Frozen Summer

Summer school holidays – kids, fun, laughter and relaxed lazy days. Oh, and endless demands for ice creams! I’m sure we would all be happier giving in to the demands if ice creams were only made like they used to be. Cream, milk, eggs and sugar and maybe some fresh strawberries or a handful of nuts thrown in. Kids are so used to modern ice cream with all the colours of the rainbow, available anywhere and everywhere, that it is a real treat to have the home made stuff. In fact, in a kids world frozen treats in any form are a delight and at any time of the year! My mother used to make a divine lemon sorbet from lemon juice, egg whites and sugar. I can still bring to mind the excitement we felt when she would pull it from the freezer and scoop it into cones for us. She sometimes simply froze giant blocks of cordial and we ate those from square cones, too and thought we were in heaven. I always tell my kids that the best freezer is at home and so we freeze mango pips, grapes, orange quarters, bananas and fresh pineapple. Even bowls of frozen blueberries or raspberries are greeted with glee on a hot day! It is simple to make ice cream even without an ice cream maker and homemade icy poles take minutes. Even the kids can do it. Here is one our favourites – kids love these as much as anything you can buy.

FROZEN HONEY BANANAS


Ingredients:
Honey
Warm water
Bananas
Shredded coconut

Icy pole sticks
Freezer or cellophane bags and ties

Method:
Soften the honey by adding a little warm water and mix through. Peel the bananas and cut in half. Carefully insert an icy pole stick through the cut end. Using a pastry brush, brush warm honey over the banana. Quickly roll in the coconut, covering completely. Place on a waxed paper lined tray and freeze until firm. Once frozen place in cellophane bags and secure tightly.

Try rolling them in crushed nuts or melted chocolate or both!