Party Basement Punch

I love scrolling through real estate listings for Anchorage houses built in the 1950s, which is around the time both sets of my grandparents landed in Alaska. There’s something romantic about those old places—the real wood paneling with built-ins, the white enamel cabinets, the stone fireplaces, and roomy canned-goods pantries. I’m also especially fond of a feature that’s growing rarer with time: the party basement.

My mom’s parents had one of these in the Nunaka Valley neighborhood in that period, and you can still find them in rare mid-century homes that haven’t had an update. They are often pretty simple: linoleum tile flooring in lime green or pink or marigold, a bar in the corner, possibly a bathroom. These were a product of small-town life back then—a place for adults to hang and dance when there weren’t a lot of places to do that. Which brings me to a related relic of that moment: the punch bowl.

Everybody had a punch bowl in the party basement days. My mother and aunt got them as wedding presents in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. A good half century later, I found bowls, ladles, and dainty six-ounce cups in both their houses, wrapped carefully in old newspaper. Cookbooks from that era always have great punch sections— recipes involve melted sherbet, 7-Up, and lime Jell-o, and have amazing names like “Tingleberry Refresher.”

With that in mind, I experimented with a non-alcoholic holiday punch recipe that could call old family punch bowls into service. It’s not so sweet but still uses a frozen “punch ring,” a staple of old school punch recipes. I realize, also, that gathering around a punch bowl in pandemic times might not be called for. The herbal simple syrup, herbs, and berries can also be frozen in an ice cube tray for individual mocktails. (Each one would call for eight ounces sparkling water, two tablespoons tart cranberry juice and a single cube. Garnish with a slice of mandarin.)

Depending on the size of your bowl, you can increase or decrease the punch volume by a can of sparkling water or two. Just remember to add two tablespoons of tart juice per can.

The ring dissolves quickly in the punch. If you want to add extra buoyancy and make it last longer, you can freeze a cup and a half of water in the Bundt pan first, and then pour the simple syrup on top of the frozen water before freezing again. But it takes extra planning. It also results in a punch that’s a little less sweet.

Should you want to make this punch alcoholic, you might try splashing it over prosecco in a Champagne glass or you could add an ounce and a half of gin per 12-ounce can of sparkling water.