When entertaining family and friends in December, food writer Kathryn McLean provides a wine sangria and/or a punch without alcohol.
By Kathryn McLean
When we get together with family or friends I include some extras beyond the main menu, to make our time together more special.
A dish of cashews alone isn’t so special, but it keeps us sitting around the coffee table chatting with one another a little longer. Which adds to our time spent together.
When my mother-in-law wants to host a dinner everyone helps out to share her burden. But I often bring along something extra, beyond my assigned salad or dessert duty.
I know that while everyone takes turns helping in the kitchen, the rest of the family will be sitting in the living room catching up. So why not have a drink and some snacks?
When I host family and friends at my own house, I usually mix some type of sangria or punch for the ‘sitting around and chatting before dinner’ part of the visit.
In December I’ll offer a sangria (a drink made with wine and fizzy water, with fresh fruit), or a punch without alcohol. Or maybe both.
My winter drinks will feature winter fruits: clementine, pomegranate, cranberry. And probably warm spices such as cinnamon and cloves.
But punch (whether wine sangria, or a non-alcoholic mix of fruit juice and soda) lend themselves to improvising.
Add more or less pomegranate seeds; add a few cloves; choose lemon-lime soda in place of ginger beer.
Here are the guidelines for a winter sangria and a non-alcoholic punch.
Both recipes will make almost 2 litres. Serve the drinks in small glasses, as they’re meant to be sipped over time while visiting.
Winter Sangria
½ crisp apple, diced
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
1 tbsp brown sugar
juice of 2 clementines, or a small orange
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
Mix in a large pitcher or bowl, it’s ok if the fruits get a little banged up but don’t mash them.
Add 1L merlot (or your preferred red wine) and 750ml fizzy water; stir everything and keep refrigerated for 2 hours before serving.
Include some of the fruits (fresh, or from the pitcher) in each serving.
Winter Punch with Fruit
750 ml (3 x 250ml bottles) spicy ginger beer
750 ml cranberry juice (pure cranberry juice, or a juice blend with pomegranate, cherry or raspberry, not cranberry cocktail)
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
¼ cup frozen or fresh cranberries
1 cinnamon stick
Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher or punch bowl. Refrigerate, and serve with ice.