Chill Out with Frozen Pops

They drip. We lick. They're cold. We're hot. Frozen pops are the perfect match for summer. And the rainbow colors? They're the vivid shades that seem to shout out the season: ORANGE! GREEN! YELLOW! RED! BLUE! PURPLE! (There's nothing subtle about these hues.)

The most noteworthy attribute? With such a treat in hand, we're all kids. The younger set aren't the only ones whose ears perk up at the melodic sound of the Good Humor truck's musical refrain.

Of course, you don't have to wait for the truck to rumble by. Nor do you have to make a run to the grocery store to stock up on your favorite flavors of packaged treats. If you've got a freezer, you can make the frozen pops yourself, even if you don't consider yourself a cook. (There's no cooking involved.)

So gather those craft sticks, stock up on paper cups and get out the blender.

Here are some suggestions to get you on your way to making frozen pops. Combine any flavors to taste, pour into containers and freeze.

• Iced tea and juice, or iced tea and sorbet.

• Juice or fruit nectar combinations, such as mango-orange, pineapple-banana or others. Yogurt drinks also can be frozen.

• Lemonade with grenadine or flavoring extracts, or puréed fruit (berries, peaches, cherries).

• Tropical Pops: 1 cup pineapple juice, 2 cups diced mango, 2 bananas and 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice.

• Frozen Piña Colada: 1-1/2 cups pineapple juice, 1/2 cup cream of coconut.

• Coconut Mango Freeze: Juice from 1 lime, 3 scoops mango sorbet, 1 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup water.

• Citrus Pops: 1 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup grapefruit juice, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 sliced banana tossed in a bit of lemon juice.

• Yogurt Freeze: 2 cups plain or vanilla yogurt, 6-ounce can frozen orange juice concentrate, 2 tsp. vanilla extract.

• Watermelon: Puréed watermelon chunks, apple or pineapple juice, and lemon juice.

Basic Pudding Pops

Ingredients:

1 cup hot water
one 3-ounce package instant pudding mix
1-1/2 cups cold water or milk

Preparation:

Add hot water to powdered pudding mix and stir to dissolve. Add cold water or milk and mix well. Pour into containers and freeze.

Yield: About 10 (3-ounce) pops.

Basic Frozen Fruit Pops

Note: Without gelatin, the water in the juice in the frozen pop will separate. It won't matter to kids and probably not to you if you're hot and thirsty. But to get the consistency of store-bought, a little dissolved gelatin will help. If you don't have the gelatin, just skip this step.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fruit juice, milk or water
1 cup hot water
1/2 (0.25-ounce) envelope unflavored gelatin
2 cups puréed fruit
2 to 3 Tbsp. sugar, or to taste

Preparation:

Combine the fruit juice and hot water. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and let sit for 1 minute, and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Add fruit and sugar, and stir. Pour into containers and freeze.

Yield: about 10 (3-ounce) pops