Hi guys! Before I jump into these delicious lychee shiso (sake) popsicles, I want to share a couple of news to break:

1. Since 6/20, I’ve been engaged. For our second year anniversary, he was sick, I was grumpy for him stubbornly planning this trip to Niagara Falls; After it rained, we just finished a morning hike and he was insisting that I come check out a “cool concrete slab” because it was a better view to the lake that I was already relaxed at. I reluctantly came over. Then, he started speaking strange gushy romantic talk to me, which made me suspicious that he wanted something. Then, he got onto one knee and I screamed. Then, I screamed again after he opened a tiny wooden box that revealed a ring. Then when he was looking up with strange puppy eyes for my answer, I told him “I think I’m supposed to be crying…” and gave him a hug and said yes. Yes, his proposal was a total surprise… yes, I screamed a lot…. yes, I was happy….yes, I suspiciously 360 scanned  because I am paranoid of people seeing my awkward facial expressions to precious once in a lifetime moments like that.  But it was awesome because we were by ourselves and could be genuine, and that rock will always be our secret special spot. Not having reception for the following 2 hours was a blur + relief.
2.  Meanwhile, wedding planning from across the country is driving me nuts and I’ve learned why wedding planning is one of the 3 most stressful things in life – there’s so much pressure and even though we want things to be very simple and easy, it isn’t; I totally get why some people run off and elope. Please let me know if any of you have healthy, remedial advice.
3. As I’ve been overwhelmed, I’ve been happily experimenting with various wines, sake, and fruit for popsicles …. because, it’s the end of a good summer.

Lychee, shiso, and raspberries seem like a really weird combo. Aside from how beautiful they unite as a trio, I love how tart raspberries balance out citrus flowery lychees and St Germain.

LYCHEE SAKE POPSICLES

Ingredients

Preparation Time

10 min.

Ready In

12 hrs

Serving Size

6 popsicles

• 1-15 oz. can lychee
• 3-4 fresh raspberries
• 1 fresh lemon
• 3 tbsp. sake
• 2 tbsp. St. Germain
• 2 shiso leaves

Directions

Step 1.

Chop up the shiso leaves into desired thickness.

Step 2.

Thinly slice the lemon

Step 3.

Stir 1 tbsp of sake with 1 tbsp St-Germain in a large cup or cocktail shaker as the base. Then pour in about 1/4 C of the lychee syrup. Mix well.

Step 4.

Add in a few sprigs of shiso leaves and lemon slices.

Step 5.

Pour into popsicle molds and top with 1-2 raspberries.

Step 6.

Freeze for at least 10 hours. Enjoy!

Honestly, it scares me how fast summer has been passing by and that sadly, nothing has really been set for my wedding yet (sigh, all of this pressure and pain of planning from across the country)… but I do hope that your summer is going just as great as mine, and as sweet and fun as these lychee shiso popsicles. Have fun with all the concoctions you can make out of these (don’t think you’re limited to raspberries!) And oh – if you don’t have a cocktail shaker, mixing the ingredients in a large cup would suffice.  And feel free to omit/add more booze 😉 (I particularly love St Germain and this sake I brought back from Kyoto)