Please make the children's table festive! I watched a little
munchkin’s face fall last holiday when she realized she was
relegated to the “children’s table.”
I make it the focal point of my own decorating, and invite you to consider the possiblities!
Here are some festive drink recipes for the little elves at your celebration.
Choose
festive ware and garnish. Any drink with whipped cream, you can put
sprinkles atop, candied fruit, cinnamon candies, Christmas
“picks,” drizzle with (non-alcoholic) crème de
menthe for color, shaved colored chocolate, a Candy kiss.
Tie
a red bow with an evergreen sprig on the punch ladle; surround the base
with greens and sugared cranberries or toy ornaments.
If
it’s hot, stick in a cinnamon stick or candy cane; dollop with
whipped cream and garnish with sprinkles, cinnamon candies,
confectioner’s sugar; add a holiday "pick"; stick a sparkler in
each mug and light at presentation time.
If it’s cold, use
decorated ice cubes – freeze cranberries, tiny ornaments, mint
leaves, anything festive and NON-POISONOUS into the cubes and add at
presentation time. (Remember that holly berries and all parts of the
mistletoe are poisonous); or freeze the same things in an ice mold. You
can have great fun with floating ice rings for punch for the kids - put
in ornaments, cherries, greenery, anything you can make hygienic-enough
and that isn't poisonous!
Whatever you serve, serve it with
festive flare, and give it a holiday name! There's no more appreciative
audience when you go the extra mile.
NANA'S NOG
3 cups milk 1 cup half 'n' half 3 T. sugar Put in blender with ice and frappe. Consider food coloring and candy sprinkles. Serves 4.
CHRISTMAS MINT PUNCH
1 1/2 c water 10 oz mint jelly 3 c pineapple juice, chilled 1/2 c lemon juice 64 oz Sprite 1 qt lime sherbet
In
small saucepan, combine water and mint jelly; cook and stir until jelly
melts. Cool. In large punch bowl, combine jelly mix and juices. Just
before serving, add Sprite and lime sherbet.
TRIM-THE-TREE CIDER PUNCH
1 gallon apple cider 12 whole cloves 2 large apples (Granny Smith, Rome Beauty), peeled, left whole 2 cinnamon sticks Ground nutmeg
Pour
apple cider into large pot. Insert 6 cloves into each apple. Add apples
and cinnamon sticks to pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover and
barely simmer over very low heat 1 hour to allow flavors to blend. (Can
be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over low heat
before continuing.) Ladle hot cider punch into mugs. Sprinkle with
nutmeg and serve. Source, Bon Appétit, December 1995
SNOWMAN PUNCH
Stir
up a pint of ice cream - vanilla, peppermint, mint, adding a little
milk to thin it. Scoop it into snowcone cups or other festive ware.
Disposable plastic Christmas ware is great for little elves!
Variation: Add green creme de menthe flavoring, non-alcoholic.
SPICY CRANBERRY PUNCH
1/2 cup red cinnamon candies 4 C. water 8 C. cranberry juice cocktail, chilled 6 oz. can frozen limeade concentrate 6 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate
In
small pan, melt candies in water; chill. At serving time, combine candy
liquid and fruit juices in punch bowl. Stir to dissolve. Makes 18,
5-oz. cups.
WASSAIL BOWL
Whole cloves 1 large orange 2 qts. apple juice or cider 3 T. lemon juice 4 cinnamon sticks
Heat
oven to 350. Insert cloves into orange. Place in shallow baking pan and
bake at 350 for 30 mins. Pierce orange in several places with tines for
a fork.
In large saucepan, combine apple and lemon juice,
cinnamon sticks and baked orange. Cover; simmer over low heat 30 mins.
Remove sticks and orange. Pour into heatproof punch bowl. If desired,
float the orange in the bowl. Serve [safely] hot. Makes 16, 4 oz.
servings.
CRANBERRY "CHAMPAGNE" FOR CHRISTMAS CERUBS
Combine 2 well-chilled 750-ml. bottles non-alcoholic sparkling cider with 1 cup cranberry juice cocktail or to taste.
ELF WARMER
1 qt. vanilla ice cream 3 sticks margarine 1 box brown sugar nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice Combine and keep in freezer. At serving time, put 1 heaping T. scoop into a mug, add hot water (to taste) and heat.
SANTA-RED PUNCH
4 cups water 3 cups sugar 2 small packages of red Jello l large can pineapple juice 1 bottle of almond extract Serves 25-30.
EVERGEEN PUNCH
2 pkgs. unsweetened lemon-lime Koolaid 2 cups sugar 2 qts. water 1, 46-oz. can pineapple juice 1 quart gingerale
Dissolve
sugar and koolaid. Add pineapple juice and chill. Add gingerale at
serving time. Good too if you freeze it for a while until it's slushy.
Then call it Santa Slush. Serves 36.
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