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Nov. 26th, 2004 @ 05:01 pm Punch
For some reason we're getting a lot of holiday party invites this season. I'm not complaining, but it made me think of the holiday parties of my childhood. I remember my parents throwing parties in the '70s--they ran a ceramics studio in our basement and had quite a lot of people over.

Anyway, they made this punch. The punch consisted of 7-Up, lime sherbet, and gin. I can remember how it tasted (yes, I was allowed to drink small quantities of it) and I think it would be fun to make again. I don't remember the proportions, though. I guess I could just fake it, or I could be nice and try it first. The problem with that is then I got all this punch to drink, and as you can imagine, it wouldn't keep well. Actually, now that I think of it, do any punches keep well? I alsways think of punch as something you put together the night you drink it, and then you throw it out. Especially with the sherbet, it wouldn't work out if it got flat and sort of stale.

So, punch?
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From:mineral2
Date:November 26th, 2004 02:12 pm (UTC)
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you can make small glasses of varying proportions and you make a big bowl of the one that tastes right. That way you don't have to make so much punch.
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From:mrfantasy
Date:November 26th, 2004 04:56 pm (UTC)

I could

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But I'm thinking part of what makes punch punch is that you make it in a punchbowl. Without that, I think you lose the fundamental punchness of the whole thing, and I'm instead making gin and 7-Up cocktails with lime sherbet chasers. Sometimes small food doesn't come out the same way as big food.
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From:mineral2
Date:November 26th, 2004 05:42 pm (UTC)

Re: I could

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this is true. I've been sadly discovering this lately as I cook new dishes for myself. I really want to cook some of my dishes true to the recipes rather than cut ingredients town to a portion for one. But I wouldn't eat leftovers fast enough and I hate to throw out food. Maybe I need to have a party.
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From:kingfox
Date:November 26th, 2004 08:04 pm (UTC)

My tips

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I have extensive punchmaking experience, from my early childhood memories through good times at Drew up to living with Father Joe.

Here's the method I saw most often:

Make a small amount in the bowl. Remember the proportions you've used, and taste it. At this point you can determine what it's lacking or what needs to be toned down. Fill it up more, taste and readjust one final time, then fill it up completely.

Or you could do what I would do: use Google. Take the proportions from the top dozen hits, and average them out, throwing out statistical outliers.

One thing to remember - as it gets drunk/melts, the mix is thrown off. People will drink gin and 7-Up faster than they drink sherbet, but if it sits for a while without being disturbed sherbet isn't what you need to add the next time it needs topping off.
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From:johnstevensaul
Date:November 27th, 2004 09:14 pm (UTC)

Gin?

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Eeeww... nasty....
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From:mrfantasy
Date:November 28th, 2004 06:07 am (UTC)

Re: Gin?

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Thing is you don't taste the gin if you do it right. The lime flavor of the sherbet and the 7-Up pretty much cancel it out. The overall flavor is distintly holiday.