Paletas: Mango and Raspberry (V)

Inspired by a segment featuring Rick Bayless' daughter Laney this afternoon on Channel 10, The Wife (...who is writing this! Don't you just love third person?) made paletas with a popsicle mold we'd used a couple of times last summer and had forgotten was in the cabinet that stores all miscellaneous kitchen items. Around here, we heart paletas so, so much. When we go to Nashville for a quick vacation, we must go to Las Paletas on South 12th Street multiple times. The hot-chili-chocolate, the tomato-cucumber, the tamarind, the hibiscus flower -- wow. It is the best selection of flavors ever. Hello, popsicle binge!

So here we cobbled together two flavors of our own: mango-lime-banana and raspberry-lemon-peach. The secret ingredient according to Laney is, of all things, club soda added at the end. Here is a basic recipe for you to try now that you can probably find all kinds of molds on sale around town. (We got ours via Amazon and the sticks on a last-minute dash to Michael's craft store tonight.)

Paletas:

2 c fruit, sliced (you can blend berries first and then strain out the seeds if you want)

1/4 c sugar

1 lemon or one lime, juiced

1/2 c club soda

Blend first 3 ingredients in food processor. Add club soda and pulse. Pour into molds, add sticks, and freeze for 3 hours. Let them sit out on the counter for a few to thaw for easier removal. Possibly never buy boxed popsicles again.