Who says popsicles are just for kids? Not me! I dabble in the art of ice pop making year-round, but come summertime, my friends and family tell me I'm a force to be reckoned with. As soon as the air ceases to drop below 70 degrees or so, no liquid is exempt from the freezer.
Over the years, I've built up quite the collection of popsicle molds - a girl needs options. People always ask me where I get my molds. Some I've purchased online from Amazon, some I've received as gifts (friends, you know me so well), but most are ones that I've spotted in supermarkets and dollar stores over the years.
Keep your eyes peeled for seasonal end caps. When summer draws near, you'll find all sorts of fun props and tools, including popsicle molds. If I see a popsicle mold for a dollar or two or three, I'll pick up a couple. Not only is it fun to have a variety of shapes and sizes of molds at home to choose from, it also allows you to make more at once!
Freezer too crowded to hold six different varieties of ice pops in their molds at once? No problem. Start by lining up squares (they don't have to be perfect) of wax paper that are large enough to wrap individual ice pops. When the pops are frozen solid, remove the pops from the molds, and then wrap each one in wax paper. Slide the individually wrapped molds into a gallon-sized freezer bag, and then put that back into the freezer.
I tend to have at least one bag of "kid popsicles" and one bag of "adult popsicles" in the freezer at all times during the summer. Kid popsicles are really just anybody popsicles. And as I'm sure you can guess, the adult ones are boozy! I love trying new boozy combinations, and have used everything from beer to wine to tequila to rum.
Today, I took the flavors and look of a classic cocktail (the Tequila Sunrise) and transformed them into a cocktail on a stick. They are good. No, they are beyond good - they are FANTASTIC! It takes a little more effort to make these than just pouring and freezing since you want to form (muddled) layers, but it's only an extra 5 minutes here and there during the freezing process. Totally worth it.
So adults, kick back and enjoy. And yes, you could make Virgin Tequila Sunrise Ice Pops by leaving out the tequila in the layers. But don't the kids have enough options already?
p.s. - Dollar stores are also great places to pick up large packs of wooden popsicle sticks (often labeled wooden craft sticks) and wax paper for a steal!
It's no secret we love a good popsicle around here. Our homemade green monster popsicles and chocolate malt pudding pops are proof of that!