Such Cool Tie-Dye

Summertime was always a kitchen season, the three different kitchens of my childhood and teen years often full of steam and the sticky scent of cooking fruit or the tingle of pickling vinegar. Jars were sterilised, huge pots bubbled. We shelled peas for hours, or it could have been weeks.

This wasn’t just women’s work, though: my dad was known to do a batch of jam or can quarts of peaches if there was fruit that needed to be dealt with. When we moved from the city to a farm, the glut of food from our vegetable patch that rivalled the size of our entire property on the mainland provided him with plenty of opportunity to play. Sauerkraut fermented in a crock, the plate on top weighed down with a stone. Tangy, salty, we could hardly wait until it was ready; that plate was easy to lift off quietly. Headcheese (not head nor cheese, but don’t ask) filled our fridge, thanks to the pigs we raised. On one memorable weekend when he was minding my sisters and I plus another family of three girls, he picked wild chickweed and steamed it up with our dinner. I’ve no doubt he enjoyed the reactions as much as he enjoyed the greens. That weekend and the chickweed went straight into family lore.

Observing, tasting, having to step in to chop, stir or even do a full batch of dill pickles on a Saturday when the adults were all out made me love to create my own concoctions. My grandmother’s jam recipe has seen many incarnations in my own kitchen. I’m not sure if it’s nurture or nature, but the nurture end of it made me aware of the possibilities, and gave me the confidence to fill my house with the aroma of summer.

I am happy to say that the love of kitchen possibilities is not fading away. My son and I had a messy hour creating some beautiful tie-dye ice pops. Mixed berry tartness contrasting with creamy Greek yogurt and coconut milk, makes a not-too-sweet cool treat, packed with protein and summer vitamins and antioxidants. We used fresh blueberries and frozen mixed berries, so not too much colour contrast, but we weren’t disappointed about that. The only mistake we made was telling the others what we’d done.

 

 

Tie-Dye Ice Pops

1 cup blueberries (115 grams)

1 cup mixed berries or raspberries (115 grams)

1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar

2 1/4 cups Greek yogurt

3/4 cup coconut milk

Puree blueberries with 1 tablespoon of sugar in a food processor. Press through a fine sieve, keeping the syrup and discarding the solids (we ate ours!). Do the same with the other berries and 1 tablespoon of sugar.

Mix yogurt, coconut milk and 1/4 cup sugar together, until sugar dissolves.

Add the mixtures into ice pop moulds, starting and ending with the yogurt. It’s messy! Leave a bit of headspace at the top for when you add the lids, otherwise more mess. Use a chopstick or butter knife to slightly stir each mould, making the tie-dye effect. Secure lids on the moulds.

Freeze for 6-8 hours, until solid.

Makes about 12, depending on the size. We had too much for our 12 moulds but froze the rest to enjoy later as frozen yogurt.