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Pops!

Icy Treats For Everyone

By Krystina Castella (Quirk Books) $15.95, 127 pages.

ISBN 978-1-59474-253-8

We are tired of sweet. Sweet is for kids. We like our artisanal chocolate salty and our martinis extra dry. So when it comes to icy treats, we'll take the tart over the sugary any day. In this fun little summer book, author Krystina Castella has included an inventive range of ice-pop recipes, from the chewy (Rocky Road Pudding Pops) to the chic (Thai Iced Coffee Pops). Even her sweet offerings are more layered than the usual sticky stuff: Ingredients include pomegranate and blood orange, roasted almonds and walnuts. And traditional recipes are given an alt twist, as in this play on the Bloody Mary.

Bloody Geisha Pops

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

12 drops Tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 1/2 cups tomato juice

3/4 cup fresh orange juice

3/4 cups fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup sake

1/2 celery rib, cut into thin strips

In a bowl, combine the Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, celery salt, horseradish and pepper.

In a pitcher, combine juices and sake until well blended. Add sauce mixture and stir in celery strips.

Fill molds with the mixture. Insert sticks. Freeze for at least 12 hours.

Remove from freezer; let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before removing pops from molds.