One of Zach's friends (who shall remain nameless) gave Zach a 5 Liter box of Franzia zinfandel for his birthday.* We had no idea what to do with it, besides use it as a rather large doorstop but when we ended up hosting a memorial day barbeque for some friends (since we were dog sitting and had access to a house and a backyard) we decided to make a white sangria.
While I have consumed my fare share of sangria over the years, I'd never actually made it before so I trawled the net for some recipes. Common themes were citrus with white wine, and that some kind of sparkling beverage like club soda or Sprite should be added right before serving.
A few hours before the party, I chopped up 2 apples, 1 lemon, 1 lime and two oranges and then we emptied nearly the whole box of Franzia in and added about a third a cup of sugar and into the fridge it went. Fast forward to guests arriving, the dog running around and me running to 7-11 for something fizzy and it's sangria time. It went over well, if the rapidly depleting punchbowl and rising volume of the conversation were any indication.
I really like the idea of serving a sangria or punch instead of having a few bottles of wine for guests. Dipping into a communal bowl (in our case with a coffee mug since we couldn't find a ladle) adds to the atmosphere, as does serving 5 liters of wine to 10 people...
*Franzia, just in case you weren't in the U.S. in the early/mid 90's, was the first really popular box wine. Known for zinfandels, franzia is pretty much snubbed by anyone who knows (or thinks they know) anything about wine but it worked perfectly well for our purposes.
1 comment:
I often get gifts like that during the year and out them to use just as you have done. No one would no the diffrence.:-)
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