Welcome Paige Shelton!

My farmer's market is
one of my favorite
places to shop, so when
I saw anew mystery series
featuring a farmer's
market, I was delighted.
The first book in the series
FARM FRESH MURDER hit
the extended New York Times
best seller's list and small
wonder -- it is terrific. I can't
wait for the next one.


Now without further ado, here's Paige!

Thank you for the guest blog spot! It’s great to be here.

It has been so darn hot in Salt Lake City. As is typical, we went from

kind-of-cold to really hot in a matter of a few days. Our springs and

falls seem way too short.

This year something fun has happened because of the heat, though. Even

before I started writing the farmers’ market series, I loved shopping at my

local market. I always buy way too much for our family of three. I do freeze

some of the fruits and use them later, but the unbearable heat a couple weeks

ago gave us an idea: what if we blend up some of these fruits and turn them into

something that tastes good and helps cool us down – smoothies were an idea,

but we went further. How about popsicles?!

The idea took off from there and we’ve been playing with recipes and

mixtures. There have been some successes and some amazing failures.

I was shocked at how awful some combinations can taste. We’ve found

the simpler the better, and the following recipes are our favorites. You’ll

see that I like blending in ice cubes. Though it might seem redundant to

blend ice into something you’re going to freeze, I think it makes the final

texture more appealing. Please note that not all of the following ingredients

can be purchased at farmers’ markets.

Molds – Mine are from Bed, Bath and Beyond. My neighbor has some

Tupperware molds that she bought years ago and still uses. Paper cups

and sticks work, too.

Each of my molds holds four ½ cup popsicles, so ½ cup is the

recipes’ serving size.

Becca’s Berry Pops

Named for Becca, the protagonist in the farmers’ market books.

She grows strawberries and pumpkins and makes and sells preserves

and jams at Bailey’s Farmers’ Market. I’m working on a pumpkin popsicle,

but I don’t have anything, yet.

Ingredients:

5 large strawberries

1 rounded teaspoon sugar

½ cup whole milk

1 heaping cup of ice cubes

Directions: Blend strawberries with milk on low until smooth. Add ice cubes

and blend on high for about a minute. Add sugar and blend on high for another

minute or so, until slushy and smooth. Pour into molds and freeze for at least

4 hours. Makes 4 to 5 servings.

Happy Halloween Caramel Apple

Lesson learned – I saw some homemade caramel sauce at our market last year.

I was excited to track it down this year and use it for this recipe, but it’s nowhere

to be found. I wish I’d saved the vendor information. Now, if I find something I like

or something I might want to try in the future, I write down every bit of the vendor’s

information and ask if they have an email.

Ingredients:
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and cut up into chunks (use your favorite kind)

½ cup apple juice concentrate

5 teaspoons caramel ice cream topping

8 – 10 ice cubes

Directions: Excluding ice cubes, blend all ingredients on low until smooth.

Add ice cubes and blend on high until frosty. Pour into molds and freeze for

a good 6 hours. Makes about 4 servings.


Elvis Presley

Elvis loved peanut butter and banana! Originally, this was only supposed to

be a recipe for banana popsicles, but as I was blending the bananas I spied the

box of cereal that still hadn’t been put away – I couldn’t resist, and this is my

favorite.

Ingredients:

3 medium bananas, peeled and cut into fourths

12 ice cubes

1 cup Cap’n Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal

Directions: Blend bananas on low until smooth. Add ice cubes and blend on

high until smooth and slightly frosty. With a spoon, gently stir in the cereal and

immediately spoon mixture into molds and freeze for about 4 hours. Makes

about 4 servings.

I love the taste combination and the surprise crunch of the cereal.

I’m sure I’ll keep playing with recipes and combinations – and that’s probably

half the fun. I know I won’t stop until I at least come up with something

pumpkin-y and delicious.

Thanks for stopping by today.
Happy summer, everyone, and stay cool . . .

Paige

Paige Shelton is the author of the

Farmers’ Market Mystery series.

FARM FRESH MURDER is on

the shelves now. The second in the

series, FRUIT OF ALL EVIL,

publishes March 2011.