I am aware that it is the middle of February and Minnesota is in the firm grip of ice, snow and sub-zero temperatures, but I'm making popsicles anyway!

A week or so ago my seven year-old and I were at Ikea and she spotted some popsicle molds.  My brain was immediately flooded with childhood memories: it's 1983 and I'm making popsicles with my mom, sitting on the front steps enjoying their frozen sugary goodness.  I didn't even question it, I told her to put them in the cart.

It was only when we got home and she started asking to make popsicles that the whole "it's the middle of winter" thing clicked in my brain, but there is no way to put a seven year-old off until June... so yesterday I dug out the recipe my mom used and made some popsicles.

I decided, what could be *more* Minnesotan than making popsicles in February?  We are a people known for embracing the weather and finding joy in the cold just like our Scandinavian ancestors - even if we don't have a drop of Scandinavian blood, and even if their embrace of winter never involved packets of Jello.

Making the popsicles was like time traveling.  My daughter had the same excitement as she stirred up the mixture.  She checked the freezer approximately 150 times while waiting for them to freeze, just like I did when I was her age.  And if she didn't eat them out on the front steps but in fleece pajamas and knit hat in front of the fireplace, she still found the same joy in their sugary goodness.

So yeah, here's a recipe for homemade popsicles, straight from the 1980's, for you to make in the middle of February, because.... why not?!?

Popsicles
1 pkg Jello
1 pkg Kool-Aid
1 c sugar
2c boiling water
2c cold water

Mix all ingredients and pour into popsicle molds.  Freeze until solid.  (Checking on them 150 times is not required, nor does it make them freeze more quickly, but it definitely adds to the nostalgia.)

We used blue raspberry Jello and mixed-berry Kool-Aid this particular time, but any flavors will work, and mixing them up is half the fun!