Barrel Cactus Lemonade Pops (Booster-Stand Algebra)

When the cross-country meet hands out mist bottles and optimism, these pops do the same job for your freezer. Tart lemonade, a blush of prickly-pear, and just enough salt to remind you hydration is a sport.

Fiction for the Club kitchen. No barrel cactus was juiced in this column. Use store lemon and honest syrup.

What you'll need

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice (about six lemons, or one very committed afternoon)
• ½ cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup warm water; cool before mixing
• ¼ cup prickly-pear syrup and a pinch of flaky salt
• Popsicle molds and sticks; patience while the freezer does democracy

How it comes together

1. Stir lemon, syrup, sugar water, and salt until the sugar stops pretending.
2. Taste — adjust sweet/tart like you’re negotiating with the sun.
3. Pour into molds, freeze 4 hours or until a kid asks twice.
4. Unmold under warm tap water; serve on the porch where ravens can judge fairly.

Carl says: If one melts on your wrist, that’s a five-star review in our ZIP code.