Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Today is our final May post for our Kitchen Matrix Project, named after Mark Bittman's  Kitchen Matrix  cookbook. You can read about the year-long project:  here . This month, I chose the recipes and went with a Latin theme. So, we have worked with masa; we made salsa; we braised carnitas. And so on...you get the idea. Next month, Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories selected our recipes. Stay tuned! This week I chose Ice Pops + 12 ways, but couldn't decide what to make. I love the idea of ice pops because you can customize them and it's not as time consuming as making homemade ice cream. If you don't have a copy of the cookbook, you can read his versions online . I wanted to make a few different versions, but time got away from me and I opted to make ice pops with Mexican Agua de Jamaica . It seemed to fit the theme...and I did make half of them boozy by adding a splash of tequila to the mix. In case you're curious, Bittman has fruity ice pop suggestions ...

This weekend it was hot enough for the boys to complain about the heat... and request ice cream. For us fog-loving central coasters, that just means it was over 65 degrees.  D had spied these popsicles - Bar Gelato by Naia - when we were at Whole Foods earlier, so, naturally, he asked if we could go back for them. Since we're huge fans of Gelateria Naia , I agreed. We tried the Blood Orange Sorbetto , Burnt Caramel , and Tangelo Sorbetto . I definitely want to try the  Blue Bottle Coffee  one. Though we loved them, they are pricey. Really pricey. I decided that we would decree this the Summer of Popsicles and get some molds. While I adore my gelato maker, I'm trying to cut back on our sugar intake. These were made with fruit that was on the verge of spoiling, lemon juice, and plain yogurt. No sugar! Success. Ingredients makes 6 small popsicles 1-1/2 C strawberries, destemmed zest from 1 organic lemon juice from 1 organic lemon 1/4 C plain yogurt ...

I've been on a ice cream kick lately. We've made everything from fig ice cream to garlic ice cream . Yep, you read that correctly: Garlic. Ice. Cream. I made my first batch of chocolate ice cream last night. I guess I should admit: my family is always in the mood for ice cream. On road trips, we purposely plan stops that include exploring new-to-us ice cream stores. We celebrate with ice cream; we mourn with ice cream. You get the idea. So, as we launch into summer, I'm asking you all for your favorite frozen treats. I'll post a round up shortly...in time for a 4th of July ice cream fest. Maybe. That sounds like a plan to me!!

Get ready...I'm about to show my age. Do you remember these popsicles? On the rare occasion that my mom and dad gave me money for the ice cream truck on a hot summer afternoon, these are the popsicles I would get.  I didn't eat chocolate at the time, so I always opted for this one. My friends and I would hear the music coming around the housing development, grab our coins, and sprint over to the truck from whichever front yard we were playing in. We would crowd the ice cream man, waiting impatiently for him to pull our selections out of the cooler. Then we would plunk ourselves down on the curb and greedily devour our summertime treats.  I whipped up this 50-50 chia pudding for breakfast this morning and was instantly transported back to those summers with these flavors.  My boys were intrigued, but each played with their serving, adding in more orange juice. R preferred the 70-30 ratio while D said that 60-40 was his preference! So, we got in a goo...