Frozen Watermelon Pops

August is looming, a time of beach traffic, crowds, and intense heat waves. My army of box fans will come out of the garage and be dispatched to their respective strategic positions, sometimes even rotated from post to post as the day wanes to combat the arc of the sun.

Good thing I am now armed with this recipe.

My apartment doesn't have air conditioning, which is fine for eleven months out of the year. But every time August rolls around, I find myself once again standing with my face in the freezer, cursing my lack of AC as I look for something to ease my pain.

I don't know why I haven't thought of freezing watermelon before. There's so much, um, water in it. It basically becomes a natural block of flavored ice. Add some lime juice, sugared zest, a little vodka and throw that puppy on a stick, and you've got a pretty good way to beat the heat without shoveling Ben & Jerry's in your face all day.

I used a shot of vodka over four pops and I couldn't really taste it. I was using it to keep the watermelon from freezing solid but it still did, which is why I said 1-2 shots in the recipe. You could totally skip the vodka if you wanted to make it alcohol free. You could probably also use tequila if you wanted. You could also just freeze it as blocks and use it as non-diluting ice cubes for drinks. Or put it in a blender to make a slushy watermelon summertime drink. And I'll stop now...

Frozen Watermelon Pops

1 watermelon (or enough to cut 4 1-inch thick pops)

1 tbsp lime zest

1 tbsp sugar

1-2 shots vodka (optional)

juice of 1-2 limes (about 1/4 cup)

4 popsicle sticks

1. Mix the lime zest and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Slice the watermelon into 1-inch slices. Then cut four rectangles from the pink areas, each one about 2"x4".
3. Mix the lime juice and vodka together. Pour it over the watermelon pops and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes to let the juice soak in.
4. Put a stick in the bottom of each pop. Sprinkle the sugared lime zest around the outside of each one - you might have to press it in to make it stay. Lay the pops on foil in a baking dish, cover the dish with foil and freeze overnight.