Patch Recipes: Drink It up on Christmas

Christmas is almost here. If you're celebrating, hopefully you've bought all your presents by now. You probably already know what you're doing food-wise. But did you figure out what you're going to drink? If not, we've got a couple drink recipes that are perfect for Christmas. Just make sure you're over 21 and have a designated driver.

The following recipes were created by Suzanne Corbett, an award-winning writer/producer, culinary teacher and food historian.

Lemon Drop Champagne Punch

• 3 lemons, room temperature
• 1/3  cup sugar
• 1 bottle champagne, chilled
• 3/4 cup vodka, chilled
• 4 ounces candied lemon peels 

With a vegetable peeler, remove zest from each lemon in a long, continuous spiral. Juice lemons, and strain pulp (you should have 3/4 cup juice). Set aside. Heat sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add zest. Let syrup cool completely, about 2 hours.

Pour champagne, vodka, lemon juice, and syrup into a punch bowl; stir. Serve glasses of punch with candied peels.

Cranberry, Tangerine and Pomegranate Punch

• 1 bag (12 ounces) fresh cranberries, for swizzle sticks
• 1 bunch mint, for swizzle sticks
• 2 cups freshly squeezed pomegranate juice (about five pomegranates)
• 3 cups freshly squeezed tangerine juice (about seven tangerines)
• 5 cups cranberry-juice cocktail
• 2 bottles champagne

Spear three cranberries alternately with two mint leaves on each wooden skewer. Place skewers on a baking sheet; cover with damp paper towels, and refrigerate up to one hour.

In a large punch bowl, stir together fruit juices. Fill the glasses with ice, and ladle a 1/2 cup punch into each glass; top with champagne. Garnish each glass with a swizzle stick.

Algonquin Punch

• Peel from 4 lemons (removed in strips with vegetable peeler)
• 1/3 cup superfine sugar
• 2 cups fresh raspberries, divided
• 3 cups Gin
• 2 cups fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups dark rum
• 6 cups ice cubes
• 1 ice block*
• 2 cups chilled champagne
• Lemon slices

Place lemon peel strips in large bowl. Add sugar and mash with muddler or wooden spoon to infuse sugar with lemon. Add 1 1/4 cups raspberries and mash to blend. Pour in gin, lemon juice, and rum. Add ice cubes; stir to blend. Refrigerate punch 20 minutes. Place ice block in punch bowl. Strain punch over ice block into bowl. Add champagne; stir to blend. Garnish punch with lemon slices and remaining 3/4 cup raspberries.

*To make the ice block, fill a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with water and freeze it solid. Dip the pan into hot water to release the ice block.