Guest Author - Deborah Adams
You know the old trick of putting a frozen hand in the punch already... but lets just stretch things a bit. First off if you do use a frozen hand please make sure you don't freeze it in a latex glove. You'll also want to make sure it is not powdered and rinse the glove out well before filling with juice to freeze.
Ice rings are great to make and float in the middle of a punch bowl. Freeze your juice (I like to use a green punch for the ring and red punch) in a bundt pan. Adding plastic eyeballs to the ring makes a great creepy effect! You can also get the gummy worms and freeze them in with the ice ring.
You can also carve faces into fruits and add them to the ice ring while freezing.
If you have a creepy halloween mask you can fill it with punch and freeze it several days in advance. When ready to use it just run warm water over the mask to unmold the juice mask and put it in your punch before serving.
Ice cubes made of juices make creepy add-ins to the punch especially if you add "bugs" to them.. bugs can be candied fruit, raisins, dried fruit ect :) I probably wouldn't suggest adding plastic spiders and bugs to ice cubes as they melt quickly and a guest might accidentally swallow one.. but if you made a large ice ring for your punch you could probably get away with doing that as that wouldn't melt as fast.
Pineapple Punch and variations
64 ounces pineapple juice, frozen to slush
1 sm frozen orange juice concentrate
1 liter ginger ale, chilled
1liter lemon lime soda, chilled
2 pints orange sherbet
Substitute Limeaid and Lime sherbet for the orange juice and orange sherbet if you want a green punch.
You can also substitute Lemonade and Lemon sherbet if you have it in your area. I love lemon sherbet and this is a tasty punch.
Garnish the punch with slices of the fruit you are using in it.
Vampire Punch
Large bottle red grape juice, chilled to slush
Large bottle Hawaiian Punch, chilled to slush
large bottle ginger ale, chilled
large bag frozen strawberries
Combine all ingredients in a large punch bowl.
Plastic skeletons, bats ect are great to decorate the punch bowl if you want to add some fun.
Serving the punch can be creative also. Try serving it in a large hallowed out pumpkin. Rinse and scrub the inside well so there are no stray shreds of pumpkin. Chill the pumpkin in the refrigerator until ready to use. The thickness of the pumpkin will also help keep the punch cool.
You can also use dry ice for a foggy effect by placing it in a larger bowl under the punch bowl. Do not let babies or pets linger around the fog as it is carbon dioxide and always handle the dry ice with tongs so you don't injure yourself with the extreme cold. But the foggy effect is great for parties!
I like to get plastic spiders and other fun favors to toss around the food table. The kids love to take a few of these home as treats when they leave.
Combining colors such as grape and orange make a nice yucky color but still taste great for punch so just experiment and find something that you like the flavor of put that looks messy. Orange pulp with orange juice is great for texture. However you do it combining a few of these ideas can make your party a hit! Have a great Halloween.
