Last summer I was faced with the tough decision of whether or not my four year old boy was ready for kindergarten.
Let me rephrase that…. I was faced with the tough decision of whether or not I was ready for kindergarten.
In the long run, I was able to get past my feelings of ‘boo-boo, my sweet boy isn’t a baby anymore’, and we made the big leap together.
Yup, good move on my part. My little buddy kicked kindergarten right in it’s booty.
Not only did he thrive socially and make some swell new friends, he also had a blast in the after-school Young Rembrandt’s art program and was referred by his teacher to the Advanced Reading program. And, my little four year old tested at a third grade reading level.
Woot-woot… Everybody’s hands go up!
At the end of the school year his teacher stressed that he needs to read for at least 30 minutes every day to avoid ‘Summer Slide’. She even provided a nifty suggested reading list, which we’ve referred to a few times. Between you and me, I’ve been letting him pick whatever book he wants to read from our massive library, and he always seems to gravitate toward my food books. The best part is he’s got me reading them again too. I forgot how nice it is to grab an actual physical book from the shelf and kick back for a little quiet break once in a while… even nicer when he reads to me while I’m throwing our lunch together.
His favorite title, hands-down, is the People’s Pops Cookbook which has also inspired us to try a bunch of new frozen fresh fruit bar combinations that beat the AZ Summer heat.
This Strawberry Watermelon Creamsicle combination was his latest idea, and my new favorite frozen treat.
Strawberry Watermelon Creamsicles (makes 10 pops*)
- 3 cups cubed and seeded watermelon
- 2 cups hulled and diced strawberries
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from 1/2 of a good sized lemon)
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (plus a few extra tbsp for drizzling into the pop molds)
Combine the watermelon, strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and salt in a blender and puree until completely blended and smooth. Pour the pureed fruit blend into a glass measuring cup and gently whisk in the whipping cream, just to swirl throughout the fruit blend.
Drizzle the extra whipping cream evenly into your pop molds, letting it run down the sides. (The only true reason for this step is aesthetics. They look so darn pretty with a little uneven creamy edge to them.)
Carefully pour the blended fruit/cream into your pop molds, leaving a bit of room at the top because they will expand as they freeze. Cover and insert the popsicle sticks. Freeze until solid, around 4-5 hours.
The texture of this combination is pretty close to perfection, and the taste… just like summer.
*I absolutely love my popsicle mold, which can be found here. Easy to clean and the bar shape and size is great!
Jenn is a full-time mom, flex-time advertising industry ninja, full-time food lover in Scottsdale, AZ. When she’s not busy feeding faces, wiping butts or searching for her sanity, you can find her trying to outwit other food bloggers at http://www.omfgsogood.com, on Twitter @OMFGSoGOOD, Facebook, or promoting her husband’s graphic design and fine art business, Trapdoor Studio.
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