Everyone keeps telling me it’s still only spring- that summer hasn’t truly arrived yet, and that we may see many more weeks of inconsistent weather yet.

The boots may come out of the closet again.

The SPF 45 might sit on the shelf for a week or more.

The barbeque cover might be put back on.

I’ve had no interest in hearing it.

I’m not ready to admit that Summer is not officially here.

What would be the fun in that?

We’re back to a week of dreary days, made for bundling up and camping out in the house…for dinners cooked indoors, and movies in the middle of the day.

I’m sitting writing this during a convincingly Summer like evening, windows open, heat turned off, and a cool night breeze blowing through the house.

This evening is following several days of bright, beautiful Summer preview that have seen folks in the Valley crawl out of hibernation, hitting the beach, the backyard, the water park, and experiencing the ultimate in personal solar power.

Oh, the bliss of sunny days.

Today I have a Summer recipe for Raspberry Yogurt Ice Pops. These tasty, two-step pops are a nutritious take on store-bought treats, offering up a serving of real fruit and protein to cool down and fuel your little people on hot, sweaty days that are destined to arrive – sooner or later.

The kids can get in on the action, filling popsicle molds with dollops of yogurt. Bigger helpers can take this opportunity to learn to operate the blender, which will be useful to them in the making of many Summer treats like smoothies and milkshakes.

I have my fingers crossed for popsicle-worthy weather returning to the Valley this week.

If it is ironically rainy when this recipe is published, may I suggest an indoor Raspberry Pop picnic, accompanied by Back to the Beach on DVD, a board game played on the living room floor, and a family discussion of summertime adventures to come.

Raspberry Yogurt Ice Pops (Everyday Food Magazine, summer 2007)

Ingredients:

2 cups plain low-fat yogurt (Robin here: We use goat yogurt as a dairy replacement. Soy-gurt is yummy too. But, too much processed soy can be bad for kiddos. So, be gentle.)
½ cup sugar
½ cup frozen raspberries (about 3 ounces)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk yogurt and sugar to combine. In a blender, place 1 cup yogurt-sugar mixture (reserve the rest) with raspberries; puree until well blended. Press raspberry mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into another medium bowl (discard solids).

2. Dividing evenly, layer yogurt mixtures in six 3-ounce ice-pop molds. Insert ice-pop sticks, and freeze until solid, 4 to 5 hours. To pop out the ice-pops, run warm water briefly over the molds.