Holiday Slush

I've been blogging for a few years now and my daughter Megan has decided to start a blog of her own.

She keeps posting about things that I thought "Ooh, I need to share that too!" So here I've asked her to be my first guest blogger. 

This is a recipe that goes way back. My mother in law has made it for years and when we moved across the country I started making it too. It wouldn't be a be family gathering without this tart, sweet refreshing drink. We usually serve it before Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner as people are gathering. It's also great on the Fourth of July or at a bridal shower. Pick your event! Enjoy! 

(P.S. She halved the recipe, but trust me, you are going to want to make the full amount!)

Hi, I'm Megan from Excel at Home and I'm thrilled to be writing my first guest blog post! A big thank you to Karee (who happens to be my mother) for helping me as I join this world of blogging.

Have you ever had a family tradition that you thought was the same across all families? Like turkey at Thanksgiving; it's what everyone does, right?

I don't remember when I first discovered that not everyone has "slush" at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I do know that I'm still disappointed to find it missing when I visit other people's homes for the holidays.

With Thanksgiving at my house this year, I knew I had to once again teach my in-laws about holiday slush.

My grandmother keeps our slush recipe in her famous family cookbook (the one she gives to the grandchildren when they get married, meaning she refused to give me one until my wedding at age 29). I had a couple problems with this recipe.

First, it makes enough to serve my grandmother's entire family (consisting of 6 children and their spouses, 25 grandchildren and their spouses, and I don't know how many great-grandchildren). In other words, for my group of 10 adults, I really only needed half of the recipe. But the amounts were weird and not easily divided in two.

Also, once upon a time, when my grandmother wrote down this recipe, the grocery stores carried giant 46 ounce cans of pineapple grapefruit juice. At some point in the last 30 or so years, these special mixes became unavailable. So, in order to half the recipe, I needed 12.5 ounces each of pineapple and grapefruit juice. Not the easiest of measurements.

And so I just rounded it to 12 ounces, or 1.5 cups each of the juices. I rounded a couple of the other amounts to make things easier, and there you have it. I hope my in-laws love it as much as I do, but if not, I'll have no problem eating all the slush myself!

This is definitely a make ahead of time recipe, which is fine because it keeps very well in the freezer. Make a syrup of the sugar and water, and mix it all together in a large tupperware or pan. You want something wide enough that you can easily serve from, but tall enough that when you mix it, you won't wind up with more on the floor than in your pan.

I like to let it freeze overnight. Then, at least a day before you serve it, take it out and let it defrost for an hour or so.

Break it up into chunks with a large spoon, and then attack it with a hand mixer. This part is super messy, so wear an apron!

Once it's light and fluffy, return to the freezer. With it whipped, it's easy to serve with an ice cream scoop.

Serve as an appetizer with Sprite or your favorite lemon-lime soda. A wonderful holiday treat!

Holiday Slush

Download/Print Recipe

Makes: About 12 Servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Freeze Time: Overnight

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 cups water
• 3 mashed bananas
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 cup grapefruit juice
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Make a syrup with the sugar and water over medium heat. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, remove from heat and allow to cool.
2. Mix all ingredients in a large tupperware or pan. Slowly add the syrup. Place in freezer until set, at least 5 hours or overnight.
3. At least 2 hours before serving, remove from freezer and allow 1 hour to defrost. Break ice apart with a heavy spoon, then whip with handheld mixer until fluffy. Return to freezer.
4. Serve straight from freezer as appetizer with lemon-lime soda.

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