the popsicle project | week 10: gummy beers

this week's popsicle comes by way of montauk. ana lee and i took one last trek to visit montuak mike out in the hamptons (more specifically montauk. if you haven't heard of it, it's where jim carey and rose go in the movie eternal sunshine of the spotless mind) before summer slips away (insert tears here), and i amateur-houred in and forgot my popsicle molds. ugh. I HAD ONE JOB.

but never fear, master of improvising is here. made some tasty treats in ice trays!


what's in it/ingredients:

• 1 vodka soaked gummy bears
• 1 part montuak brewing summer ale
• 1 part orange juice (or lemonade)

prep time: ?
soooooooooo not sure exactly about prep time for this one. because we didnt make the gummy bears. they were left over from a bachelorette party that had rented montauk mike's place the weekend before. despite what mamas n papas have been saying for eons, we took candy from a stranger. slightly sketchy, but they were DELISH. unlike most vodka gummy bears, these ones didnt actually taste of vodka, nor did they trigger the BLEH face you usually make when taking shots.

i assume the gummy bear vodka bath takes some time, but we actually didn't make that part, and the pouring beer and orange juice part took 3 second, so.... use your best judgement i guess?


ta da!:

that's a montuak tie dye sunset in the background!

rating: ***
this actually worked really well in ice cube form - given they were a little too big to eat in one bite, they were pretty great for nibbling. your hands would just get really sticky. but the combination of tart shandy and then a flavor surprise of the gummy bears was killer, although i will give the gummy bear MVP for this one!

the popsicle project | week 9: POGsicle

this week's popsicle comes to you allllllll the way from hawaii. for those of you doing math, that's an 11 hour flight from new york. for those of you keeping track, YES I BROUGHT POPSICLE MOLDS TO HAWAII. that's what we call dedication. or being ocd, but whatever.

katie liz and i did a 3 amigos trip to maui (following carolyn's wedding in oahu which was beautiful!), and in between swimming with turtles and dolphins, wading in lava rock tide pools, and chasing waterfalls, we made some popsicles.

what's in it/ingredients:

• 3 parts pog*
• 1 part coconut vodka

if yall dont know what POG is, it's a hawaiian drink mixed of passionfruit, orange, and guava juices (hence P.O.G.) and it is deeeeeeelicious. all we drank in hawaii was pog. who needs water when you have pog? it looks like this in gallon form:

and not to be confused with pog the game (although folklore/wikipedia points out that pog the game originated in hawaii and was inspired by the cardboard caps in the pog drinks?!). here's a pog pog for good measure/repetition: 

prep time: 9 seconds
i've come to realize this "prep time" section is pretty useless, since for most of them i didnt actually keep track and am just making it up. but either way, this one was pretty straight forward pour and mix so you should definitely be able to do this in under 10 seconds.

ta da!:

rating: ***
this one should actually only get 2 stars, as it was overly sweet, but since i lugged popsicle molds all the way from new york to hawaii, and it is so perfectly hawaii themed, i'm giving it an extra star. katie actually made the cocktail version of this and it was delicious, but something happened when the gallon of POG got into my hands and it was extremely sweet in popsicle form. but it DID freeze and it WAS refreshing, you just couldnt really eat the whole thing without your teeth falling out from instant cavities.

but you know, when in hawaii!

KLM

the popsicle project | week 8: coffee with creamsicle

this one's based on a suggestion my bff and coffee addict katie threw out, which was to do an iced coffee boozy pop. i liked the idea of a double kick, of both alcohol and caffeine varieties, which is probably as confusing for your body as a vodka red bull, but this one with the added complexity of dairy too. but you know what, sometimes you just have to take risks in life.

what's in it/ingredients:

• 2 parts coffee
• 1 snack cup of vanilla pudding
• 1 part bailey's
• 1 part coffee liquor

prep time: 10 minutes
and only 10 minutes because i'm counting the time it took to make the coffee. basically you just stir everything together until a creamy texture - but try to let the coffee cool down first or it will look lumpy and curdled, like when you dont chug an irish car bomb fast enough. and who likes that (NO ONE).

ta da!:

rating: ****
this ones a goodie. the pudding gives it a cool fudgesicle texture, and it basically tastes like hagendaaz coffee ice cream. probably a good option for pre partying, as it gives you a kick and a buzz!

the popsicle project | week 7: icy hot

so. technically i made this back in week 5, in laguna with katie and michael, but we'll pretend like this was a freshie from this week. ICY HOT! inspired by one of my favorite cocktails, jalapeno margaritas. hence the name, icy hot. icy because it's a popsicle, and hot because of the spicy. get it. i spelled it out.

what's in it/ingredients:

• 3* parts tequila
• 2 parts lime juice
• 1 part orange juice
• 1 part grand marnier
• half of a jalapeno, with seeds removed (DONT TOUCH YOUR EYES)

*spoiler alert: this thing didnt really freeze, so this portioning of tequila was probably too much


prep time: 3 3/4 minutes
pretty much just throw everything into the blender, including the jalapeno. although spoiler alert part 2: this turned out really spicy.


ta da!:

rating: **
although one of my favorite cocktails and despite this popsicle tasting great, it 1. did not freeze and 2. burned your mouth off, which are basically the 2 things popsicles aren't supposed to do. as indicated in the spoiler alerts earlier, i'd prob ease up on the tequila next time, and maybe not throw the whole jalapeno into the blender, but attempt some muddling maneuver. definitely has promise, but also this was definitely the ugly step sister to the mango/coconut popsicle. i'm still thinking about that one. popsicle of the year!

the popsicle project | week 6: NACHO average sangria

Ana is many things, but a big alcohol connoisseur is not one of them.

HOWEVER, moscato is the only alcohol i've ever seen ana drink faster than me, and girl loves her self some mango, so i could not think of a better recipe to honor lil anacho or A NACHO, as we call her, 's birthday.

no actual nachos in final product

What's In It:

Ingredients:

• 5 parts moscato
• 3 parts mango orange juice
• 2 parts cut up fruits
• 1 part st germain

Prep Time:
it was really hard to cut the pineapple for some reason, so 5 minutes.

Ta Da!:

Rating: ****
It's no Cococnutmango yumminess, but this was a super solid popsicle. I ate a lot of them. They also turned out really pretty too, as you can see with Golden's patio in the background. We had a lovely evening pretending not to celebrate Ana's birthday (per Ana's request), and snacking on these bad boys. This one was much sweeter than the Wine Not? Sangria made with red wine (still my personal favorite of the sangria varieties), but as expected since it's Moscato. plus Ana likes all things sweet.

the popsicle project | week 4.5: are you coconuts? man,go to the beach!

hello, my name is michelle, and i'm a popsicle-holic.

you guys. i made THREE popsicles this week. it's like i dont have a life lololololhahhaa...tear #sadlife. in any case, i'm spreading the love and pacing the posting of each one BUT couldn't wait to share this one - hence week 4.5's popsicle.

this tasty lil treat was inspired by misa, who suggested a mango sticky rice popsicle via IG, and generated by my bff katie and her boo michael. katie had made a batch of fresh coconut milk whipped cream (which i could've eaten with a spoon aka i ate with a spoon). such a delish pop, such a fun trip, such best friends!



What's in it:

Ingredients:

• Pureed mango
• Coconut milk
• Sugar
• Meyer's original dark rum

Prep time: maybe like.... 15 minutes?
So... I had TWO people working on this since Michael was helping AND i didn't actually make the whipped cream, katie had it made already, so prep time is really a shot in the dark and not accurate at all.

For the coconut whipped cream:
From what katie describes, you buy one of those cans of coconut milk. there should be two parts if you open it up - the water that separates out, and then the cream. you spoon out the cream, add some sugar, and whip it up into a whipped cream. I came in at this point and folded in some dark rum.

Mango:
Throw in the blender with some rum and some sugar, should turn out to be a silky pasty texture.

Pour into the mold, as half and half as possible. makes really pretty swirls!


ta da!:

Rating: *****
not only do i love the view behind this popsicle, but i LOVE THIS POPSICLE. this is the best one yet. the mango really cuts through the rum, so you dont even know you're getting booze while you're consuming it, and the coconut whipped cream gives it a really velvet-y fudgcile type of feel. plus mango and coconut are just lovers made in flavor heaven.

the popsicle project | week 4: apple pie-triot

A themed week! In preparation of Independence Day I made an apple pie themed popsicle. Because 'mericuh!

This week's was a team effort: Mere actually suggested I make a popsicle version of an "Angry Ball" (which did you guys know was a thing? Angry Orchard hard cider with a shot of fire ball in it. I had no idea this happiness existed until at a Buffalo Wild Wing last week watching the US World Cup game, it is MAGICAL) and Ben came up with the punny name, so one team one dream, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

What's in it:

Ingredients:

• 2 part apple sauce
• 2 part hard cider
• 1 part fireball

Prep time:

• Fast. Unless you want to make your own apple sauce, this one's really just an open and pour sort of situation.

 ta da!:



Rating: ***
I gotta say this one was pretty tasty, albeit a little sweet. But America likes its sugars so works for the theme.

Also it really does taste like apple pie, with the cinnamon from the fireball and the various apple products. The only thing it's missing is some graham cracker crust and some gingham!

the popsicle project | week 3: sweet tea shirt time

ahhh i'm a little behind on behalf of being out of the country majority of this week (in paris #namedrop), so scrambled to get this week's popsicle out. could not be cutting it any closer...

thought a John Daly inspired popsicle would be perfect for summer, and an easy one to make. 

what's in it:

ingredients:

• 1 part sweet tea vodka
• lemon/lemon juice
• 1 part water

yeah only two things. i got lazy this week. on the third week. a little too early on in the project to get lazy. blame it on the jetlag?

prep time:

• depends on how long it takes you to squeeze a lemon, so between 14 and 90 seconds

ta da!:

Rating: *

This was by far the worst popsicle I've made. 

I was in a rush to stay on schedule, and Sweet Tea Shirt Time definitely got the short end of that (popsicle) stick. Seeing as how it was mostly alcohol and therefore an extremely high likelihood of not freezing, and actually DID (sort of), I'll take that small victory. I say "sort of" because it only got to the literal BRINK of freezing. As you can see in the photo, the popsicle has a very noticeable gangsta lean, and that's because half of it didnt freeze. 

In fact, 8 seconds after this photo was taken when I went to go taste it, it crumbled into a slushy pile on my kitchen counter/floor. I had to rush to shoo poopsie away so she wouldn't lap it up and get schwastey. (she's fine)

So. It doesn't taste that good either. It tastes like a lot of vodka.

BUT it has potential. Next time I'm changing the ratio, 1 part sweet tea vodka, 3 parts water, and I think we'll have a winner.

And I worked a Jersey Shore mention into the name, always a win to get an on brand before/after ye ye ye.

the popsicle project | week 2: creole lady melonade

i've been drinking... watermelon

week 2! this week's popsicle is based off of a cocktail we fashioned in montauk lovingly named "The Sandy Bitch". We mad scientist'ed a recipe of whatever Montauk Mike had in his pantry, and came up with something delicious and deliciously boozy.

the og

What's in it:

Ingredients:

• 3 parts watermelon: maybe like... a quarter of a medium sized watermelon? chopped up.
• 1-1.5 part alcohol: half vodka, half st germain 
• 1 lime's juicy juice

Prep time: 5 min

• this one took a bit because of the muddling involved with the watermelon. start by chopping up the watermelon into bits, and then run it through a juicer. I used a lime-one because that's all I had. It worked great! 
• Juice all the watermelon, keeping the juice and the mushed up watermelon meat in a cup
• Add in the vodka and St Germain
• Squeeze in the juice of a lime. Use the lime juicer if you have one, because that's what it's meant to do
• And then that's it.

Here's a visual of a limer juicer thing, because I'm pretty sure that's not it's official name but I dont know what else to call it:

Ta da!:

Rating: ****
First of all, I'm just impressed it froze because there is a fair amount of alcohol in this one, and of the non-freezing vodka variety too. It was already a favorite summer cocktail, so the fact that it comes in frozen form on a stick is just the type of happiness Pharrell sings about.