[1] First, make the ice pops. Serve them with sliced watermelon and Coors Light (both photos © Coors Light).

[2] Before taking a bite, dip the pop into the chili salt blend. Bite, enjoy, then have a sip of Coors Light.

National Michelada Day is July 12th. But because you might want to serve these over the July 4th holiday weekend, we’re giving you a head start.

For those who crave both ice pops and beer, here’s an idea from Coors Light: two Mexican favorites, a paleta (ice pop) crossed with a michelada (beer cocktail).

The Coors Light “Palecheladas” are a treat on a hot day. Developed as an easy recipe by Fany Gerson of New York’s La Newyorkina sweet shop to create a simple recipe.
 
 
RECIPE: COORS LIGHT PALECHELADA BY LA NEWYORKINA

Ingredients For 4-6 Pops

 
Preparation

1. WHISK the salt, lime juice, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce in a pitcher. Once mixed, add the beer and blend until it’s all combined.

2. POUR the mixture into an ice pop mold and freeze for approximately 5 hours or overnight. To release from conventional molds…

3. DIP the paleta in warm water to help loosen it from the mold. Carefully pull it out, dip it in the chili salt blend and serve.

Here’s a step-by-step video.

If you like beer and hot sauce, the michelada (mee-cheh-LAH-dah) is a drink you should try.

It’s a traditional Mexican beer cocktail (“cerveza preparada,” in Spanish), consisting of beer, lime and hot sauce served over ice in a salt-rimmed glass.

 
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*You can use a store-bought blend like Tajín Seasoning, or make your own by mixing coarse or kosher salt with any ground chili spice.
 

Want a super-easy dessert for July 4th weekend?

This trifle combines sweetened, beaten cream cheese with fresh berries. There’s no cooking: Just add sugar and vanilla to the cream cheese, and layer it with the berries.

It’s like an unbaked cheesecake, a nice change from the classic British custard-and-pound-cake trifle.

Thanks to Taste of Home for the recipe.
 
 
RECIPE: JULY 4TH TRIFLE IN RED, WHITE & BLUE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. BEAT the cream cheese, sugar and extracts in a large bowl until fluffy. Fold in the whipped cream.

2. PLACE a third of the mixture in a 4-quart bowl. Reserve 20 strawberry halves and 1/2 cup of the blueberries for the garnish.

3. LAYER half of the the remaining strawberries and blueberries over the cream mixture. Top with another third of the cream mixture and the remaining berries. Spread the remaining cream mixture on top.

4. CREATE a flag design on top with the reserved strawberries and blueberries.

[1] An easy July 4th dessert, no cooking required—just a little mixing (photo © Taste Of Home).

[2] Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries from Driscoll’s (photo © Driscoll’s Berries).

For more July 4th desserts, check yesterday’s post.

[1] An Independence Day ice cream cone (photo courtesy Baldor Specialty Foods).

[2] You can make ice cream with holiday sprinkles, or soften regular vanilla and stir them in (photo © OddFellows Ice Cream | NYC).

Here’s an easy and fun red-white-and-blue dessert or snack for the July 4th holiday weekend made with:

 
Just insert the blueberries into the raspberries, and press the fruit lightly into the ice cream.

TIP: Freeze the berries lightly so you can press them in without crushing the fruit.

Thanks to Baldor Specialty Foods for the idea.
 
 
MORE JULY 4TH DESSERTS

We’ve lived in New York City our whole life but had never heard of Grandma Pizza. Maybe it’s because we didn’t have an Italian grandmother.

According to King Arthur Flour, which has a wealth of baking knowledge (and lots of delicious recipes):

A New York City staple, Grandma Pizza has its origins in the homes of America’s Italian ancestors.

Preparing the dough the day before ensures a fresh-from-the-oven pie in less than an hour, once you’re ready to bake and serve.

They’ve given us the recipe, below.

Grandma Pizza is served in thick, square slices with crispy edges, similar to Sicilian-style pizza, yet different.

 
 
> The history of pizza.

> Forty different types of pizza.
 
 
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

Pizza Pan. This pizza is baked in a “Grandma-Style” pizza pan, 14″ x 1″ (photo #1). You can substitute an 18” x 13” baking sheet.

King Arthur Flour sells the pan and the dry ingredients in a bundle, as well as separately.

Italian-Style Flour. For this recipe, the bakers used Italian-style flour (photo #3), their version of Italian “00” (that’s zero zero), which refers to the grind of the flour. It’s exceptionally fine-textured.

Italian-Style flour is lower in protein and “mellower,” per the KAF team. “It yields the friendliest, gentlest dough to work with: supple, smooth, and easy to shape.”

The resulting baked goods are light, airy, and have a crisp snap to the crust. It’s ideal for pizza, flatbreads, focaccia, and crackers. Try it in delicate pasta recipes like gnocchi and lasagna.

You can buy it here, or substitute unbleached all-purpose flour.

Pizza Dough Flavor. The recipe also uses Pizza Dough Flavor, a powder that’s added to the dough. The main ingredients are cheddar cheese powder and garlic powder*.

Ready to bake?
 
 
RECIPE: GRANDMA PIZZA

Prep time is 20 minutes, and bake time is 12 to 15 minutes. The dough needs to rise for 4 hours, but you can make it the day before and let it rise overnight.

Evidently, Grandma didn’t add toppings (what—no fresh basil?), but you can add whatever you wish. Because the pizza gets sliced into squares, you can position different toppings on different squares—or at least, different rows.

You also can offer DIY toppings: Fill ramekins with basil, chiles, olives, pepperoni, etc. and let everyone customize their slices.

Ingredients

[1] Grandma used an all-purpose pan to make pizza at home (all photos © King Arthur Flour).

[2] Forget those triangular slices: It’s so much easier to cut squares.

[3] Lower in protein and mellower than traditional Italian 00 flour, it creates baked goods that are light, airy, and have a crisp snap to the crust. It’s ideal for crackers, flatbreads, focaccia, and of course, pizza. Also try it in delicate pasta recipes like gnocchi.

[4] King Arthur Flour’s Pizza Dough Flavor adds a punch to pizza crusts and Italian breads. Customers say this addition is worth every cent.

 
Preparation
 
1. MAKE the crust: Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix and knead—by hand, mixer, or bread machine—to form a smooth, elastic dough. Place the dough in a large bowl (at least 5 quarts), cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

2. ASSEMBLE and bake the pizza: Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 500°F. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a grandma-style pizza pan or an 18” x 13” baking sheet, and spread it around to coat the pan. Note: It’s best to use a dark pan for this recipe, to achieve a crust with a crispy bottom and edges. Lighter pans will result in a softer crust.

3. TURN the dough out into the pan, gently deflating it as you stretch it to the edges and corners. If the dough starts to shrink back, cover it with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let it rest for 10 minutes before resuming the stretching.

4. COVER the dough and allow it to rest for 30 minutes until it has puffed slightly.

5. TOP the crust with the cheese, spreading it all the way to the edges of the pan. Then dollop or spread the sauce over the cheese. Bake the pizza in the bottom third of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is golden.

6. REMOVE the pizza from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into squares; serve hot. Refrigerate any leftover pizza well wrapped; reheat individual slices in a 325°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
 
 
Here’s to you, Grandma!
 
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*Other ingredients are yeast extract, maltodextrin, lactic acid powder, lecithin and silicon dioxide. We haven’t tried it, but those who have are real fans. Check out the Amazon reviews (but buy direct from King Arthur Flour—it’s cheaper there).

[1] Pretty pasta, with colorful nutrition from kale and tomatoes (photo and recipe © DeLallo).

[2] DeLallo’s authentic Italian spaghetti (photo © DeLallo).

[3] Different varieties of kale. Through the Middle Ages, kale was one of the most common green vegetables in Europe. Curly-leaf and flat-leaf varieties were cultivated in Greece as far back as the fourth century B.C.E. Today, varieties of kale have different stem lengths, varying leaf types, and leaf colors from light to dark green and violet-green to violet-brown (photo © National Kale Day).

If you combine an equal amount of spaghetti with kale, does the kale offset the carbs?

No, but it does create a textured, flavorful, and with added cherry tomatoes, colorful dish of spaghetti. Here’s the recipe from DeLallo.
 
 
RECIPE: SPAGHETTI & KALE

Ingredients For 4-6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. BRING a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of hot pasta water.

2. COOK the pancetta over medium heat in a large pot until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to a paper towel-covered plate and reserve the drippings in the pot.

3. ADD the oil and garlic and to the drippings and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until the garlic is fragrant and light golden, about 6 minutes.

4. ADD the kale in batches, and cook, tossing until wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

5. ADD the pasta, pancetta, tomatoes, lemon juice and reserved pasta water. Cook, stirring, until a sauce forms, about 2 minutes. Divide the pasta mixture among bowls and serve.
 
 
HOW SPAGHETTI IS MADE

Meaning “small strings” in Italian, spaghetti may be the best-known pasta.

This long form originated in southern Italy, where it is traditionally served simply, with a sauce of fresh tomatoes and herbs.

The durum wheat fields of Puglia, Italy, have a climate and soil that produce premium grains of wheat. They are milled into semolina flour and combined with spring water. Premium pasta is then extruded using bronze plates (instead of the steel ones you may have seen on home pasta machines).

The bronze plates give pasta its authentic texture: a coarse surface to which sauce will cling. The traditional method of slow drying at low temperatures gives the pasta its fresh-bread taste and the ability to cook perfectly al dente.
 
 
Check out more types of pasta in our Pasta Glossary.
 
 
Plus:

 
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*Substitute bacon, Canadian bacon, pork belly, prosciutto, smoked ham or smoked sausage.