so if it ever warms up again I can make some. I mean, it's almost July. In Alabama. Temperatures should be more than lower 70-something by now!!

Yes! To the red. I've had a pretty green one for years. So much easier to scoop than round pints. And the pints break if you fumble them.

The flat parsley was missing from my farm box (most weeks something's missing, but you just mark it on your list online and they give you credit automatically), and my curly parsley bush is having a snit, so it'll have to wait. I wonder if green leaf lettuce would make a good ice pop? They gave me a HUGE head of that!

These look so delicious. I keep thinking how I haven’t yet made grapefruit sorbet.

Jasdip, others — how would someone (like me!) make a malted chocolate ‘sickle? Or a layered one?

I’m thinking of Northeastern US and Canadian maritime flavors inspired by summer scents when near islands and their hot gneissic and granite ledges and woods. Checkerberry (Gualtheria) AKA winterberry and teaberry; wild strawberry, juniper, bay, spruce, salt spray, wild rose, fern.

Minutemaid used to make a frozen lime and frozen tangerine. These were delicious together and might make a good popsicle.

Plllog, those molds are hilarious-- & tasty, too!

Petalique, I used to love the Minutemaid Frozen Tangerine Concentrate! I would eat it out of the container by the spoonful.

My new individual molds came and I made the green bean popsicles a few days ago. They're fab! Green beans are a fruit, after all.

I'm the only one eating the popsicles. When I want something frozen, it's usually the freeze I'm looking for, not sugar, so I didn't make any invert sugar or simple syrup.

I was just winging it, and didn't measure, but I think I had about a qua of a pound of green beans after cleaning, maybe a pint loose, and I'm guessing about 36 mint leaves on the stem. Into the Vita-Mix. It was clear that after a quick chop I was going to need more liquid just to run the blender before enough was released from the beans. At this point it tasted really good, with the flavors of both the mint and the beans playing well together, and I didn't want to change the proportions. Water sounded wrong and juice sounded too sweet, until I bethought me of a small bottle of unsweetened pomegranate juice lurking in the back of the fridge--it's less sweet than the raw beans. Maybe a third to half a cup of that. Not enough to change the color or flavor, but added a lot of depth of flavor to the minty green beanness, and maybe a hint of an idea of sweetness, mostly from the latent bitterness. When I checked it at the pulpy sludge state it was so delicious I didn't press my luck and go on to liquefy.

The only tall space I had to stand up the new molds for freezing was the top shelf of the main freezer right in front of the air vent. That's often the coldest place. I think the fiber and pulpiness kept it from getting to that overhard icy place we were talking about. Even right out of the main freezer it was nicely biteable, or suckable, without being drippy melty. I have since moved them to the warmer, ice cream chiller for space management and so I'd have the tall space available for other popsicles. but haven't had one at the warmer temp.

As to the general outcome, it's just as delicious as before it was frozen, with that lovely freeziness added. The bottom of the mold had some minty water separated out. I think it was more than the residual water that might have been left on the ingredients from cleaning, but probably separated out from the pulp. It's pleasant, though without it the pulpy part a bit too pulpy and needed more chewing than a popsicle should. Next time, I'll make it liquidier. There will definitely be a next time. I don't know what mad faerie prompted me to make green bean popsicles, but they're really good!

Your post made me smile. How could green beans even cross someone's mind to make into popsicles??? LOL I love your "minty green beanness"!

I'm so glad the flavour worked out for you Plllog; you're braver than me!

I finally finished my previous batch of watermelon/lemon/mint popsicles, so I had my mold empty to make a new batch today.

I picked up some "spearmint" plants from Freecycle, the ground was hard, so they're bare-roots. My spearmint plant that I bought earlier is struggling. The leaves on my new plant are completely different......longer, narrower and sharper point. I assume they're Peppermint. I'll still use it where I use mint, but spearmint is my preference. I'm assuming I'll just use less amount of the peppermint, so not to overwhelm the dish.

I’ve thought about the how and why and remembered: have you ever eaten a frozen green bean? I didn't have it in mind, Just thought of the too many beans I had that needed using. But my mother used to use a lot of frozen vegetables before world commerce defeated seasons. I like green beans. And used to snag one or two frozen ones if they were just sitting there waiting to be dinner. So frozen green bean is a flavor I've known and liked of old. I didn't blanch for the pops, however. :)

2Many has changed my life! I'm having SO much fun making weird ice pops!

Today was apricot and almond butter. Six skin on apricots, slice just enough to blend well. A couple of heaping spoonsful of leftover chunky almond butter. Enough warm water to make it thin enough to go through a funnel. Vita-Mixed to a well aerated uniformly liquified ....liquid.

The color is light almond butter (go away ye whispering loudly "cardboard"). The flavor is lightly apricot (i.e., not whap you in the face--they were ripe but too early in the season to have tons of flavor which is how they became popsicles to begin with). The texture is kind of creamy for ice, due to the almond butter.

Very nice very cold snack. :) Very happy me.

Happy me, after many delays, my popsicle molds finally got here. My first foray... Watermelon juice and a handful of strawberries whipped in the blender with just a tablespoon or so of heavy cream then I put pieces of strawberries in the molds before adding the mixture. They are very sweet, if I use watermelon again I will have to add some lemon juice. But the creamy texture just screams "Dessert!"

Edie, those look scrumptious!

My latest is spinach pear and a splash of water to get the blender going. I put the rest of the spinach in to use it up, which was a mistake. They still taste good, but the pear is a little muted.

I'm so grateful to 2Many! I would never have branched out into these awesome popsicles without this thread.

Oh, Edie, try the watermelon with blueberries. I did it with sherbet last year. Awesome.

I like the idea of creamy popsicles.

I bought another watermelon hoping it will be nice and red with flavour. Nope. So I made another batch of watermelon sicles. My recipe uses sugar syrup with lemon juice and zest and mint. It's very refreshing.

I'm thinking my next foray into making them will be lemon-mint. I have a jar of mint-infused simple syrup in the fridge so if I grate lemon peel into it and mix with the juice from the lemons should taste pretty good when our temps start heading back into the 90's with 95% humidity. Ugh. But I'm wondering if it would freeze too hard, should I add maybe just a splash of vodka to keep it from being a solid lump of ice?

plllog, your spinach pear treats sound good. And so healthy! If I can ever get my hands on some pears I will have to try that. And the watermelon/blueberry. Thank you for the suggestions!

Thanks, Edie! Go gently with the booze. Opposite of ice cream, popsicles are better too cold/hard than too soft. If you have fridge room, you can freeze a little tester before you do the rest.

OK I'll leave out the vodka. I do want them hard enough to not melt as soon as they come out of the molds! Thanks for the heads-up.