THE DISH
Peach-blackberry-ginger popsicles (recipe here)

THE INSPIRATION
It isn’t super often that I totally fall in love with a new band; mostly because I hear so much music every week that a lot of it starts to sound the same (my friend Amanda summed that feeling up rather perfectly on Pitchfork this week; I’m not quite at that point of jadedness or whatever you want to call it, but you get the idea). But for some reason when my boss recommended listening to Brooklyn band We Are Augustines (who essentially used to be the band Pela), something clicked and I’ve been listening to their album Rise Ye Sunken Ships more than anything else in the past couple weeks. I can’t even really explain why it gets to me more than a lot of other rock bands, but parts of the album remind me of the National and Against Me! (I know, kind of a weird combination).

The story behind Rise Ye Sunken Ships is pretty heartbreaking; you can read it all on the band’s website, but in short, much of the album is based around singer/guitarist Billy McCarthy’s brother James, who was diagnosed as schizophrenic and committed suicide while the band was recording what was originally going to be a new Pela record. Apparently (at least, according to Wikipedia), the band was named in part for the month of August; the month of two bandmembers’ birthdays, as well as McCarthy’s brother James.

Popsicles perhaps sound a bit too sunny to represent an album with so much pain behind it, but with the pain came a lot of healing. In the song “Augustine,” McCarthy sings, “Keep you head up kid, I know you can swim, but you gotta move your legs.” Ginger and honey are known for their healing powers, while peaches and blackberries are perfectly in season in August (and I got what I used for these at the Greenmarket in Union Square). Anyway, check out the album; it’s pretty great.

THE RECIPE
Adapted from Muffin Tin Mania

Ingredients:

2 small peaches, pitted (about 1 cup chopped)
1/2 cups blackberries
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 tbsp honey
1-2 tsp fresh ginger, chopped (depending on how strong you want the flavor)
20 popsicle sticks

Directions:

• Combine everything in food processor and pulse until it looks like a smoothie (hey, it could be a smoothie!).

• Pour into mini muffin tins; should fill about 20. Leave a little bit of space at the top.

• Wrap tin in foil; press down to see the outlines of each muffin cup.

• Use a sharp knife to poke a small slit in the middle of each muffin cup; insert popsicle stick into the opening (the foil helps them stay up while the mixture is freezing).

• Keep in the freezer for about two hours or until firm; remove by poking one edge of the popsicle with a knife (it should pop right out), or grip the part of the popsicle stick closest to the muffin tin and carefully wiggle back and forth.