Alex's Lemonade Stand & Sparkling Lemonade Fruit Pops

I know I have been MIA for quite awhile but whenever I’m given the opportunity to help a charity or fundraiser via my blog, I always try to make an extra effort to set aside some time to help. I myself do not have children yet but after seeing how my amazing mother and grandmother raised me, I can only imagine how difficult yet rewarding being a parent can be. You can hope that your raise your kids to become intelligent, courageous, compassionate, and hardworking adults.   

Alexandra “Alex” Scott had those qualities at the age of 4. The young founder of this foundation decided that after she got out of the hospital after a battle with cancer, she wanted to help other kids and their families by having a lemonade stand to raise funds. At the age of 8, Alex lost her battle with cancer but her dream continues on with this annual event.

 

 

Event info: This lemonade stand is the biggest fundraiser in California and one of the top ten Alex's Lemonade Stands in the country. Since its inception, Alex's Lemonade Stand has raised over $80 million for childhood cancer, and has funded more than 450 research projects at 94 institutions. They also help families struggling with childhood cancer by providing a Travel Fund and an annual Educational Symposium.   Come join us for our 9th annual Alex's Lemonade Stand in Normal Heights on Adams!  The grand stand offers lemonade, a silent auction, opportunity drawing, kids’ activities, and live music.  

If you can’t attend, click here to donate. Your donation of $50 funds one hour of research. Let’s help the Miller Tribe reach their goal of $15,000 this year, getting them to $100,000 for the nine years they’ve been running.

San Diego Food Bloggers Lemonade Challenge, sponsored by Melissa’s Produce
More than a dozen San Diego Food Bloggers will be cooking with lemons in support of Alex’s Lemonade Stand. Check out their lemony recipes online between July 21-28, and make a donation to the Stand through links on their blogs.

A Purpose Driven Wife
BakeLoveGive
Becky Charms
Confessions of a Foodie
Deleting the Adjectives
Family Spice
Frugal Nutrition
Golden State Mom
Jinxi Eats
Kirbie’s Cravings
Making It Sweet
Recipe Renovator
The H Blog
The Plain Jane
The Seaside Baker
Three Dog Kitchen

I had to stare at my Melissa’s Produce box for awhile to figure out what I wanted to make. I felt like a “Chopped” contestant for a minute! To get inspired, I sampled everything in the box and I’m not even joking, this had to be some of the best produce I have ever tasted. Sweet juicy plums, two varieties of grapes popping with flavor, bright green key limes, and of course two types of lemons. It’s been hot and humid in San Diego and I wanted to make something that would reflect the season, highlight the fruit, and not be too heavy in the hot weather. I was inspired by the lemonade stand so I started with a lemonade base which turned into a non-alcoholic sangria which then turned into the final product: Sparkling Lemonade Fruit Pops!  

Sparkling Lemonade Fruit Pops  

1 cup lemon juice
2.5 cups sparkling juice, such as Welch’s Sparkling Mango Passionfruit
3 cups water (still)
1 cup grapes, sliced in half
1 cup of sliced plums 2-3 key limes, cut into thin wheel slices
2 tsp of sugar (optional)  

1) In a pitcher, stir together water and juices. Add sugar if you’d like if your juices tend to be on the tart side. Add fruit & limes to the pitcher and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the fruit to “marinate.”
2)Spoon the fruit into the bottom of a popsicle mold. Add liquid. Drop in a couple of lime wheels. These will float and add a fun twist to your popsicle.
3) Due to the carbonated juice, these popsicles will take longer to freeze. I recommend freezing overnight.      

Sueshine Notes
Have fun with these pops! Experiment with different fruits and sparkling juices. You can also control the amount of sugar that is added to the pops. Sparkling juices already have added sugar so adjust the mixture to your taste.  

Aren’t the colors pretty! Since my poor older AC unit couldn’t keep up, it was a little over 80 degrees in my house and the pops started to melt really fast. Not a problem! The cold, tart pops were so refreshing and the melting liquid running down my fingers reminded me of summers in my childhood.  

Thanks to all the partners of this fundraiser
Alex’s Lemonade Stand
Adams Avenue Business Association
Blind Lady Ale House
FM 94.9, broadcasting live all day
Melissa’s Produce

Special thanks to Stephanie Weaver, The Recipe Renovator, for coordinating the challenge! We hope to see you on Saturday!

 

Taste of Summer - Patriotic Sugar Free Baked Funnel Cakes

 

 

Aside from the ridiculous heat that hits southern California, a few things make me think of Summer: The County Fair and the 4th of July. I didn't have the chance to make it out to the fair this year but plenty of my friends were able to. Plenty of fair check ins and pictures of fair food have been flooding my social media feed, making me extremely jealous! Since I couldn't make it out there, I just have to bring it to my house.

One of my favorite fair foods is funnel cake. To be honest with you, I don't even know where else you can find funnel cake other than the fair or maybe at a theme park. So one time a year, whoever I go to the fair with, I end up conning convincing them to buy one so I can just get a few bites of the deep fried confection covered in powdered sugar. When I heard that you could actually make a baked version of it, I was all over it (not that I'm anti the occasional deep fried food....me and the deep fryer just do not get along! Angry oil scares the heck out of me!) Since the 4th is this week, I decided to give my funnel cakes a patriotic twist.

 

Patriotic Sugar Free Baked Funnel Cakes

adapted from DiabeticLivingOnline.com

 

1 cup of water

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup all purpose flour

4 eggs

2 cups of berries (strawberries & blueberries for the colors)

1 cup vanilla ice cream

large freezer/storage bag

 

 

Preheat oven to 400*F. Cover a large cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with a non-stick spray. Set aside.

In a medium sized saucepan, bring water, butter, and salt to a boil. Once the butter is completely melted, stir in the flour and incorporate until the dough forms a ball.

Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Vigorously mix in one egg at a time until fully mixed and smooth. Spoon dough into the storage bag. Snip a tiny portion of the bottom corner of the bag. Pipe the dough onto the cookie sheet either in a star shape (repeating the layered pattern twice) or in the traditional round shape with several crisscrossed patterns.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until puffy and light golden brown. Remove from the pan. Serve warm with the berries and vanilla ice cream.

 

 

 

Sueshine Notes

Recipe yields about 12 mini cakes

As there is no sugar in this recipe, the dough is not sweet at all. You have to depend on your topping choices to sweeten up this traditional treat. Suggestions?

-Traditionally its served warm and topped with a dusting of powdered sugar. -Another option that is usually available at the San Diego County Fair is to roll it in cinnamon sugar to make it similar to a churro or "Mexican Funnel Cake."

-Fruit or chocolate sauce

-Whipped cream

-Whatever you please because it's just damn tasty and much healthier than the deep fried version. You have room to indulge in the toppings just a tiny bit!

 

 

 

Even though I know it's going to be an extremely hot summer in east San Diego, causing the temperature in my lil red kitchen to sky rocket, this is the first post of what I hope to be a "Taste of Summer" series. I know I'm mainly a baking blog but I hope to share and explore flavors from my summers growing up that may include giving my oven a little break. In the meantime, please have a wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend!!