Easy Party Punch

Guess what’s making a comeback – punch – Easy Party Punch, to be exact! Grandma had a few recipes for punch, because back in the day, punch used to be a big thing at parties and celebrations of every kind. She loved to tie on her apron and get to work putting a great party or gathering, but she also loved to have a few easy to make and pull together recipes that didn’t take a lot of effort. A few years ago I shared a Punch recipe that was more of a lemon-y one. This one is very red and festive – perfect for this time of year! Nice for Christmas or New Year’s or maybe even Valentine’s Day, this Easy Party Punch will get everyone in the mood to party. You can make this recipe as is, and kids can enjoy it, too, or add an adult beverage like vodka and really make it a PARTY!

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Easy Party Punch

This recipe makes a BIG batch – the card says 1 1/2 gallons – so I once again decided to make half of this recipe for us.

Dissolve:

1 package Cherry Kool-Aid

1 package Strawberry Kool-Aid

2 cups sugar

3 quart water

Add:

1 6-ounce can frozen orange juice

1 6-ounce can frozen lemonade (my store didn’t carry 6 ounce cans, so I used a 12 ounce can of lemonade and no orange juice for this half batch)

Stir in just before serving:

1 or 2 quarts ginger ale (we decided to also try using club soda, or half ginger ale and half club soda, because this punch is “plenty sweet” – that was still delicious)

Makes approximately 1 1/2 gallons. (Because this makes such a big batch, I made a half batch and used the whole 12-ounce can of frozen lemonade instead of both lemonade and orange juice, even though a half batch would normally only call for 6-ounces of frozen juice total.)

I wanted to make an ice ring to put in the punch bowl, and normally I would have used the lemonade to make it so the ring wouldn’t dilute the punch. This time I thought I’d try something a little different and make it with ginger ale. I put maraschino cherries, lemon slices, and mint leaves in it before pouring in the ginger ale.

Using a Bundt pan makes it so pretty! After freezing, the ring was kind of weird – like the bubbles in the ginger ale froze funny – so I’d use the lemonade next time. Just make sure to use the right amount of water total for the punch and the lemonade.

I mixed this up right in the punch bowl. Easy peasy.

Making a half batch didn’t make much right away, until I put in the ice ring. The ice ring would be part of the total liquid – so no dilution.

See how weird the ice ring got? Next time I’ll use the lemonade. I tried to make a pattern with the fruit, too, but when putting the pan into the freezer, the fruit all moved around. Next time – I’d just throw it all in there. It’s still pretty.

So pretty! So delicious! So festive!

Here’s an impressive party tip – fan out the napkins so your guests can take one easily. I started doing this for parties in high school, and everyone still gives me a hard time about it. It only takes a few minutes and obviously everyone is impressed by it (or they wouldn’t give me such a hard time).

Another way to make the punch pretty – I skewered a half of a lemon slice and a cherry on a toothpick. Just put it into the cup of punch for every MORE festivity!!! Can you ever be TOO festive? I think not. Make up a batch of this Easy Party Punch for your next party, and let the partying begin!

 

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