All mankind love a punch lover. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Until I started this blog I thought I knew a lot about punch, or maybe more accurately, I thought there wasn’t much to know about punch, so even knowing a little about punch was a lot – boy was I wrong.  There is a history to punch and a complexity I knew nothing about.  There is also a “science” to making a good punch that I am just beginning to delve into.

Probably my biggest misconception was the role of alcohol in punch.  I have never been much of a drinker so most of the punches I have made have been without alcohol.  Apparently I have been living in a kind of punch denial.  As I read books on punch (yes there are quite a few out there) it’s hard to find a recipe without alcohol.  The famous punches through history all have alcohol – what am I to do?

Well if I really want to understand punch I need to be true to the roots.  When I am well versed in the punch basics I can try and create my own punch recipes.  It’s kind of like roasting chicken – if you can’t do it the French way, you really don’t know how to roast a chicken.  After many a trussed, buttered and turned bird I now make whatever variations I want because I know the correct way to roast a chicken.

So I will make the punch true to the recipe and then once I get the basics of a really good punch I will try and make both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions.

I chose today’s punch with my menu in mind, for all of my speaking of historic punches; this is a modern concoction – A Bit of Tropical Heaven on Earth

·         5 cups pineapple juice

·         1 cup tequila (I used silver agave)

·         2 cups orange juice

·         ¾ c strawberry lime juice (I used frozen Welch’s reconstituted)

·         ½ c grenadine

·         ½ c lime juice

·         6 cups ice cubes

Combine the liquids together in a punch bowl and mix well.  Add ice cubes, serve immediately and enjoy.

I am serving my “quasi” famous BBQ chicken salad which has some ingredients – jicama, black beans, and cilantro – that tequila and citrus will go well with.

Andy has already had a cup before he goes off to teach at a training – his reaction was “m-m-m good”.  I gathered my tasting team for tonight (Nick, his wife Meghan, and Sam).  We all liked it, Nick said it reminded him of fruit cocktail, which he assured me was a compliment.  It seemed a little too concentrated, so Meg added some sparkling water, which we all agreed made it much better. 

I liked it although I think the next time I have a Latin “infused” dinner I want to try a Margarita Punch, I think that might be more to my liking than this one.

It has been a difficult few weeks for many close friends and neighbors.   The tragic loss of a daughter taken too soon from her family, the loss of a beloved husband, the near loss of a brother have been sad things to experience even from a distance.

Closer to home there are changes happening in an organization we have been a part of almost since its beginning.  Changes, necessary or unnecessary often bring the pain of loss amidst progress forward.

This evening, as I gathered with half of the source of my greatest joy (Greg, his wife Christina and Katie being the other half of my greatest joy were far from Kansas City) I was grateful for the communal fellowship of gathering round a bowl of punch…here’s to all my friends, may you have many opportunities to gather with those you love...cheers until next time.

The feeling of love is like being enlivened with punch. Samuel Johnson --British author and bon vivant

I returned home last night (April 23) from four days in Colorado for an extended board meeting.  To celebrate the conclusion of the board meetings, we partied with punch—of course!

While I was up there I realized another great thing about punch – it is not affected by high elevation. We were at a beautiful home in Castle Rock (elevation 6800).  The potatoes I cooked for dinner took longer than at home in Kansas City (elevation 800 or so feet),   but not so much with punch.

I love sangria but anyone who watches Chopped on the Food Network as much as I do knows the importance of transforming ingredients (deconstructing punch might be a challenge further down the road)!  So I decided to transform a pitcher of sangria into Rocky Mountain Punch, really a very elementary undertaking.

Rocky Mountain Punch

·         1 ½  cups simply syrup (3/4 c. granulated sugar mixed with 1 ½ cups water, boiled for 3-4 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved)

·         4 large oranges

·         4 lemons

·         4 limes

·         2 cups orange liqueur (I used Triple Sec – it’s not that expensive and just fine for punch)

·         3 bottles red wine

·         1 bottle Pellegrino

·         2 apples

1.       Cool the simple syrup until room temperature.  Slice the oranges, lemons and limes into thinly sliced quarters.  Add half the citrus fruit to the simple syrup (in the pan you made the syrup is fine).  Save the remaining fruit for the punch bowl. With a wooden spoon mash the fruit into the syrup.  Set aside of at least one hour or up to 3 hours to infuse the syrup with the fruit juice.

2.       About 1 hour before serving add the remaining fruit slices to the punch bowl.  Core and slice the apple into thin slices, add to punch bowl.

3.       Pour the infused syrup into the bowl, using a strainer to keep out the infused fruit.

4.       Add the 2 cups orange liqueur to mixture along with the red wine.  Stir well.

5.       Right before serving add the red wine and Pellegrino, and ice (to your liking)

Don’t worry about the ice – it’s a pretty strong punch, it could use a little more watering down.

It was a big hit, even among a punch naysayer, our good friend Morgan.  I few glasses of Rocky Mountain Punch and he became a believer…another convert to the world of punch.

I’m home in Missouri until we go on a family vacation to California in late May, so I’m ready to delve into the annals of punch lore.  I’m hoping to tackle a classic punch from the days of yore.  I have two books on the history of punch (I’m not joking) so I’m looking forward to learning more.

As always, if you make the punch, please send me your comments and ideas for improvement.

Punch, whether it be good or bad, has a powerful influence - George Washington

There isn’t that much written on the history of punch.  Some say it originated in India then made its way to England, but  the OED dumps cold punch on that origin saying it somehow originated by sailors shortening their favorite drink -  puncheon (a kind of rum) and it evolving into a general term for rum beverages. 

But punch has been around for centuries, there were punches  drunk in America by the Colonists.  I’m almost positive George Washington made it for the troops that very cold winter in Valley Forge – of course that would have been a hot punch – George was nothing if not considerate. 

Punch today can be made with or without alcohol; it can be served hot or cold.  It almost always includes fruit juice.  Its base can be fruit juice, tea, lots of rum, lots of bourbon, lots of wine, milk or some kind of carbonated beverage—almost always ginger ale. Although punch is not for the faint of sugarhearts, it should not contain fruit dyes, icky thick syrup or anything that has impossible to pronounce chemicals.

It is usually served in a beautiful punch bowl, with a wonderful glass ladle that is impossible to store correctly and lots of tiny, tiny cups surrounding it. 

 I will serve my punches in punch bowls only when entertaining more than 6 people.  For smaller groups I will use a pitcher, no ladle but I refuse to give up the tiny, tiny cups! But the recipes will be punch recipes, perfect for 2 to 200.

I am going to start with simple recipes and will build recipes on the punch basics as I progress.

This is a perfect quick punch that is also a great beverage to serve any day of the week!

Strawberry Lime Punch

·         1/3 cup sugar

·         10-ounce package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed

·         1/2 cup fresh lime juice

·         1/2 cup orange liqueur i.e.- Cointreau, Grand Marnier (optional)

·         1/2 chilled club soda

·         1 liter ginger ale (or champagne but I refuse to drink inexpensive champagne or use expensive champagne in a punch so ginger ale it is)

·         Strawberries, sliced thin, for garnish if desired

·         Thin lime slices, halved, for garnish if desired

Preparation

·         In a small saucepan, combine the sugar with 1/2 cup water and simmer the mixture for 5 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved.

·         Let the sugar syrup cool completely. In a food processor, purée the strawberries with their syrup and the lime juice, transfer the mixture to a large punch bowl, forcing it through a fine sieve if desired, and stir in the sugar syrup, the liqueur (if using), and the club soda.

Since it’s the middle of the week, I’m making this for a quick meal that I can also serve up easily and take a plate to our next door neighbor (her husband is in the hospital , Andy will take it over when she gets home early this evening).

Dinner with punch (this punch is especially good with Latin food dishes):

·         Chicken Tortilla Casserole

·         Green Salad with Cilantro Dressing

·         Fresh Strawberries

·         Mexican Corn Muffins

·         Ruth’s Delicious Lemon Cake

We just finished dinner, Andy is reading the paper on the porch, Joni by his side – the punch was a huge success! It is sweet but not cloyingly so; the lime taste is subtle with the strawberry being the more dominant taste… yes I will make it again.  Some of you might not like the extra step of forcing the lime/strawberry mixture through the sieve, but I would recommend it – the punch might be a little grainy with strawberries seeds if you don’t do it.  I know that texture is important in food but not so much in beverages.  I also took some of the mixture before I added the ginger ale and instead added more club soda.  It wasn’t as sweet as with the ginger ale and as Andy said “punch should be sweet”, but that is an option if you things a little less sweet.

If any of you try it, please let me know how you liked it or any variations you made.  We are off to Colorado on Friday, hoping to make a least one Rocky Mountain High punch, we’ll see.

Why a blog about punch?

Punch, why a blog on punch?  Well, first of all, I love a good punch.  A good punch quenches your thirst but it also does something else.  There is a communal element to punch that I love:  punch is almost always served at parties. Joining around the punchbowl together –it’s an easy way to start conversation with someone you don’t know – “how do you like this punch?” and a check in with someone you do know.

I have loved punch since I was a young, rather precocious child.  My mom, a great hostess, would serve punch when the ladies from church would come over.  I become a punch aficionado and started serving punch at gatherings I would host in high school.  (I was somewhat nerdish in high school and though I was in high school in the 1970’s I hosted parties reminiscent of pre-war 1940’s and because I was a rather good cook they were well attended).

I have continued to serve punch whenever possible.  This blog is dedicated to my quest, over these next few months, to broaden my punch recipe collection.  I am also going to try and give a food menu appropriate to the punch as well.

My goal: one punch recipe and accompanying food suggestions every week.  I am hoping to explore (as one of my daughter-in-law’s suggested) seasonal punches as well.  I hope some of you will join me, try my recipes, give me your favorite recipes and comment upon my punch explorations.

The World of Punch: Quenching Thirst One Ladle at a Time