Farmstand Popsicles...

I'm so excited to be guest blogging today, I almost don't know where to start! Over at Corks & Caftans, I share the stage with my husband, Rob, who whips up wine reviews (I sip helpfully) while I bring up the rear with posts on almost everything else you can think of. I saw how quickly the summer was scooting by and realized it'd been far too long since I'd written up any delicious recipes, let alone cooked 'em.

It's funny being a Southern ex-pat in the Northeast. You long for certain remnants of your humid past, but mostly you're totally occupied trying to jam in everything indigenous that you forget to be homesick. Last weekend, I got a honking spider bite on my neck and a farmer's tan and despite all that, for the first time since I left Ponte Vedra for a job 3 years ago, I thought: this feels like summer.

Being from Florida, my summers meant tans, bikinis, open-air beach bars, digging holes in the sand to keep the beers cold, and frankly, too many pairs of flip flops. Up here, it's canoeing on the Battenkill, hikes up the now-green ski mountains, going to the thoroughbred racetrack in August, and shopping for produce at local farm stands.

Now that's something we don't have down in FL: farm stands. [We have boiled peanut shacks on the way through the swamp and oranges, sure. Lots of them.] Which brings me to Dutton Farm Stand in Manchester, VT. We drove by and I saw a big stack of watermelons and I have had them on the brain ever since.

It's finally starting to feel like summer in Upstate New York. And summer for me means popsicles. I hope you love this recipe as much as we do. It's so healthy, fresh and delicious, and super easy to make. And no farm stands required.

Minted Watermelon Popsicles
1.5 lbs seedless watermelon w/out rind, cut in 1-inch dice (~4 cups)
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup mint leaves, minced
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
Pinch of salt
[8 servings]
In a blender, puree the watermelon with the sugar until smooth. Stir in the mint, lemon zest, and salt. Pour the puree into 8 popsicle molds or 2 standard ice cube trays (insert popsicle sticks halfway through freezing) and freeze until hard, about 3 hours.
Bonus: One serving is only 31 cal, 0 gm fat, 0 gm sat fat, 8 gm carb, 0.4 gm fiber.
{recipe via Food & Wine magazine, August 2009}

Guest blog by Carey at Corks & Caftans