For even more confirmation that summer is quickly approaching, last weekend it was in the 80's and this weekend is predicted to be in the mid to high 70's. Yay! I can think of no other place than SF and the beach than I would rather be soaking up this lovely sunshine. (Thank goodness, that's the plan.)
Alright I'll admit it, lately I've been having a small addiction to grenadine. Random. Completely! Especially since I haven't touched the stuff since I was last swimming at my neighbor Genny's pool, and that was back when I was in elementary school. Side note. All I remember from those summer pool days was that her dad had one of those hilarious signs that read "Welcome to our ool. Notice there's no "P" in it. Let's keep it that way." Every time I would see it on her back porch I was convinced that when I grew up, I too would be that sophisticated to have a sign that was not only informative, but hilarious too. Awww the humor of a third grader. Thank goodness my sense of humor hasn't matured much since then either, it still cracks me up.
I have been craving grenadine so much that I have been foregoing my usual happy hour wine for a "Lauren" temple. (Yes, our fav bartender even deemed me my own drink, in case your curious -- club soda, some grenadine, and a lime.) It is so refreshing and for some odd reason, more appealing than wine to me. (Gasp! And no Momma J, I'm not prego, it's just a phase.) So, with my love of grenadine in mind, I thought this Foodie Friday I would feature a tri-flavor lemonade popsicle, doesn't get much better than that.
Lemonade Stand Popsicles
Lemonade Base Recipe
1 cup sugar
1 cup room temperature water
3 cups cold water
1 cup lemon juice
For Pink Lemonade
3 teaspoons grenadine
For Passion Tea Lemonade
4 Tazo Passion tea bags
3 to 4 cups boiling water
Create simple syrup: Combine the sugar and water in a small
saucepan and place the saucepan over medium heat. Stir the mixture occasionally
to help it dissolve, if necessary, then remove the saucepan from the heat when
the sugar has completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.
Pour the lemon juice (either fresh squeezed or store bought
is fine) into a pitcher. Dilute the lemonade with the cold water, then add the
simple syrup and stir thoroughly to combine.
Create additional batches of the basic lemonade for the
other flavors. To create pink lemonade, add the grenadine and stir thoroughly
to combine. To create the Passion tea lemonade, steep the tea bags in the
boiling water. If you’d prefer a stronger Passion flavor, use a lower amount of
water, as the lemonade will dilute it (I generally use, and recommend, only
three cups for a more concentrated flavor). Set the tea aside to cool, then
combine with the base lemonade recipe.
To assemble the popsicles, arrange a line of small paper
cups in a line and pour in the desired amount of lemonade. To create even,
equal sections as shown, I used a 1/4 cup measuring spoon to measure out the
liquid. When all the cups are filled with their first flavor layer, carefully
transfer them to the freezer and let them set for about 30 minutes or until almost
solid through – soft enough to insert the stick, but firm enough to support it.
Insert the popsicle stick part way through the first layer (but not clean
through to the bottom of the cup). Transfer the cups back to the freezer to
allow the first layer to set completely.
Continue to add additional layers of the various flavors as
desired, ensuring each layer is allowed to be frozen through before continuing.
If the layer isn’t completely set, you may get a little bleeding between the
layers rather than a crisp line (which you may prefer!). Stop creating layers
once the cup is about 3/4 of the way full to avoid any accidental overflow. After
the last layer is frozen, serve when ready by ripping open the paper cup.
Don't those sound delicious! And the ombre effect seems like a happy coincidence. Delicious and trendy, bonus.
Do you have any favorite childhood summer memories? Any favorite refreshing mocktails that you enjoy during these hot summer-like evenings? What about your plans for this weekend, spill.
Bon Appetit and Happy Weekend
xo,
L
