Sparkling Strawberry Punch

In case many of you don't know it, I have recipes that totally bomb sometimes.

You don't see those recipes on here because, well, they are bombs and I only want to share the dishes that
 me and my family really love and enjoy. 

But trust me, they do happen and they happen more often than you know.

Afterall, I'm just an average homecook, not Giada De Laurentiis (not even close).

This next recipe started off as a bomb. And not like "Da Bomb" but a BOMB (Kaboom!).

The original recipe for this punch called for some grapefruit juice to be added.

And well, it was the grapefruit juice that would eventually doom this recipe to failure.

Now, I not only bombed in front of my family, I bombed in front of a house full of guests.

Yep, that's me! I just had to try a new recipe at a BBQ.

There were exactly 3 people who absolutely loved the original punch recipe. Two of them were the hosts of the party. In fact, they wouldn't let me leave with the leftover punch, they insisted on keeping it. And the other person was my Dad (who may have been humoring me). Anyways, they are obviously in the grapefruit-juice lover category. 

They thought it made it taste like a margarita. 

In fact, my Dad was wishing he had brought some Captain Morgan along.

The rest of us thought it was much too tart. I started adding more water and sugar to it but it just didn't really do much to it in my way of thinking.

 I really wanted a good punch to be able to take to potlucks or baby showers and I wanted one that didn't involve sherbet.  
Also, Gene and I both decided we wanted a more pronounced strawberry flavor. 
So it was back to the drawing board and this recipe was totally overhauled.

Round Two - this punch was a knockout. This is sure to be a hit with adults and kids! See my notes below for other suggestions.

Ingredients:

1 can (12 oz) frozen Strawberry Daiquiri concentrate, thawed

1 pack of Strawberry Kool-Aid

1, 2-Liter Ginger Ale (or 7-up)

1, 1-Liter strawberry sparkling water

1 bag of Frozen Sliced Strawberries (optional)

(You can usually find bottles of flavored sparkling water where the other bottles of water are kept in your grocery store)

Directions:

Before party, in a small pitcher or bowl, mix together strawberry daiquiri concentrate and Kool-Aid until thoroughly combined. Pop mixture into fridge until ready for party. Also, put Ginger Ale and Strawberry Sparkling Water in fridge to keep cool.

When ready to prepare punch, pour concentrate mixture into punch bowl or server, pour in Ginger Ale and Sparkling Water slowly so the bubbles don’t fizz out of control. Stir slowly to combine. Add frozen strawberries on top to keep mixture cool and to make it look pretty.

Serve punch in glasses with ice or drop a few of the frozen berries in there to keep it cool.

Makes 1 gallon.

Cook’s Notes: If you can’t find the strawberry sparkling water, just substitute with more Ginger Ale. Strawberry daiquiri concentrate is non-alcoholic. You can certainly add a bit of Rum to this if you want to make it more grown-up.

Also, If you are serving a large party or group, I definitely suggest doubling this recipe. If you want to make this a strawberry lemon punch, just substitute a packet of lemonade Kool-Aid for the strawberry. Be sure to taste test after stirring, you may need to add a bit of sugar to the mix (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup).

Enjoy!

Printable Recipe Here