Party Punches for Holiday Celebrations

Punches are elegant and perfect for celebrations of all kinds. Never forget that Punch stock should be poured over a block of ice and served cold cold cold. The only exception is the Coffee Punch below. 

These Party Punches come from Charleston Receipts.  I recommend this cookbook. It is the encyclopedia of Southern comfort. Proceeds from the sale of Charleston Receipts cookbook go to many worthy community projects of the Junior League of Charleston. I receive no payment. 

Coffee Punch

1 gallon strong Coffee

1 quart Cream

2 quarts Vanilla Ice Cream

5 teaspoons Vanilla

5 tablespoons Sugar

Chill Coffee. Whip Cream, add Sugar and Vanilla. Place Ice Cream and whipped Cream in punch bowl and pour Coffee over it. Mix well before serving. ( If block Ice Cream is used, slice it into thin slices before placing in the punch bowl. ) 50-60 servings. 
– Mrs. S. Edward Izard Jr. (Anne Kirk)

Otranto Club Punch

1 pound loaf Sugar
1 quart strong Green Tea
Juice of 12 Lemons, strained
1-2 quarts carbonated Water
1 pint Peach Brandy
1 quart heavy or light Rum
2 quarts Brandy or Rye Whiskey

Dissolve the Sugar in the Tea; add Lemon Juice, Peach Brandy, Rum and the Brandy or Rye Whiskey. Use an abundance of ice, adding a liberal quantity of carbonated Water. 50-70 Servings.
- Louis Y. Davison Jr. 

Cotillion Club Punch

1/4 pound Gunpowder (Green) Tea (makes 5 quarts)
1 quart Cherries
2 dozen Lemons, juice
1/2 pint Fruit Syrup
12 quarts carbonated Water
6-8 quarts Rye Whiskey
1/2 pint Rum
1 pound Sugar made into thick syrup

Pour 5 quarts boiling Water onto the Tea, bring this to a boil; remove from fire at once and let stand until strong enough. Strain and, when cool, add juice of Lemons, Syrup from the Cherries and also the Rye and Rum. Sweeten to taste with any Fruit Syrup; add Sugary syrup and Cherries. Bottle this stock and keep on ice until ready to serve. Pour over block of ice, add one quart Carbonated Water to one quart of stock. This stock can be kept indefinitely if bottled and sealed. Yield 275-300 servings.
- A Charleston Gentleman 

Goodbye 2020

salmagundi
noun
sal · ma · gun · di | \ ˌSal-ma-ˈgen-dē\

1: a salad plate of chopped meats, anchovies, eggs, and vegetables arranged in rows for contrast and dressed with a salad dressing

2: a heterogeneous mixture : POTPOURRI

/Bigotry - subheading Racism/ is like owning a big dog. We shall call the dog ICK.

I have no problem with your ICK as long as you (global not personal you) keep it at home or on a leash. Nurture your ICK. Cuddle it to your heart's content. Feed it beer and jerky in front of the TV. Be as ICKY as you like.

When you take ICK out in public, and ICK bites me or defecates on my lawn or hurts children, you make your ICK my and the public's problem. And we must and do have appropriate remedies for that. This is a sign that appeared in minority neighborhoods in 2016.

I am frightened. We are close enough to the edge of the cliff that I can see a bit over it. I try not to shove people into groups so forcefully they cannot and do not exist as individuals. That is a Sin, if Sin can be said to exist. I want to give up, and want others to give up, doing politics as a team sport. I will take ideas how we can do that.

It is only in my lifetime that Women can have a bank account and a mortgage without permission from a Father or Husband. It is only in my lifetime I can walk down the street holding hands with a Black friend and not be noticed at all. It is only in my lifetime that a Black entertainer can stay overnight at a hotel s/he is working at. We can be back there in 1959 in an instant.

Last but not least, we need some Dirt. See photo below. I see two balls. Where is the penis? That is some severe tucking. I think I know how the works is tucked, but I hesitate to elaborate. Let me just say Spanx and folds. I do not care if I am fat shaming. I am a tolerant Liberal. That means I even tolerate my nasty self. 

"We ought to leave this world behind." - Dary from Letterkenny

Eat your Greens for Good Luck in the New Year

This Gumbo works nicely in a crockpot. Serve in soup bowls with Rice and Louisiana style Hot Sauce. Easy to do and tastes fine.

Throw it together and let it simmer for hours. Yes, you can do it on the top of the stove, but why? This is more you-have-to-cook-dinner-365-days-a-year cooking.

Forgive the brevity and lack of direction - sometimes I get these recipes written down on the backs of envelopes. The Greens are the best part of this Gumbo for my taste. Green for Good Luck.  

Gumbo Verde

1 pound smoked or garlic Sausage, sliced in bite size pieces

2 cans of Navy Beans

1 can Beef Consomme with 2 cups Water

1 package frozen chopped Mustard Greens (10 ounces)

1 Onion, chopped

1 Bell Pepper, chopped

2 clove Garlic, chopped (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Saute the Sausage with Onion, Bell Pepper and Garlic. Combine Sausage mixture with the Consomme and Water, Beans, Greens. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Simmer slowly until the Beans become very soft and the Gumbo is thickened thereby.

Feel free to substitute cannellini or pink beans. You can use turnip greens or collards.

Happy New Year, Cher Reader.

As we discovered on the train (terrain?), tomorrow never happens. It's all the same fucking day, man. - Janis Joplin

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” ― Neil Gaiman

My New Year's Resolution

I am on my third glass of champagne. Happy New Year Cher Readers!

Join me in my New Year's Revolution. 

 

 

Happy New Year! 2017

The FEDGOV passed a bill that will kill me. White Christians put this administration in power. Merry Christmas rings hollow on White Christian lips. And I think of myself as a Christian.

Kind of put a damper on my holiday. Don Addis helps me laugh about it all. Mr. Addis died in 2009. Rest in peace and laughter.

I pray daily for Peace. Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year, cher Readers. Here comes the Sun...

Madhubani/Mithila Painting is practiced in the Mithila region of India and Nepal. Painting is done with fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks, using natural dyes and pigments, and is characterised by eye-catching geometrical patterns.

Happy New Year ! 2015