Punching up Portlandlandia

After some time away from my punch endeavors – I am back!  The last few weeks were full of activities that were either not punch friendly or while punch would have been fitting there were no means to concoct a beverage.

We just returned from a wonderful week’s vacation, but punch bowls and airplane travel do not mix well.  In the midst of my lack of punch opportunities I received a bevy of texts that were great fun and very blog worthy.

Our good friends, Morgan and Karen, live in Portland, Oregon and a have a close group of friends.  Morgan and Karen decided to have a Punch Bowl Memorial Gathering at their house.  The menu:

·         Fiesta Margarita Punch

·         Lettuce Wraps

·         Quinoa Salad

·         Field Greens with Gorgonzola, Roasted Pecans and Pine Nuts

·         Roasted Yellow and Red Peppers

·         Italian Sausage

·         Grilled Chicken with Jack Stack Seasoning

I am assuming that all the produce was locally grown and that the sausage and chicken came from only the most content, free range pig and chicken they could find. (I believe the pig’s name was Tommy and the chicken was Rosie….)

And I quote: “Yum! Perfect! Need more tequila than 1 ½ cups by the way…”

They also outdid me in making an ice ring, something I have planned on but haven’t done yet.

They have decided to have a monthly summer punch party using my recipes or even better, their recipes that I can try!

To me this is the essence and the beauty of punch - communing together over food and beverage, having fun one ladle at a time.

Thanks, Morgan, Karen, Jenni, Ronn, Linda, Karen and Joe – can’t wait to blog about your next dinner.

Back in the saddle, we enjoyed an amazing summer punch last night – details to come.

In the words of the late Laurie Colwin: “One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends.”