The latest trend in food is a welcome change for once: urbanites are going locavore.  This move towards eating local sources the best of what's available now – especially when indulging in icey summer treats. If you ever fancied yourself a Martha Stewart ingénue, but with a Rebecca Minkoff tote and a taste for marble stone creameries, this is the year for you. Ice cream, popsicles and slushes get makeovers because 2009 is about going local and getting in the kitchen.

Traditionally, those who live by the 160km (100-mile) rule are known as “Locavores”, famous for their love of farmer's markets. If you're on the hunt for the top tastes of summer 2009, this is really where you need to begin. The seasonal tastes are fresh and markets are overflowing with locally grown seasonal fruits - berries especially.

Every food-a-phile has a favorite way to prepare berries.  Ryan Jennings, co-author of Cooking with Booze and Entertaining with Booze, shared his favorite recipe - a fantastic dessert of fresh strawberries, Sambuca and black pepper:

4 cups strawberries
1/4 cup Sambuca
Freshly ground black pepper

Rinse strawberries under cold water and pat dry with paper towel. Pile onto serving plate or shallow bowl and drizzle Sambuca. Sprinkle with pepper to taste and serve.

I on the other hand, inspired by mom-made popsicles, will combine:

2 cups of hulled strawberries (chopped in a blender)
1/2 cup of sour cream
3 tablespoons of honey
a drop of vanilla
... before blending it a little more and pouring it in popsicle molds to freeze.

While homemade popsicles are good, nothing is more nostalgic than a convenience store slushie! It's the original, chill like a popsicle and quench like a drink, summer staple. Now that we're legal, there's no better excuse to mix up Minger's Patio Chill Red Rooster. All it takes:

4 cups cranberry juice
1/2 cup of defrosted orange juice concentrate
1/4 cup defrosted lemonade concentrate
a splash of grenadine syrup
2 cups vodka

Combine in a plastic container and freeze. Scoop into glasses, add a little 7-up or ginger ale and give it a stir to make a float.

The king of all summer treats?  Homemade, hand churned, marble mixed and all natural have been the hot tip in the ice cream world for ages, so it's not hard to turn it into a Locavore thing, even without the fancy gadgets. All you need:

2 lidded coffee tins, large (2lbs/930g) and small (11oz/311g)
duct tape
a bag of ice
salt
1.5 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla

Mix the last 4 ingredients, pour into the small tin and duct tape the lid securely. Place the smaller tin in the larger one and surround with ice, up to an inch from the top; sprinkle in salt and duct tape the lid closed. Now all you have to do is play a light game of soccer with it for about 15 minutes and presto – you have ice cream!

This summer, go locavore for the best icey treats!  What's your favourite summer indulgence?

by Marie Nicola