Culturebox: The Bowl's the Thing

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drink The Bowl's the Thing Notes on holiday punch. By Troy Patterson Posted Friday, Dec. 17, 2010, at 7:10 PM ET To every season, there is a punch. There are cooler punches bobbing with lime sherbet as green as spring itself, and there are tawny back-to-school punches as only college sophomores can concoct--the fall breeze quickening their pulses as they decant the second handle of Everclear and cast about for more powdered drink mix. During this season of jollity it's time to get serious about punch. Holiday punch is the essence of holiday entertaining, but what is the essence of holiday punch? Quantity is chief among its special qualities. The bowl is the thing. (By this standard, Planter's Punch, properly served in a Collins glass, would not qualify as punch unless the Collins glass were four feet tall and accompanied by a Brobdingnagian ladle.) But we needn't be too choosy about the particulars of the vessel. Stockpots and crockpots, crystal and pewter basin, 10-gallon Gatorade coolers and 6-quart salad spinners with no-skid bases--all are viable. Kingsley Amis somewhere proposes a baby bath. Charles Dickens specifies a common basin "which may be broken in case of accident, without damage to the owner's peace or pocket." Accidents will happen. In all its guises--even kiddie fizzes laced with nothing more potent than red food coloring--punch invites frolicsome gluttony. To continue reading, click here. Troy Patterson is Slate's television critic. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate We Don't Need More Young Entrepreneurs. We Need More Old Ones. Sen. Kyl's Demented Claim that DADT Repeal Could Cost American Lives What Michele Bachmann Wrote in Obama's Facebook Feed	Advertisement
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