FILL THE FESTIVE BOWL

Punches are for parties! The very word "punch" conjures up laughter and gaiety and warm hospitality.  Let's gather around the fireside and clink a friendly cup from Thanksgiving to New Years eve or even on to Twelfth-night.
Whats the specialty of your punch? A cool creamy golden eggnog? A hot heart-tingling Scandinavian glogg? A merry, bubbling champagne punch? There are as many kinds of punch as there are ornaments on the tree or hosts in the kitchen. There are punches as traditional as the Old English wassail and punches so new they haven't been born yet. Give a man a bowl and some bottles , and a houseful of guests and who knows what ambrosial concoction will result?
But that brings up a very important question. What is a punch? Is it just a slapdash ad lib mixture of anything you have in the house or are there rules in making a punch? Well the word punch comes from the Persian  "punj" or from the Hindu "panch" Both words mean  "five" and punches as a rule were made of five parts: water, wine, sugar, lemon and spirits. Today, there is practically no limits to the variety of flavor effects you can produce with fruits, fruit juices, wine, spirits, cordials and spices. There are some basic rules you must follow to be successful in this endeavour. They are simple, but none-the less necessary:
#1 use the best quality liquors you can afford.
#2 do not use too many different kinds of liquors (ie bode-ode)
#3a punch should not be too strong, neither should it be too weak
#4go easy on the cut up fruits
#5 use an ice block instead of ice cubes, the larger the ice block the less dilute the punch will be
#6 blend the ingredients of cold punches well in advance ( except for sparkling beverages) Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour in the bowl.
#7 Add the sparkling ingredients just before you serve. a sparkling punch is supposed to "SPARKLE"
#8 A good guide for how much to make is: a gallon of punch serves 40 cups 3/4 full

So there it is a quick and easy guide on how to fill your festive punch bowl. Enjoy and have a Happy Thanksgiving

Perfect Fall Punch

SPICED FRUIT PUNCH

this one is perfect for this season, it is full of fruit juice plus all the autumn spices!
2-3 cups orange juice
1 cup pineapple juice
2 cups cold water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbs confectioners sugar
2 tbs grated lemon rind
1 tbs honey
6 whole cloves
1/2 tbs nutmeg
1/2 tbs cinnamon
1 cups gingerale
combine all ingredients except gingerale, in container, let stand for 3 hours/ Strain, pour into punch into punch bowl add gingerale and crushed ice.

A TOAST TO THE HAPPY COUPLE

JFK and Jackie and classic gown

HOW THE WORLD COOKS
BY MYRA WALDO
A June wedding is the young womans dream. The weather is usually concillatory, often better.  As James Russell Lowell said:"And what is so rare as a day in June? Then if ever, come perfect days." The mothers shed a few tears, the fathers breathe a sigh of relief, the young couple kisses, and then the guests must be fed. First of course comes a toast, traditionally made with a punch. Alcoholic or not, it's as traditional as kissing the bride.
The word punch probably comes from the Hindustani punch, meaning five. For five was the traditional number of ingredients which, when combined blended into a happy union, like the newlyweds, hopefully. Originally the five consisted of the strong(liquor) and the sharp(spices). Later, when tastes changed the spices were removed and heres how a poem sums its up:

Where oer' a bowl of punch we make,

four striking opposites we take, the strong, the weak, the sour, the sweet, together mixed, most kindly meet.