Punch Recipes

If you're planning a holiday party this season, you should plan to serve punch. The ingredients are generally inexpensive and guests usually sip at it (meaning they don't drink as much as they would if you served sodas). Look for a great punch bowl at yard sales or the flea market. I got mine for $4 and it came with a dozen matching cups.

There are tons of recipes for punch. A few tips:
1. Add the (chilled) ginger ale or other soda just before serving.
2. Pour into the bowl by pouring punch into the ladle as it goes into the bowl. This will keep it from splashing all over you outfit.
3. To keep the punch cold without watering it down, make an ice ring by freezing some of the punch in a bundt pan. Place the ring in the bowl just before serving.
4. Most recipes can easily be doubled, tripled, etc. You can basically use the recipe as a proportion.


Here are some of my favorite recipes:


Basic Red Punch
bottle fruit punch
1/2 bottle ginger ale
 Cranberry-Orange Punch
bottle cranberry juice (cranberry cocktail is fine)
most of a bottle of Triple Sec 
bottle ginger ale

White Punch
bottle white grape juice
can  
1/2 bottle ginger ale

Ice Tea Punch
iced tea (sweet, of course!)
lemon juice
orange juice
ginger ale
mint sprigs (optional)