Mentoring Moments for Christian Women » Beverages

Christmas Punch

Molly — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:00:52 +0000

I found this yummy recipe online and adapted it to fit our taste and color preference. It is pretty, simple, and refreshing, and everyone requests the recipe. Variations on the theme allow you to change the color and flavor, too!

Ingredients for Red Holiday Punch:

2 (46 fluid ounce) bottles cranberry-raspberry juice

1 (32 fluid ounce) bottle strawberry daiquiri mix

1 to 2 liters ginger ale (according to taste)

1 to 2 liters raspberry soda (according to taste)

Directions:

In a large container, combine cran-raspberry juice with the strawberry daiquiri mix. Freeze overnight. The next day, put the iced mixture into a punch bowl (see *tips below regarding thawing time) and pour ginger ale and raspberry soda on top (2/3 ginger ale to 1/3 raspberry soda ratio).

*Tip: This will make enough frozen solution to fill 2 to 3 large punch bowls. If you freeze this in a bundt cake pan it will make a nice ice ring, but may take up to 2 ½ hours to thaw. Freeze in quart size Ziploc bags if you need a faster thaw time, as the smaller size will thaw in 30 to 45 minutes into a slushy punch. I do a combination of both, and start thawing the large ice ring early, adding quart size bags of ice as the party progresses to keep the punch slushy.

*Substitutions: substitute Cherry 7 up or Raspberry Ginger Ale for a slightly different flavor, or substitute Diet Sprite instead of Ginger ale for a punch that is not quite as sweet.

VARIATION: Yummy Pink Party Punch

Substitute 1 (32 fluid ounce) bottle pina colada mix for the strawberry daiquiri mix to make a lighter-colored, pink punch suitable for a baby shower or girl’s birthday party.

VARIATION: Tropical Orange Punch

2 (46 fluid ounce) bottles pineapple-orange juice

1 (32 fluid ounce) bottle pina colada mix

2 to 4 liters ginger ale, according to taste

Cheryl’s Thanksgiving Apple Cider

Cheryl — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:00:39 +0000

Treat your Thanksgiving guests to a warm welcome with this festive cider. This healthy cider is different and refreshing with real dissolved apple pieces. It’s also a warm and easy way to welcome your guests as they arrive to Thanksgiving dinner.

Cheryl’s Thanksgiving Apple Cider

Ingredients:
1 gallon pure apple juice or cider
1 cinnamon stick
2 large apples, washed and cored (not peeled)
2 individual herbal apple tea bags.

Preparation:
Add all ingredients to crockpot and stir.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
To serve, remove tea bags and stir.

Wassail

Beckie — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:00:46 +0000

1 quart of strong tea (can use 2 if you have large pot)

3 sticks of cinnamon

1 can of orange juice (46 oz)

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 can of grapefruit juice (46 oz)

1 can of pineapple juice (46 oz)

1/2 cup of grape juice

1/2 cup of lemon juice

12 cloves

Add water to taste, simmer until warm but be sure you do not let it boil. Serve or let cool and reheat in microwave in mug for 1 1/2 minutes.

Store in refrigerator when not drinking to keep from fermenting.

Hot Chocolate and Toast

Molly — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:00:32 +0000

My husband grew up eating warm, buttered toast dipped in steaming mugs of hot chocolate. When I first heard about this tradition, I thought it sounded kind of strange. But I was hooked after just one bite. The crisp toast soaks up the hot chocolate and becomes something so much more than the sum of its parts.

This is our family’s favorite treat after a day in the snow or a brisk night of Christmas caroling.

Toast thick slabs of bread (we prefer white bread for this) and spread generously with butter.
Prepare hot chocolate. My family loves Paula Deen’s recipe.
Dip and enjoy!

Preacher’s Wife Punch

Page — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:00:12 +0000

*6 pks raspberry Kool-Aid
6 cups sugar
6 cups water
4 cups tea
1 large can pineapple juice
1 large can orange juice
2 gallons water

Cook first three ingredients five minutes or until sugar dissolves. Add remaining ingredients. Freeze. To serve punch take out of the freezer 5 hours before you serve. It should be served at slush-like consistency.

*If you prefer a red punch for the holidays, substitute a different flavor Kool-Aid for the Blue Raspberry.

Palmer Family Lemon Tean

Loi — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:24:43 +0000

Loi Palmer, July 2005 MMCW
5 family-size tea bags, 1 quart water, 2 cups sugar, 5 large lemons. Pour water and sugar into medium sauce pan. Heat until boiling. Remove from heat and add tea bags. Cover and let tea steep for 15 minutes. Gently squeeze tea bags into tea to remove excess water and concentrated tea. Discard tea bags. Pour tea into a gallon size container. Squeeze lemons and add the juice to the tea along with enough cool water to fill up the gallon container.

Easy Southern Sweet Tea

Loi — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:24:01 +0000

Bring 3 cups of water to boil. Add 4 family-size tea bags (my choice is Tetley tea). Boil water and tea bags for three minutes. Turn off the heat. Remove and discard the tea bags. Immediately add 1 1/2 cups sugar to the hot tea; stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour the tea into a gallon-sized container and add enough cool water to fill up the container.
Hints: For a clear honey colored tea, remove the tea bags while the water is still hot. To avoid the sugar settling on the bottom of the pitcher, add the sugar while the water is hot. To avoid a bitter or acid taste, add a pinch of baking soda to the boiling water.

Crock-pot Wassail

Loi — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:20:33 +0000

1 (46 oz) can pineapple juice, 1 (24 oz) bottle apple cider, 1 (6 oz) can frozen orange juice concentrate, 1 (12 oz) can frozen lemonade concentrate, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 whole cloves, 1 cheesecloth bag.

Tie cinnamon and cloves in cheesecloth bag. (If you don’t have a cheesecloth bag you can improvise with a coffee filter tied with a twisty tie.) Add spices in cheesecloth to crock pot along with other ingredients. Cover and heat on high for 3 hours. Remove cheesecloth bag. Turn crock pot to warm and serve. This serves 10 to 12 mugs of wassail. You can also cook the wassail in a large pot on the stove.

Peppermint Punch

Loi — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:13:40 +0000

In a large punch bowl mix the following: 1 quart egg nog, 1 quart softened peppermint ice cream, 1 liter of ginger ale.