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Festive Party Punches
By Brenda Hyde
There is something festive about a bowl of punch
served in dainty glasses from an old fashioned
punch bowl. Whether you are visiting with family
on Christmas Eve, throwing a traditional New
Year's Eve bash or gathering for a special birthday,
try one of these festive punch recipes!
Try steeping 1/2 to 1 tsp. of rosemary leaves
for 5 minutes in hot fruit juice. Cool the mixture and add
to your punch recipes.
Old Fashioned Fruit Punch
This is from the Rumford Complete Cook Book-1931
2 pounds sugar
2 quarts water
2 quarts mineral water
1 large pineapple, shredded
Juice of 6 oranges and 4 lemons
2 cups sliced strawberries
3 sliced bananas
1 cup raspberry or other fruit syrup
Cracked ice
Boil the sugar with one pint of the water
to form a syrup; add the remaining water,
mineral water, fruit and ice. Served very cold.
Mix gelatin and water, add thawed strawberries,
lemonade and sugar. Before serving add the
gingerale.
Banana Fruit Punch
Ingredients:
5 Bananas
46 ounce can pineapple juice
12 ounce can frozen orange juice
4 tablespoons Real Lemon concentrate
4 cups sugar
6 cups water
2 liter bottle of lemon lime soda
Process bananas in blender until pureed. Mix
with other ingredients, except for soda. At
this point you can freeze the punch in a container,
and break up in a punch bowl one hour before
serving, adding the lemon lime soda at this time.
Citrus Punch with Sherbert
Ingredients:
1 large can pineapple juice, chilled
1 large can grapefruit juice, chilled
2 liter bottle lemon lime soda
Lime or lemon and orange sherbert
Mix beverages together and place
small scoops of sherbert on top. This
makes 1 punch bowl.
Tropical Kiwi Punch
Ingredients:
12 ounce can Pina Colada Mix
2 kiwi, peeled and sliced
1 banana, sliced
Vanilla ice cream
2 12 ounce cans cold gingerale
In a blender combine the Pina Colada Mix,
kiwi and banana. Mix until smooth. Freeze
the mixture for one hour. Pour 1/4 cup of
this mixture into 8 glasses, dividing evenly.
Top each with a scoop of ice cream. Add
the chilled gingerale to each glass to fill.
Top with a slice of kiwi if desired. Serve
immediately.
Brenda Hyde is a freelance writer living on ten acres in rural Michigan with her husband and three kids. Stop by and visit her garden blog, Garden of Grace & Whimsy, and her photography blog, A Dance of Words & Photos.
SeptemberLady "Born and have lived in Southern MD most of my life. My husband and I just finished building a new home on the family farm, where I hope to retire in the near future.
My interests: Doll collecting, cookbook collector (especially old ones), antiques, family/friend get-togethers, cooking/baking, flower and vegetable gardening, bird-watching."
Memorial Day: Backyard Grilling Memorial Day signals the start of barbecue season. Everyone wants to light that fire and charcoal that first meal. A few tips might pre- vent your entree from becoming a "Burnt Offering."
Read these tips for plenty of grilling ideas, make this year's barbecue perfect!
Growing and Using Garlic Chives Garlic chives, Allium tuberosum, is a hardy perennial (Zones 3-9) that will grow to about 12 inches high. The stems are skinnier and flat, instead of hollow as are regular chives, with greenish white blooms that are about an inch wide and not as rounded. They bloom in the summer rather than spring. The bloom stalks grow much taller than the leaves, sometimes up to 30 inches.
The stems and blooms are both edible and have a mild garlic onion taste. I've noticed many writers will list this as primarily as an Asian herb, as they are also known as Chinese chives, Chinese leeks, ku chai (China) or Nira (Japan), but it has many other uses as well!
The Perfect Porch Swing Perhaps it is the soothing rhythm or the reassuring creak of the porch swing that attracts us. Perhaps it is the companionable silence or quiet conversation. Or maybe swings simply remind us of more genteel times.
Although porch swings can be purchased in a wide range of materials, the most common are wicker and wood. You can also make your own porch swing from one of the myriad of woodworking patterns available at garden centers, hardware stores, or on the Internet.
Memorial Day: Backyard Grilling
Growing and Using Garlic Chives
The Perfect Porch Swing