~THE Perfect Party Punch~

I found this punch here on Pinterest and it's from a lady that says she is the punch queen - lol!  She was very convincing that her punch is THE punch to serve at parties.  So my mom and I decided to mix it up for our New Year's Eve party.  We also just recently had it at my cousins baby shower.  It is REALLY good!!  But the lady is rather particular about how to assemble the punch so read the whole thing before you start.

The Punch
Ingredients:
1 can frozen pina colada concentrate, thawed (Bacardi makes a good one)
1 can frozen orange pineapple juice concentrate, thawed
4 liters of diet lemon-lime soda (That’s two 2-Liters for the mathematically challenged.)
1 bag of pebble ice (You can buy it at Sonic Drive-In or at most grocery stores in the deli or meat departments.)
1 bag of frozen raspberries
And now for the directions:
*Pour the thawed concentrates into your punchbowl and stir.
*Use one of the empty cans and fill it with water four times and add it to the mixture. Stir.
*Add your diet soda to the mixture. (You can use regular sugar-filled soda if you want, but I think it gets too sweet and you will also feel guilty when you fill your glass for the sixteenth time. Which you WILL.)
*Next, add about half your bag of pebble ice.
(NOTE: Please do not insult The Punch by using crappy ice cubes from your freezer. The Punch will hate you forever.) (ANOTHER NOTE: Please do not screw up the order and add the ice before the soda. You will get an ugly foam at the top of your punch bowl.) (ONE MORE NOTE: I’m sorry if it seems like I’m micro-managing this recipe. It’s just that I have already suffered bad punch experiences so that you won’t have to. I micro-manage because I care.) Let’s see….where were we? Oh, yes. We’re ready for the crowning ingredient…
*Add your frozen raspberries to the top.
ENJOY!! 

---Cookin' Up A 4th of July Celebration---

Nothing is more fun than having a great BBQ on the 4th of July with good friends!!
This year I wanted to make a festive cake to go along with our Celebration.
So I baked a Red Velvet Cake and topped it with blueberries and raspberries (another alternative is strawberries☺) to make a beautiful flag!:)

Red Velvet Cake and Frosting Recipe:
1 cube Butter
1 c. Sugar
Beat together till fluffy.
2 Eggs - add one at a time and beat well.
Make a paste of 2 TB. Cocoa and 2 oz. Red Food Coloring (2 bottles). Add to above mixture.
Add:1 tsp. Vanilla
1 c. Buttermilk
2 3/4 c. Flour (sifted)
Alternate the milk and flour.
Last add 1 TB. Vinegar and 1 1/2 tsp. Soda
Mix really well - Bake 300* for 25-30 minutes.
Frosting:
Cook together -
1 c. Milk
5 TB. Flour
Cream 2 cubes Butter and 1 c. Sugar.
Add 1 tsp. Vanilla to cooked mixture, cool and than add to sugar mixture. Beat till smooth and creamy - this takes quite a long time to fluff up. Frost and add fruit on top.
Enjoy!!

Adding to the theme of the fun cake we served refreshing drinks...
Red Tampico Tropical Punch
White Pina Colada's
Blue Berry Kool-Aid

Another fun recipe I like to make in the summer and take to BBQ's --
Italian Spaghetti Salad:
1 pkg. Cooked Spaghetti Noodles
1 jar Creamy Italian Dressing
1 can Olives - drain and slice
2 cans Diced Tomato's rinsed and drained
1 pkg. bite size Pepperoni
Optional veggies that you might like - carrots, celery, green onions.
Cool spaghetti and add about 3/4 of the bottle of dressing or till well coated (too much dressing may cause it to go runny). Than add other ingredients. Mix well.
Chill before serving. I like to make the night before-tastes better the longer it sits.
Enjoy!!

[Party Pleasers!]

This weekend I hosted a party and everyone really enjoyed the food so I promised to post the recipes. I made the cake pops and brownie/cake balls for dessert and I already posted them so check out this link for the recipe - CAKE POPS. I got creative using the left over chocolate and vanilla almond bark and double dipped the red velvet cake pops I had made and I thought they were easier and looked really fun:) I served these in a fun glass vase and the cake pops in fun cups full of sugar. The rest of my menu was spinach dip served with crackers and sourdough baguette, veggies with dip, fruit with dip and a lemonade slush

Spinach Dip
1 pkg Pic-A-Sweet chopped frozen spinach
1 16 oz. Sour Cream
1 c. Mayo
1 pkg Knorr Spinach dip
1/2 c. chopped water chestnuts (optional)
Place frozen spinach in pan, cover with water, bring to boil and boil for 3min. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 4 minutes. Drain well. Cool spinach in fridge and than add remaining ingredients. Chill for 4-6 hours. Serve with crackers and sour dough baguette.
(I didn't have time to chill that long so I made sure the spinach was nice and cold and chilled the dip for an hour before I served - it still tasted really good:))

Fruit Dip
2 pkg 8 oz. Cream Cheese
2 jars Marshmallow Fluff
2 tsp. Vanilla (optional)
Use blender to mix all ing. well. Serve with fresh fruit: Apples, strawberries, bananas, etc.

Lemonade Slush
3 c. Sugar
8 c. Hot Water
1 can Frozen Lemonade (or favorite frozen drink)
2 liter Sprite
Dissolve sugar in hot water, add thawed can lemonade, mix well and place in gallon freezer bag. Freeze. When ready to serve partially thaw, dump into bowl and pour Sprite over top. It will turn slushy. You can garnish with lemon wedges:)