In today's New York Times, Mark "The Minimalist" Bittman gives some quick tips on how to make paletas. I thought I'd give it a share, since it's cheap, tasty and healthy (if you care about that kind of thing). Happy summer.
Mexican Summer on a Stick:
"YOU can freeze fruit juice and call it sorbet. You can add a bit of milk or cream to make it richer and smoother, and call it sherbet.
Or you can freeze either form on a stick and call it a paleta. The term, Spanish for “little stick,” describes any sweet ice pop.
Like sorbet or sherbet, these frozen snacks are easily made at home; all you need is a set of plastic molds, sold in many supermarkets, toy stores and online. For a lower-tech solution, you can use small paper cups and insert wooden sticks in them once the mixture freezes hard enough to support them.
Throughout Mexico, paletas are made with fresh fruit and not much sugar, pretty much the opposite of commercial sorbets and sherbets sold here.
A couple of good examples are bananas puréed with milk, vanilla (lime or lemon are also good options) and sugar; and berries, puréed and mixed with lime, a touch of chili, and, again, some milk and sugar.
In every case, the dairy is optional. Adding it produces a paleta de leche, which has a more distinctive texture than the dairy-free paleta de agua, which is icier.
If you can imagine a paleta, you can produce it. I’ve made them with horchata, the sweet rice-milk drink spiked with cinnamon that is sold throughout Mexico and in many Mexican restaurants in the United States. I’ve made them with a combination of cucumber, watermelon and lime (more or less traditional), and from little more than canned coconut milk sweetened with sugar and spiked with a bit of rum.
For the fruit, consider pineapple (best puréed with water or a little pineapple juice), lime, melon, mango or berries. Seasonings can include citrus (lime is especially popular), spirits, cinnamon and chili.
You can even make something approaching a chocolate ice pop by starting with hot cocoa, made with more water than milk, then freezing it.
In each case, purée the fruit with enough liquid to make the mixture really smooth, strain to extract seeds if necessary, and taste the juice before you freeze it. Then add more sugar or seasoning accordingly."
If they haven't already, most local liquor stores will soon have the summer seasonals on display. But have you ever wondered about what happens to all the left over spring beers?
In the instance that there is actually leftover beer (don't laugh, it happens), most liquor stores are forced to get it off the shelves in a hurry to make room for the fresher batch. This means CHEAPER BEER.
I'll admit, I'm not normally a fan of cheap beer (specifically anything that comes in a can), but we aren't talking about Keystone. Shortly after the spring seasonals rolled out, I was in my local liquor store to pick up a sixer of Magic Hat (click here to follow Magic Hat on Twitter). While there, I saw a display for $3.99 six packs of Magic Hat's Roxy Rolles winter amber. After re-reading the display at least 5 times, I quickly snatched up an entire case for under $15!
Keep this in mind when making beer runs between seasons, and maybe you'll find your own pot 'o gold.
Get your grub on at GearCrave before 11:59 p.m. TONIGHT, for your chance to win one of 25 FREE t-shirts courtesy of Design by Humans. I signed up for sure, and hope to be the proud owner of "billy the money buffalo goes to a party." Couldn't have said it better myself! Design by Humans boasts plenty of rad tees and is definitely a site I'll be checking out in the future.
In the past 2 weeks I have ordered a total of 7 t-shirts online. Before you judge me as an addict, hear me out. First I won a free t-shirt from the NerdyShirts/GearCrave giveaway. Then, I succumbed to the temptation of the NerdyShirts $1 sale and ordered 3 tees for $3 (plus shipping). And last, to cap it all off, I finally scored a $25 giftcard to Threadless by nailing a T-Critic bonus question!
Now here's where you have to get creative. Normally, $25 would be enough for one tee plus shipping, with some change left over. After scouring the all-too-familiar Threadless catalog, I found a tee for $15 and a couple more for $5 each, totaling $25 exactly! After deducting the giftcard balance, all it cost me was $5.05 for shipping. Keep an eye on T-Critic, and maybe you can pick up a giftcard of your own! Bonus and secret questions aside, T-Critic is an uber-hip blog to satisfy any t-shirt addict's craving.
One of my favorite things about the internets is the never ending access to free tunes. If I'm not ordering albums from independent sellers on Amazon, I'm tearing through a fully loaded queue at SpiralFrog. The rapidly expanding service is one of the top three distributors of online music, and is largely web-based (not requiring massive software installation). After registering, I've downloaded many albums from groups like The Mars Volta and The Killers, and in return all I have to do is renew my account once a month by answering an uber-short survey about how you listen to your tunes. One drawback: audio files are not iPod compatible (which is no big deal, if you're opposed to the evil Apple monopoly).
Looking for new kicks? Check out the Nike Swindles, now half off at Nike.com. Or if you've got some cash to throw around, design your own Air Max 1 iDs (via GearCrave).
If you like the coffee half as much as I like the Dunkin' Donuts TV spots, then you might have heard about today's Free Donut Day. To get your extra munchie (versus Munchkin), all you need to do is swing by any Dunkin' location and order a cup of hot coffee. Free donut with your purchase.
Missed out on your free donut? Ain't no thang. Check back on May 15, and get a free small iced coffee. That's right; just show up and pick a flavor. No purchase necessary! Join the Facebook Event here.
Thanks to the good folks at GearCrave and NerdyShirts, who just gave away 10 t-shirts to lucky winners (including yours truly).
Wanna know how to win your own free t-shirt? Read blogs. Forget throwing 'bows every time the free t-shirt squad rolls by with the free-t launcher. Set up your feeds, and pick your blogs (perhaps this one?). No need to bury your head in the blogosphere; just a few should do the trick.
For example, I am a huge fan of T-Critic. When T-Critic broke the news of GearCrave's contest with NerdyShirts, I jumped on it. All I had to do was throw up a link in the comments and *BOOSH* free t-shirt.
Welcome to the inevitable debut of 'How to be a Dude on a Dime,' my blahg dedicated to bringing readers the best in deals, design and all out gut-busting (be it beer or humor). To save time, here's a list of what I aim to cover:
t-shirts
music
sneaks
movies
good times (beer and grub)
funny shit
While I'm obviously not out to change the world, I can make a difference in the wallets of fellow dudes (and chicks on occasion). Moral of the story - Never pay retail.
