The colorful cover of this one caught my attention. I've enjoyed getting gourmet frozen pops at a vendor at the Haymarket Farmers Market, and it was great to see a book focused on the types of recipes that create these unique treats. People's Pops is a NYC-based specialty food shop, that focuses on using fresh, locally-grown ingredients in their "popsicles" -- although they can't officially call them that, since "Popsicle" is trademarked to the Unilever Co. In this book, the shop's owners break their palate of ingredients into seasons -- Spring, Early Summer, Midsummer, Late Summer and Autumn. Each season, they identify fresh fruits or vegetables that should be commonly available, and how those ingredients are best prepapred. For examply, the Midsummer season focuses on apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums -- each section also then has 12 unusual recipes, incorporating the theme ingredients with various herbs and spices and a simple syrup. Each recipe then has recommendations for additional ingredient substitutions, which multiply the recipes exponentially. Scattered among the recipes and ingredient profiles are a series of essays from the authors, recalling the evolution of their popsicle business and busines philosophy. I found this book to be a fun, quick read, with beautiful color photos of the featured ingredients and final "pop" results. I can recall having a homemade popsicle kit from Tupperware that allowed my mom, sister and me to experiment with various Koolaid or fruit juice flavors. This book takes that summertime fun to a whole new "foodie" level -- I look forward to trying some of these recipes, as soon as I get my hands on some popsicle molds. Standout recipes for me included: "rhubarb and strawberry", "blackberry and rose", "peach and japapeno", "cantalope and mint", "apple and salted caramel" and "pear and almond". Yum! [Note: A final chapter at the end of the book gives recipes for flavored syrups that can be used when creating "shaved ice" dishes.]

Originally reviewed for my local library's website: http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec12-08.htm ( )