West Side Punch

• 30 fresh mint leaves, no stems
• 1 3/4 cups Charbay Meyer lemon vodka
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2/3 cup simple syrup (page 154)
• 1 cup club soda

1. In the bottom of a large pitcher, bruise the mint leaves slightly with a ladle or muddler.
2. Add the vodka, juice, and syrup.
3. Stir gently and add the club soda.
4. Fill the pitcher with ice and stir again for 1 minute.
5. Serve immediately.
6. an easy way to dress up your punch is to make a decorative ice block.
7. a Bundt cake pan (or any other interesting shape pan) can be used as a mold to make a large block of ice that is also functional.
8. Be sure that whatever size mold you choose will fit into both your freezer and your punch bowl.
9. Take thinly sliced citrus wheels or any of the other fruits in the punch recipe and scatter them evenly on the bottom of the pan.
10. Fill the pan tightly with ice cubes to hold the fruit in place.
11. Fill with cold water and place in the freezer for a few hours.
12. remove from the freezer just before serving.
13. Hold the pan upside down under a stream of hot water briefly to separate the ice from the mold.
14. The resulting ice should have fruits ornamenting the block.
15. look out, Martha!

mint, charbay meyer, freshly squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup, club soda

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/west-side-punch-390857 (may not work)