Popsicle Picnic




Please note Katie's cool outfit provided by the one and only Aunt Jen.  What you may not be able to see are killer scratch marks Katie has between her eyebrows and on her cheek due to Caroline's Claws of Power (her only real line of defense).  I can't tell you the number of comments we got from concerned grandmas.  When Katie told them that her meimei (little sister) scratched her, they ALL had the same response, "真厉害! (Zhen lihai)!" which is a really hard word to translate but very appropriate to this situation (it could mean terrible or it could mean she's really intense or talented...all of which could apply in this situation, I guess!)

  Winter lasted SO long this year, but finally it is spring! On the first day that got into the 80s, we marched our sockless selves outside in our short-sleeves (despite the hot temps, most everyone else in this country was still wearing long-sleeves*) and had a popsicle picnic!  I had just bought a watermelon the day before and discovered when I sliced it open that it just wasn't going to taste very good on its own.  Bummer.  Thankfully, I remembered my dear friend Emily from the 'Ville and the watermelon "popstickles" she used to make and was able to use up half the watermelon that way (just put the watermelon and some oj in the blender and then poured into some popsicles molds I had gotten from Wal-mart last year).  For those who are interested, I used the other half to make a quasi-watermelon-sorbet, using this recipe and this method, since I have no ice cream maker). 

[Just so you don't get the wrong idea about my lifestyle right now, those two culinary feats were the most "cooking" I had done in 2 weeks.  Apart from the grace of God, I don't know why I had so much energy/desire to make them that day, but I was thankful for a brief respite from the zombie-like state I live in most of the time these days!]


*Most folks were still wearing long-sleeves in part because they don't want to get tan and in part because they have a fear of cold--a contemporary expression of China's ancient commitment to Chinese medicinal philosophy.