Photo credit: Ed Hardy 
Thanks for all the great popsicle feedback, chefs! As it turns out, popsicles do seem to be creeping into restaurants, slowly but surely. Chef Benjamin Lambert from New York’s Bread & Tulips once made heirloom tomato and lemon verbena push pops for 750 people. Lambert makes ’em with cryovac bags, sealed full, vacuumed and then cut. The push pop sleeves can then be filled with the mixture using a turkey baster. Now, not having a cryovac machine at home, I dug around a little and it turns out there are plenty of silicone push pop molds out there. Of course, they’re not really pretty enough to serve in a restaurant, but they’re a good approximation for me. I’ll fill them with something boozy and decadent.
Another stellar idea for an English gin gal like me, although not technically served at a restaurant, is DC Pastry Chef Tiffany MacIsaac‘s Cucumber, Gin and Mint popsicles, sold at Buzz Bakery. Since the cucumber-forward Hendrick’s came into my life, I’ve been experimenting a lot with cucumber gin drinks. So I had to wonder what her gin of choice was. As it turns out, she does use Hendrick’s.
It started warming up this afternoon, so one post-work grocery run to Gourmet Garage later and I was elbow-deep in cucumber goop. Note to self: strain. No recipe, per se, I buzzed some cucumber and mint, added simple syrup until it tasted good, and thinned the mixture out a bit with gin. They’re currently in the freezer, so I’ll report back tomorrow, post taste-test!
Francoise Villeneuve 
