This is a sponsored post in partnership with the California Walnut Board. All words and opinions are our own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help us do what we do!
While you’re reading this, we’re embarking on our second family vacation as a family of five. Truth be told, we were supposed to go with friends and it’s been something we had looked forward to for months. But our dear friends’ daughter fell ill (nothing too serious!) and they had to cancel the trip. We had already coordinated time off from work and with our nanny, and booked the rental house, so here / there we are! Last summer, we went to Portland as a family, and while it wasn’t 100% smooth sailing, I remember driving home and feeling really confident. Like, we got this whole big family parenting thing! I’m really hopeful that future me feels the same way right now.
The other day, while I was driving to work at my studio space that I share with my friend Joanna, I was listening to KEXP when they started playing Abba’s Dancing Queen. To this day, that album marks the day I realized I could have things in common with my parents.
We were driving to New York City from our home in Jersey when I was about 10 or 11, and my dad threw a CD into the stereo. While I’d normally quickly throw on my own headphones, I had perked up. Whatever was playing, I liked it. I remember my parents rocking out, singing along to all their favorite songs. They would have been just a few years older than I am today.
I was immediately transported to our car, the mugginess of the East Coast in the middle of the summer, the weight of my Walkman and CD collection on my lap, and my sweaty feet, trapped in those awful Jelly shoes we all had in the 5th and 6th grade. The memory hung there for a few minutes, and then it dissipated and I was back to thinking a million thoughts about to-dos and work, and grocery shopping. Funny how nostalgia works that way.
This year, I made it my mission to finally join Billy’s famous Popsicle Week, and I’m so glad to be sharing this recipe with you today. Nothing says summer like a fingers stained red, and with a bounty of strawberries in the fridge. Inspired by a recent visit to Pop Bar, which offers an assortment of dips and topping for their popsicles, I dipped mine in chocolate and rolled them in chopped walnuts. They’re pretty spectacular, if I do say so myself.
Chocolate-Walnut Dipped Strawberry Popsicles
*makes about 9 popsicles
For the popsicles:
3 cups of strawberries, hulled and halved
2 tablespoons of agave nectar
1/2 cup of water
For the dip and garnish
1 cup of chocolate chunks
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1/2 cup of walnuts, roughly chopped
1. Combine the strawberries, agave nectar, and water in a blender. Puree until smooth, then pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 4 hours.
2. To make the chocolate dip, combine the chocolate and coconut oil in a heat-proof bowl and set over a double broiler. Stir until melted, then remove from the heat.
3. Run the popsicle mold under warm water and remove one popsicle from the mold. Quickly dip it in the chocolate dip, and immediately dip in the chopped walnuts. Set on a plate to harden, the work your way through the other popsicles. They can be eaten immediately, or refrozen.
This is a sponsored post in partnership with the California Walnut Board. All words and opinions are our own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help us do what we do!
