Friday, July 16, 2010

Platonic summer pleasures

Having endured a spate of 95-103 degree heat that nearly floored me, I have added a few new weapons to my arsenal of heat survival methods.
As noted in the previous blog, I 've been experimenting with homemade popsicles. I had given one of my two sets of popsicle molds to Jean and her sons, who helped install a new air conditioner at my home, now a source of profound respite. On my way home from Seattle, I was fortunate to locate an exact popsicle mold duplicate in the $2 bin at a Rite Aid.
Discoveries: DEA Harissa purchased in the tube at the French Market, is incendiary and best used in dibs and dabs, but worth the burn. The name alone should have been a clue. However, as I have previously discovered, a few red pepper flakes or some Frank's Red Hot are useful in battling warm weather, as those gustatory types in Louisiana will tell you in a hot minute. There's a reason other southern folk, in this case East Indians, eat vindaloo.
Also, it is possible to make homemade fudgesicles. I took good undutched dark cocoa powder, a can of evaporated milk, erythritol, cornstarch, vanilla and a little milk and stirred up a cooked chocolate pudding with a few low-fat white chocolate Guittard chips tossed in at the last second. Then I froze it in the replacement popsicle molds. Give it at least 24 hours in the freezer. It's not icy, and it is refreshing, an acceptable substitute for a noisy ice cream truck's offerings.

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Pause that refreshes

Pause that refreshes
taken at Trout Lake Arts Fest