A Fairytale Wedding Recipe

Greetings Friends,

Another day is beginning at the Durham home as I'm finishing breakfast while Meagan watches which ever Disney Princess movie is her favorite of the day!  This entire week her favorite has been The Little Mermaid.  I think by now both she and I could quote the movie verbatim!  However, I must confess, I love all the Disney Princess movies as much as she does!  I think deep down "little girls" of all ages dream of  falling in love and marrying "Prince Charming" in a fairytale wedding!

It seems "Fairytale Weddings" have become the theme of the week at my house!  You see, my nephew is getting married to his "Princess Bride" in May!  Yesterday, I spent most of the day with my beautiful niece-to-be dreaming of possibilities for a reception with all the "belles and whistles" for her Black, White, and Red Wedding theme!  Both sides of the family are teaming together to help make this a "Fairytale" come true!  I just hope everything comes together like a dream!  No two people could be more deserving for both my nephew and niece-to-be are the sweetest!

Of course, it was only a few minutes into our planning session yesterday before I started to walk down memory lane and recall all of the little details that made my wedding so special.  I realized that I love all the "belles and whistles" of weddings just as much as I love them for baby showers!  In fact, helping Hannah with her plans for the wedding made me recall a special friend who began helping me with my wedding and always helped me whenever there was a special event to plan.  Her name is Alma Moran!

Alma Moran was one of the BEST chefs in our church back in Danville, VA!  I can think about Alma's fried chicken, or her veg-all casserole, or her homemade chicken salad and my mouth starts to water even today!  Alma had many wonderful recipes and talents; however, one of my all time favorites, is her recipe for Strawberry Punch!  I cannot recall one bridal shower, wedding, baby shower, Christmas party, or birthday party without Alma's Punch since the day that I first discovered it!  In fact, Alma made her Strawberry Punch for me so often, that I finally just asked her for the recipe and learned to make it myself! I will be making this punch for Brandon and Hannah's  Bridal Shower and wedding:

I have had several requests from friends and family to share this recipe.  Although, I normally prefer to write about decorating, this recipe is so simple and sooooo good that I would be doing Alma a disservice NOT to share:

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 cups of water
• 3 cups of sugar
• 2 small packs of strawberry Jello
• 1 large can of pineapple juice (approximately 64 oz)
• 1 large can of orange juice (approximately 64 oz)
• 3 gallon-sized ziplock bags
• 2-3 ginerales in 2-liter size

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Mix water, sugar, and both Jello packs into a large pot and bring to a boil.
• While stirring, allow the mixture to boil for 3 minutes.
• Remove mixture from heat and allow to cool.
• Add pineapple and orange juice to mixture and stir.
• Pour mixture evenly into 3 gallon-sized ziplock bags.
• Place in freezer.
• 1 hour before your event, place 1-2 bags of mixture into punch bowl and add ginerale as needed.  You may need to take a large knife and continue to crush mixture.  It taste so much better if served almost slushy!

This recipe is one of my favorite "belles and whistles" of celebrating!  It is almost fool proof and that is important for me when I am the chef in the kitchen.  Another great tip concerning this recipe:  If you need your punch to be another color, just switch the packs of Jello out from strawberry to another flavor!  I substituted Lime flavored packs for the "Two Peas in a Pod" shower and discovered that the taste and consistency was still fantastic!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I have!  Thanks again Alma!!!  You are the best!!!