Watermelon-Raspberry Ice Pops

I should really call this post "ice pop dos and don'ts" because my first attempt was a borderline fiasco (I say borderline because if I don't get burned or cut or drop an entire pan of something on the floor, it isn't a full-blown fiasco). Go ahead and scroll down to the photo captions and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Anyway, technical problems aside, I think these ice pops are a delicious way to use up leftover watermelon (and you know when you buy a whole watermelon, there will be leftover). And if you mess up the first batch like I did, don't despair (just let it melt until it's a little slushy, mix in some rum and call it a daiquiri).

WATERMELON-RASPBERRY ICE POPS

Yield: 2 cups (about 6 to 8 pops)

3 cups seedless watermelon cubes (about ½-inch each)

1 small container fresh raspberries (about 1 1/2 cups)

approx. 1/2 cup sugar or sweetener of choice (add to taste)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

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1.      Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor; puree until smooth.

2.      Strain puree, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible.

3.      Pour into popsicle molds and insert sticks. Freeze for at least 4 hours (or better yet,
       overnight).

If you don't have popsicle molds, you can just fill some little paper cups, cover tightly with plastic wrap and poke in some popsicle sticks. That's how the cavemen did it.

watermelon slice

chopped watermelon

raspberries

lemon

ready to blend

blended

straining

I filled one all the way and then filled the rest
about 1/3 full, so I could use some leftover plain
lemonade and make stripes.

the white stripes are a layer of lemonade (they're a little
hard to see with the bright light from the freezer)

Here's when I realized I had a problem. I thought
I had plenty of room for the stick while the top watermelon-
raspberry layer was still liquidy, but once the lemonade
layer was frozen solid, I couldn't fit the stick in far enough.

I knew it would be pretty tough to unmold an ice pop with
no stick. But then I learned it's also not a good idea to
unmold one with a stick that hasn't been frozen long enough.

I only had one more with a stick, so this time I waited until
the next morning and with a little warm water, it popped right out.

After my first failed attempt, I tried again. This time my
goal was to successfully put out one batch of unbroken ice pops
(and not to show off with fancy stripes). Mission accomplished
(but for real, not in a George Bush kind of way).

.