Popsicles are perfect for summer heat

The heat of summer is upon my part of the country, hitting over 100°f heat index today. Now I don't have kids at home anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't have some popsicles in my freezer to cool me off on this hot day. One problem I have with buying the frozen treats at the store is that by the time I drive home in this heat, they have started to melt and have become a little messy. Usually in the summer, I keep a Styrofoam cooler in the trunk of my car for those types of items purchased at the store, but I haven't put the cooler in the trunk yet and I don't want to drive all the way to town just for popsicles. Another reason is that I just don't want all of that sugar that I get in store-bought popsicles.

My solution is to make my own. I can always find fruit juice in my pantry and that is the perfect thing to use to make popsicles, especially if you have 100% fruit juice. Of course, if you don't mind the sugar, you can use lemonade or Kool-Aid. No matter what concoction you use, one thing you have to be aware of is the sugar content and how it relates to freezing. Think about how hard ice cubes are. They have no sugar in them and are hard as a rock.

Store-bought popsicles are a little softer because they have some sugar added to them. So, if you find that the popsicles that you made at home are too hard, then they didn't have enough sugar in them. If they are too soft, you made have added too much. Either way, it's a good way to cool off.

Carol

By they way, Popsicle is a trademark held by the Unilever company. No infringement intended.