English & Spanish
All Ages
Paletas
STEM
Cooking
Kindness
LA Food Scene
summary
Popsicle season is year-round, and that’s something I’m prepared to fight about. Today I have two fantastic books that celebrate the paleta in all forms, a picture book and a cookbook!
If you haven’t checked out Ericka Sanchez’s website Nibbles & Feasts yet, be prepared to have your mind blown. She takes beautifully vibrant photography and creates a mix of traditional Mexican recipes and some with delicious twists!
Flipping through her cookbook Aguas Frescas & Paletas, I was instantly entranced by all of the fresh and colorful recipes. Broken into 2 sections, one for Paletas and one for Aguas Frescas, the flavor combinations that Ericka has created made it super difficult to choose a recipe to try first. I ended up choosing to make an agua fresca into a paleta, making double layer pops with pink lemonade and minty prickly pear & raspberry! Definitely delicious, and I definitely recommend. I’ll be drinking the rest of the agua fresca with dinner tonight!
Cooking is not only an important skill for everyone to learn, but reading and measuring recipes helps with mathematical skills. What better way to learn the basics and try new things than a book dedicated to popsicles and delicious beverages?
So say you just can’t manage to make yourself some delicious paletas…I get it, we’ve all been there. That’s where the much revered Paletero Man comes in, with his cart filled with delicious frozen treats. In the story Paletero Man, a young boy is chasing down all of our personal heroes, a man who rolls through the streets providing much-needed cool tastiness to folks.
The unnamed main character is on a search through the streets of Los Angeles for Paletero José on the hottest day of the year, his yearning for a popsicle even greater than the heat of the sidewalks.
While searching for Paletero José, his pocket money gets lost. In the hustle and bustle of greeting all of the street vendors while on his search, laser-focused, it somehow goes missing! The community comes together in this story in a very sweet way that I simply cannot spoil, but it will leave you with an intense craving for your own paleta!
Did you know that this story is also based on a song?! Lucky Diaz authored this book, and Micah Player has created absolutely adorable illustrations (my favorite spread is when the main character is thinking of all the tasty paleta flavors). You can listen to the song by clicking this link, and I will eagerly await your videos dancing to this catchy tune while eating your favorite flavor of popsicle.
Paletero Man was kindly sent by Harper Kids, and Aguas Frescas & Paletas was sent by Familius. They’re both fantastic, and all opinions are my own! If you want to see more from Ericka Sanchez, make sure you watch this video from when we made some tasty recipes together from her book!