Frozen treats: People's Pops cookbook has ice pop recipes for every season

"People's Pops" has 55 recipes from the eponymous ice pop shopOn sweltering summer days, it doesn't take much thinking to reach for a fruity ice pop to help cool down. 

Nathalie Jordi, David Carrell and Joel Horowitz would like us to think about frozen treats for every season, however. With their new book "People's Pops: 55 Recipes for Ice Pops, Shave Ice, and Boozy Pops from Brooklyn's Coolest Pop Shop" (Ten Speed Press, $16.99) they've got us covered from summer right through fall, winter and spring.

This book is a stand out because nearly every recipe is based on seasonal fresh fruits in blends with a delightful twist: fresh raspberry pops made with a basil-infused simple syrup, fresh blueberries pureed with moonshine (they suggest Catdaddy  brand), crushed cucumbers with lemon and violet syrup. 

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People's Pops' frozen pop recipes for fall

Cranberry and apple ice pop recipe  

Makes 10 pops

2 small apples, about 3/4 pound ( or 1-1/4 cups applesauce)

1-3/4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1-1/4 cups simple syrup (recipe follows)

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

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Recipe: Baked apples with rice and chicken-sausage stuffing

Rice-stuffed baked apples are among apple recipes at usapple.org. Baked apple recipes offer numerous options ranging from dessesrt types to those stuffed with bread or rice, sautéd vegetables, dried fruit and nuts to meatier choices such as ham and cheese or bread with savory sausage.

The approach is similar for most recipes: Core the apples, stuff them, and then bake in a shallow bath of apple juice or cider. That means there's lots of room for creativity, or to just try filling apple cups with stuffing made from a favorite family recipe.

My recipe was inspired by two recipes: Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage Fruit and Rice Salad from the chicken sausage maker Al Fresco, and the rice-stuffed apple recipe from the U.S. Apple Association. I wanted the sausage diced instead of sliced in the rice salad, and fell for the lovely presentation of the apple association's baked version. The sweet apple chicken sausage was a flavorful, savory complement to the sweet apples and raisins. As a salad, this mixture would certainly be enhanced by the crunch of slivered almonds used in the Al Fresco recipe.

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Baking at home: Mango recipes

Mango-walnut brownie

Mango-walnut brownies 

16 servings

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup light brown sugar

 2 large eggs

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Moist cornbread recipe reduces fat with vidalia onions

The "Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook" has 27 ideas for cornbread among its more than 200 recipes.

Our tests of the recipe for Vidalia Onion Cornbread produced an exceptionally moist and tender, slightly sweet cornbread that didn't last long. With only two tablespoons of fat in the recipe, its pleasing texture is owed to the juiciness of the vidalia onions. 

We tested the recipe in a plain 9-inch cast iron skillet and a 9-inch square glass baking dish. Both came out fine, but testers were more pleased with the cornbread produced by pouring the cornbread batter into the pre-heated cast iron skillet to which a tablespoon of oil had been added. That adaptation of the recipe produced the crust that is typical of traditional Southern cornbread.

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