FANCY UP YOUR FREEZER

Homemade ice pops are all the rage lately. And it’s no wonder. Indeed, here we are in the humid midst of summer in the South, collectively dreaming about all things frozen. Today’s homemade ice pops are far fancier than the ones of my youth, which we made by pouring orange juice into an ice tray and placing a toothpick into each section.

Today’s ice pops feature ingredients like basil, toasted coconut or Greek yogurt, blended with fresh fruit. The results are often delicious. But it is summer, and there is something to be said for keeping it simple. Here are a few fun, easy ideas on how to fancy up your ice trays this summer — an homage to the frozen orange juice cubes of my childhood, if you will.

Fill your ice trays with coffee, then use the frozen cubes to make iced coffee. Besides this being a cool way to caffeinate, it will also prevent your drink from becoming too watery.

Fill your ice trays with sweet tea. Remember the coffee trick about which you just read? Same. Collect wild violets from your backyard. Toss one into each section of an ice cube tray, add water and voila! You now serve the most elegant glass of ice water in the whole city.

Freeze your kids’ small toys. It may sound like punishment, but it’s actually a game. After the toys are encased in ice, give your child a butter knife or a chopstick, or let them go bare-handed to free the objects. Use the leftover syrup or juice from your canned fruit to fill your ice cube trays. Sounds similar to those orange juice pops, huh? It is. Shout out to my childhood. Don’t forget to add the toothpicks.