By Christmas 2030. Bakery fifteenth anniversary approaching. Fifty-two El Paso tamale orders. Thirty-two Anapra orders. Forty-five hundred tamales total. The production exceeds what I could have imagined fifteen years ago when I was shaping sixty dozen conchas a week in my home kitchen. The distance between then and now is not measured in years but in tamales — from zero to forty-five hundred, and the forty-five hundred is Rosa's recipe, and Rosa's recipe is the distance, and the distance is the bakery, and the bakery is fifteen years of still here.
Nochebuena: twenty people. The biggest table. The fullest Christmas. The chile colorado and the tamales and the flan and the champurrado and the ponche, all Rosa's, all served to twenty people who are alive because Rosa was alive, who eat because Rosa cooked, who gather because Rosa gathered, and the gathering is the Christmas, and the Christmas is Rosa.
When I picture that Nochebuena table — twenty people, Rosa’s tamales, Rosa’s chile colorado, Rosa’s flan — I always come back to the ponche, the thing everyone holds in their hands while the night opens up around them. This Celebration Punch is what I reach for when the crowd is full and the occasion deserves something poured with intention: bright, generous, and made to be lifted in a room where everyone is still here because someone loved them enough to cook. Fifteen years of bakery, forty-five hundred tamales, and still, the glass in your hand is where the celebration lives.
Celebration Punch
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 20
Ingredients
- 1 can (46 oz) pineapple juice, chilled
- 1 can (12 oz) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
- 1 can (12 oz) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
- 2 liters ginger ale, chilled
- 2 liters lemon-lime soda, chilled
- 1 quart raspberry sherbet
- 1 cup maraschino cherries, for garnish
- 1 orange, thinly sliced, for garnish
- Ice ring or ice cubes, as needed
Instructions
- Combine the juices. In a large punch bowl, stir together the pineapple juice, thawed orange juice concentrate, and thawed lemonade concentrate until fully combined.
- Add the sodas. Just before serving, slowly pour in the chilled ginger ale and lemon-lime soda, pouring along the side of the bowl to preserve the carbonation.
- Add the sherbet. Scoop the raspberry sherbet into the punch bowl in large spoonfuls, distributing evenly across the surface. It will float and slowly melt into the punch, adding a creamy, fruity sweetness.
- Add ice. Place an ice ring or several cups of ice into the punch bowl to keep the punch cold without diluting it too quickly.
- Garnish and serve. Float the orange slices on top and scatter the maraschino cherries throughout. Ladle into punch cups or glasses and serve immediately while cold and sparkling.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 185 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Carbs: 44g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 35mg