Sluttishly Brilliant: Snow Cones and Slushies

Hands up if you wanted a Mr Frosty machine when you were little. Ok, hands down, the other people in your train carriage think you're mad. If you did raise your hand (or wanted to, but refrained because the boss was watching you), I'm with you. I thought Mr Frosty was the most amazing toy ever invented, next to Hungry Hippos, but I never got one. I'm told, by people who did have one, that it was actually jolly hard work to grind up enough ice for just one cone so, really, I didn't miss out.

I rather like this grown-up version from Prezzy Box. This snow cone maker uses stainless steel blade to crush the ice in seconds so there's no hard work when you want an icy snack (just make sure you've got enough ice). At £49.95, it's not cheap, but think of the hours of fun you could have with it! The syrups are sold separately for £5.95, and you can chose from strawberry, or the obligatory blue raspberry. Alternatively, you could make a properly grown up snow cone with some homemade rhubarb and vanilla or elderflower and lavender syrup.

While we're reminiscing, who remembers Slush Puppies? For me, they were a treat reserved for after school swimming lessons, when my mum wasn't around to disapprove! Ok, so I'd probably use this slushie beverage station to make frozen cocktails, but the principle's still the same, isn't it? Suddenly, frozen raspberry daiquiris and margaritas are only minutes away. I'd put a pitcher of hard lemonade in there and make a zesty, boozy slushie to be proud of. The slushie station isn't available until Saturday (20th July), but you can pre-order it from I Want One of Those, it's £49.99. In the meantime, you can start plotting all the various and wonderful concoctions you'll make!