Clear Punch

When I was a little girl I used to go to my Grandma's to visit and we would quite often get to have lunch with her. We'd scooch up to the bar and she would feed us whatever she had in the fridge and we would always get to have "clear punch" with our meal. Now, we all knew it was really water but it was waaaay more fun to call it clear punch. Even now I will catch myself or one of my sisters offering one of the kids clear punch and I kind of laugh inside because it's such a happy little memory!

This really is "clear punch". It's flavored with lemon extract and citric acid so it's really lemonade-esque but it is definitely in the punch category and is definitely clear unless you choose to make it something else. We made this for Jeff and Jessica's wedding reception and it was a hit. And even more importantly it was EASY. I just made it all up in coolers the day before and added ice and lemon slices when I put it in the dispensers that night. We also had flavored syrups that people could use as an add in and that seemed to go over well.

I think this would be awesome with some crushed raspberries or strawberries added to the lemon slices. Seriously yummy....

The picture is kind of sketchy, I just snapped it at the reception because I didn't plan ahead and take one at home but it's better than nothing, right?

Clear Punch

4 1/2  quarts water
2 cups granulated sugar
1 T. citric acid
1 T. lemon extract (I added a little more because it was going to be diluted with ice)

Float lemon or lime slices in the punch for color. Or berries, or oranges...the list is endless.