Restoration Place

Orange Cream Popsicles

These orange cream popsicles take me right back to the hot summer of 1974 when I would sprint barefoot down the hot, bubbly, black asphalt on Elmcrest drive to the ice cream truck to buy a creamy, icy treat.

I discovered the recipe in my new favorite cookbook, Williams-Sonoma Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen:

 

I can't share the exact (sorry) recipe from Family Meals that I used to make the Orange Cream Popsicles, but I can provide you with a link to a similar one below.

I combined high-quality vanilla ice cream with frozen orange juice concentrate in my stand mixer, poured it into this 8.5 x 11 (inches) glass pan lined with plastic wrap, froze it overnight, and sliced it into 10 rectangular popsicles, more than enough for my crew and friends:

After lifting each popsicle out of the pan, I inserted wooden popsicle sticks (also known as craft sticks) into the bottom of each one:

They melted very quickly in the 80 degree F heat, so it was lick fast or plop it into a bowl and use a spoon:

 

Here's a version to try, sans the egg (which is mysteriously mentioned in the instructions, but not in the list of ingredients): Homemade Orange Creamsicle.

Next time I make these, I'll skip lining the glass baking dish with plastic wrap and cover the dish with foil instead.

Firefly Nights

The fireflies (or lightning bugs) are emerging and flashing in the thousands in our neighborhood. The children are having a fantastic time collecting them in their jars, keeping them overnight in their bedrooms, and releasing them in morning.

We tapped holes with a nail into the lids of the jars so the insects would have plenty of air:

 

 

We've been reading books about fireflies, coloring pictures of them, learning about their anatomy, but mostly just enjoying their quiet flashing in the night.