May Contain Whiskey. Can I See Some ID?

There’s whiskey in this post, not in me. Okay, there’s whiskey in me too, but to be fair, I’m Indian. Johnnie Walker runs through my veins. It’s science. Doctors are mystified.

So if we were to put today’s post to a soundtrack, this would probably be the first song on the playlist. I am, and have been for quite some time, enamored with this immensely talented bluegrass band. And even though the lead singer of the Punch Brothers thwacked me in the knee with his bleedin’ mandolin case, I am inviting you all to blast this fun tune whilst making and enjoying the following frozen concoction.

Yes, yes, I am continuing the frozen treat theme. I did warn you all ahead of time in my last post. Since that entry, though, New York City has endured a record-breaking heat wave that would make these popsicles seem, to me, to be a necessity. The whole world is a giant pizza oven right now, it is too sticky to enjoy a proper happy hour, and I need peaches in my life. Enter Peaches and Cream Whiskey Poptails. Exit problem.

So, obviously I needed company for these popsicles. After all, who eats poptails alone (I do!)? Share the wealth, I say. I crashed the twins’ bachelor pad and we went to work. Now, I know the original recipe calls for bourbon, but bourbon’s quite pricey, and since we would only be using a small amount of the liquor (alcohol doesn’t freeze well in large amounts), Jeff and I made the executive decision to purchase a travel-size bottle of scotch whiskey. Actually, we purchased three and now each of the boys has a special souvenir from our adventure.

Here’s what we used:

Peaches and Cream Whiskey Poptails

1 cup of canned crushed peaches (in syrup), drained

2 cups of nonfat plain yogurt

1 tablespoon of honey

1/4 cup of whiskey (just about the contents of one 50 ml bottle, so if you’re taking a trip soon be extra nice to your flight attendant and perhaps you’ll score a free one for this project)

You’re also going to need some mini paper cups and popsicle sticks for this. We purchased Dixie Dinosaur cups because…well, why not? They’re DINOSAURS! Really, though, you won’t want to make these in traditional popsicle molds because they’ll be huge and extra potent. The miniature portion provided by the tiny cup molds will be more than enough to keep you happy without turning you into a sloppy, inebriated mess. Trust.

To start, mash the peaches in a medium-sized bowl until fully crushed. Mix in the yogurt, honey and whiskey. Divide the mixture evenly among the cups. You should end up with about ten. Throw these into the freezer for about an hour, then take them out, stick a popsicle stick in each one, and send them right back in to freeze completely, about 3 to 4 hours. When they’re done, peel off the paper cups and enjoy!

Now, there’s an added bonus to making these pops: the cost. Altogether, we spent about 6 bucks to make ten pops. That includes the Dixie cups and cookie sticks (We couldn’t find popsicle sticks. But why are cookie sticks easier to find than popsicle sticks? And what are cookie sticks?).  That’s 60 cents a pop! $2.00 a person! And that’s me showing off my math skills, by the way. Anyway, these were powerful little suckers (haha…suckers…because they’re popsicles…haha), and also pretty refreshing. I highly recommend them for a lazy day of [responsible] imbibing.

Before I leave you all to bask in the glory of a super cheap, very delicious homemade happy hour, I have good news to share: I’ll be officiating two weddings this Saturday, July 30th as part of the Pop Up Chapel! The Pop Up Chapel is celebrating marriage equality by marrying 24 same-sex couples at Merchant’s Gate in Central Park for free. Fantastic, right? I’m excited and honored to be participating in it, and hope some of you can join the festivities to watch and cheer on the lovely couples.

So, why’d I decide to do it? Well, my first answer to that question, no matter what it’s in reference to, is always “why not?” The general answer is, “Dude, we all pay the same taxes. Come on, now. It’s a no-brainer.” The more specific answer is that my very best friend is gay and it used to confound me that she didn’t have the same rights that I did. I’m fortunate enough to have a best friend whom I’ve known for most of my life and who’s seen Super Duper Sad Shibow more times than I’d care to admit. She’s stuck by me anyway. (She’s also seen Very Adventurous Shibow, since we have an annual Risk/Death Wish Day that I’ll get into in a future post). If anyone deserves even the option of this institution, it is her. I won’t go into that much more detail about this, and I’m not even sure she knows that that’s why I’m doing this, but yeah…there it is. Well, this entry got heavy pretty quickly, huh? Maybe the soundtrack to this part of the post should be the tiniest violin in the world.