Yay for summer, shorts, hot weather, and picnics! One of my favorite treats to enjoy during the summer months are popsicles. I love to let my kids help with the preparations as well. Sort of makes the moment sweeter.

I have made these popsicles for many summer barbecues and people are always asking for the recipe. Most cannot believe how simple they are to make once I tell them.

First, grab two cups of your favorite summer fruit. We have used peaches, strawberries, oranges, and plums to great success. Fresh is best, but in a pinch you can always go for frozen. I will emphasize that the fresh will taste much better though. Okay, dump those two cups of fruit into your blender. Purée them up good. Or I suppose if you enjoy little chunks you could leave them lumpy. Add one cup of vanilla yogurt, two cups of milk, and one teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract to the blender. Mix it up.

At this point I like to taste the mixture to test for sweetness. Lots of times the fresh fruit is sweet enough with the addition of the yogurt. If not you can add honey a few teaspoons at a time until you get the right amount of sweetness. Once you get the mixture right you can pour it into your favorite popsicle molds. Freeze the for a minimum of five hours or over night. My kids like it when I mix everything but the fruits together, pour that into the molds and the swirl in the puréed fruit mixtures at the very end. According to my daughter that makes them fancier, and in her world fancy tastes better.

You can do it whichever way you please, just so long as you go and do it! You will not be disappointed! Finally a good, sweet, healthy treat for your and your families!

-Stephanie Wright