~ A Powerful Punch ~

It started out innocently enough.  A parent of one of my Critter’s basketball teammates e-vited the team and their parents over for an end-of-season potluck and cookout.  A list of choices of things to bring was included.

Me, being me, didn’t get to the RSVP thing until everyone had already pretty much chosen everything good on the list.  So I said I’d bring bread.  (woo woo.)

But when the day approached, I found I wanted to bring something else.  Something with a little pizzazz.  I decided to bring some home-made punch in addition to my home-made bread.

I got out my favorite Pier One Imports beverage container

and proceeded to make up the punch as I went along.

I made lemonade.

I added fruit….apples, lemons, limes, oranges, blackberries.

Tasted it.  Needed something else.

I added seltzer water.

Tasted it.  Needed something else.

I added apple cider.

Tasted it.  Still needed something else.

I rummaged through the fridge.  Nothing looked appealing.  I shut the fridge door and tapped my lips with my finger.  Hmmm.  What to add?  What to add?

My eyes fell on my Little Red Hutch.  I love that thing.  Everyone should have one.  My Captain bought it for me when I first moved into my little cottage.  It holds lunch items for my kids’ school lunches; it also holds water bottles and telephone books and goldfish crackers and vitamins and pasta bowls and caffeine shots and napkins and my moose cookie jar.  And Booze.

Ah Ha!  That’s it!  Booze!  My punch needed booze!  I grabbed the first thing I saw:  Citrus Vodka!  And proceeded to empty the bottle into the punch.

Tasted it.

OH YEAH.  It was like Mike’s Hard Lemonade mixed with Sangria mixed with a whole lot of happiness and love.

And I now had a couple of gallons of it to share.

Uh oh.  Wait.  I don’t know these people all that well.  I mean, we are acquaintences…but maybe they don’t imbibe?  Maybe they would feel this was not an appropriate venue for mommies and daddies to get snookered?

I called the host.  “Um, is there going to be alcohol at this party?”

“I just finished putting beer in the cooler.”

“We’ll be right over!!”

It was a huge success.  A beautiful evening at a lovely house.  Fantastic food, funny people, happy kids, basketball medals, contented coaches….

….and adult punch.

I just love it when a last-minute idea becomes a moment of genius.