Green Sherbet Punch is a family Christmas recipe dating back to my great-grandmother, Grannie Mays. The recipe is extremely simple to make once you have all the ingredients. Finding said ingredients is another story.

Specifically, lime sherbet is sold almost nowhere and thus requires advanced planning. If you’re in my hometown of DC, Harris Teeter has been the best bet in recent years. Around Boston, the Walmart up in Saugus seems to have some in stock. If you’re elsewhere, good luck. (In a true pickle, lime sherbet makes up a third of most rainbow sherbets. That’s admitting defeat, though.)

At my house, we also have a lifetime supply of green Kool-Aid in the furnace room. What if the Kool-Aid Corporation were to fold? Gotta be prepared.

Ingredients
  • 1½ pkgs green Kool-Aid
  • ~1¼ cup sugar
  • 1 can pineapple juice
  • orange juice
  • 1 or 2 lemons
  • ~3-4 liters ginger ale
  • ½ gallon lime sherbet
Preparing the punch mix
  1. In a gallon jug, pour in the Kool-Aid and sugar.
  2. Add 3 quarts of water to the jug.
  3. Add the pineapple juice, orange juice, and juice in 1 lemon. Then fill close to the top with water.
  4. Taste—if too tart, add orange juice, if too sweet, add lemon juice.
Assembly
  1. In a punch bowl, blend the punch mix with ginger ale. Depending on your preference, the ratio can be anywhere from two-thirds punch mix / one-third ginger ale to the inverse.
  2. Add LOTS of scoops of sherbet. (Upon serving, the surface should be almost fully covered with sherbet.)
  3. If you want, you can slice a second lemon and add it to the punch for decoration.
  4. Throughout the meal, it’s essential to restock the punch bowl with more sherbet. Good task to delegate to the kids (or the kids at heart).