It’s been a cloudy, rainy couple weeks in San Francisco, but it did officially become Spring this past Monday. And while summer is a cold, foggy mess here in the city, spring can be a bounty of warm, sun-drenched days. The perfect time to enjoy a popsicle!

Rain or shine, ice cream is pretty popular treat, however, popsicles are fast becoming an ice-y favorite. First of all, you can easily make them at home and secondly they are (or least you can tell yourself that they are) a healthier ice cream alternative.

Ever popular in the Mission, paletas (“a Latin American ice pop usually made from fresh fruit” according to Wikipedia) can be seen eagerly devoured by both young and old. And now you can make your own! Paletas: Authentic Recipes for Mexican Ice Pops, Shaved Ice & Aguas Frescas by Fany Gerson (Ten Speed) will be coming out this summer as are, according to a piece in Publisher’s Weekly, a whole slew of the popsicle-oriented recipe books.

There are also Ice Pops: Recipes for Fresh and Flavorful Frozen Treats by Shelly Kaldunski (Weldon Owen, June 2011) featuring blueberry-lemon verbena ice pops, tangerine-bergamot ice pops, orange-blackberry sangria ice pops, and chai tea ice pops. And another hopeful is Popsicles: And Other Fruity Frozen Treats by Sunil Vijayakar, Liz Franklin, and Elsa Peterson-Schepelern (Ryland, Peters & Small, April 2011) wit highlights that include: a tangerine and plum sorbet on a stick, maple and peach frozen yogurt squares, and cranberry and mango bars. Yum!

Perhaps there will be a special event or class at Omnivore Books or 18 Reasons in the coming months?

For more, go here.

• Tag: popsicles, treats, trends