I used to jog but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass. David Lee Roth (Van Halen)

If you are not a fan of smoothies, then fruit which you know is not going to get eaten can be frozen into ice lollies.  Try this Jamie Oliver recipe for children of all ages.

Jamie Oliver's Strawberry ice lollies

Ingredients

250 g strawberries  or mango etc.

100 ml natural yoghurt , or apple or orange juice

1 teaspoon honey

Method

Put the ripe fruit together with either the natural yoghurt or juice, depending on the type of ice lollies you favour, into a blender or food processor along with one teaspoon honey.  Whizz until smooth.  Taste, and add a little more honey if you think you need to.  Divide the fruit mixture between 4 ice lolly moulds, then add a stick into each one.  Freeze the ice lollies for at least 4 hours or until solid.

frozen red seedless grapes

Freeze one or two bunches of grapes for 2 to 3 hours before serving with grappa and a good chocolate or alternatively, freeze individual grapes spaced out on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper for 4 to 6 hours.  These make ideal ice bombs for dropping into white wine, keeping it cooler for longer.

Personally, I freeze both lemon and limes in slices as well as in wedges.  Not only can I bring out the wedges to accompany fish as required, but the lime wedges are always on hand should an impromptu drinks evening turn into a tequila shot challenge.  Both frozen lemon and lime slices are especially nice dancing in a glass of Vodka tonic or Bacardi.

 As tray freezing limes and lemons works so well, there is no reason why this technique will not be equally successful with oranges.  Just imagine a jug of summer Pimm’s  where in place of boring clear ice cubes, there are flat lemonade ice cubes containing little frozen jewels of orange, lemon and lime.  It is worth noting that surplus fresh orange or apple juice can also be frozen into ice cubes for future use.  I have even frozen cider for use in cooking.

Whilst on the subject of Pimm’s, don’t ever throw away fresh herbs, whether shop brought or home grown.  Herbs freeze wonderfully.  Frozen mint leaves work equally well in Pimm’s and Mojito.

Personally I freeze my herbs flat in plastic bags, crumbling up amounts as required, where others prefer to measure out chopped herbs into ice cube trays, speeding up food preparation time.