I made Paletas de Pepino con Limon y Chile (Cucumber Ice Pops With Lime & Chile)

A few weeks ago, during one of those really hot weeks, I got a lame summer cold! My throat really hurt, and I was drinking a lot of hot tea with lemon, honey, and cayenne pepper. The heat+spice felt really good on my throat, but the tea just made me sweaty and more uncomfortable in the nasty summer humidity.

Then I saw a post on the website The Kitchn all about sweet+spicy POPSICLES. The perfect thing to soothe my throat AND cool me off!!!

So I impulse bought some fancy popsicle molds (shaped like rocket ships!!!) and made the recipe below. They are also pretty healthy, which can't hurt when you have a cold! But the point is, you don't NEED to have a cold to enjoy these. They are refreshing, sour, spicy, a little sweet, and of course, nice and cold.

Paleta de Pepino con Limon y Chile (Cucumber Ice Pop With Lime & Chile)

Makes about 5/6 pops

* 2 cucumbers (about 2 pounds), peeled, seeded and chopped
* 1 tablespoon sugar - (I used honey because I thought it would taste good too.)
* 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
* 1/2 teaspoon habanero chile powder -- (OR you can totally substitute cayenne pepper, which is what I did. Just add a little (few pinches) at first, and then add more if you want to make it more spicy. Apparently you can find habenero powder at places like Whole Foods.)
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions: In a food processor (or hand blender), pulse all but 1/2 cup of the cucumber until smooth. Strain into a bowl; you should have about 2 cups juice. (I did not strain. It came out fine! But if you want a really uniform texture, go ahead and strain.)

Add the rest of the ingredients and pour about 1/3 cup of mixture into each mold. Freeze for at least 2 hours.

I Made a Coconut Water Cocktail (from Canada) !

(Disclaimer: This recipe has been sitting in the drafts folder for months! I don't know why. Now it is fall and it seems silly to drink cold, fruity cocktails. I suppose that is OK. You can just crank up the heat and pretend it is summer if you make this.)

SO, here is what I wrote a while back:

Over the summer my parents spent a few weeks in Vancouver, BC. When they came back, my mom was telling me about this cocktail that she had at a really good Thai restaurant there, Maenam, that combined coconut water, vodka, ginger, and chile. It sounded good to me, so one night when I was hanging out at my parents house, I did some internet searching to see if the recipe could be found anywhere. I didn't find the exact recipe, but I found something close and decided to try my hand at being a mixologist.

Of course, it wasn't until after I made the cocktail that I had the idea to see if the recipe was posted on the restaurant's website.

It was! Here is how it is described on the Maenam menu:

Siam sun ray:
wyborowa vodka, lime,
chile and ginger infused toasted coconut juice, soda

"Toasted coconut juice" is a new thing to me. I did more research. I think it may be this. "Roasted" is sorta like "toasted".

(Another disclaimer: I actually found a can of this stuff in Woodside, Queens recently. It was definitely toasty and SO SWEET. Maybe too sweet on it's own, but I can see it being good mixed with Vodka. Seek it out if you want to!)




In any case, roasted/toasted aside, here is what I used to make the drink.

2 parts coconut water
1 part vodka
juice of approx. 1 lime (to taste)
agave nectar (or simple syrup, to taste) - Though if you use the "roasted coconut juice, it will definitely be sweet enough.
small piece of ginger
small piece of a mild chile pepper (Optional).
soda water (Optional).

To prepare:
In a glass (or cocktail shaker if you have one), muddle the ginger (and chile, if using) into the coconut water. Add lime juice, agave or simple syrup (if using) and vodka. If using a cocktail shaker, add ice, cover and shake. Strain into a chilled glass. (If no cocktail shaker, simply remove the ginger and strain into a chilled glass). Add more lime juice/sweetener if needed, or a splash of soda water for some fizz.


We ate this with some fruit! I also put a piece of pineapple in my drink, because it tasted good.


That is my mom holding the drink. She said it was different than the one she had at the restaurant, but still good. I will definitely make this again. And if I ever go to Vancouver, I can try the real thing.