So your little girl is going off to college? Everyone wants to celebrate. There are 3 kinds of BBQ’ed meat, 5 kinds of dessert, 10 bags of chips, salad of all kinds and to drink … 3 kinds of light beer? Come on. You can’t get anymore creative than light beer?

If one googles for “graduation party” then at once, before you even press enter, google suggests below that entry: graduation party ideas, invitations, supplies, themes, decorations, menu, food, and games. Where’s the refreshments, drinks to toast with? And please, not everyone drinks alcohol. No suggestions for something different to drink up? Aw, come on!

Blog4Brains.com has drink recipes for you, either solo you, just the two of you, just a special dinner or family celebration or a graduation party of many friends. The following recipes are all for nonalcoholic drinks guaranteed to more than satisfy. They are selected from the famous “Tops, the Home-Makers Friend Cook Book” by George Dorcheff, published 1952 and out-of-print. I highly recommend the first recipe called “Grape-Ale Punch” because I have made this one myself for three parties and one wedding reception.

The others are mostly single portion drinks.

Enjoy! And a toast to your daughter or son’s success!

GRAPE-ALE PUNCH
2 quart size bottles grape soda
2 small bottles lemon-lime flavored soda
1 quart size bottle ginger ale
1 pint vanilla ice cream (bulk)
Chill carbonated beverages thoroughly. Just before serving, pour beverages into punch bowl. Add ice cream, dividing the pint into four large tablespoonful. Makes 32 punch-size cups.

GINGER-COFFEE FLOAT
1 pint vanilla ice cream
1/4 cup double strength coffee
1 quart size bottle ginger ale (chilled)
Place two large tablespoons of vanilla ice cream in each glass. Pour two tablespoons of double strength coffee over ice cream and fill glass with chilled ginger ale. Stir and serve. Makes 6 servings.

CALIFORNIA JULEP
3 cups orange juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Ginger Ale
Mint jelly
Combine orange juice and lemon juice. Freeze into cubes in refrigerator. Put frozen orange juice cubes into tall glasses. Add two teaspoons mint jelly to each glass. Fill glasses with ginger ale. Chop cubes with spoon. Garnish with slices of orange and bing cherries. Serves 4 to 6.

DELUXE COCOA
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
Dash of salt
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups milk
Mix cocoa, sugar, salt, and water in saucepan. Place over low flame. Bring to a boil, and boil gently for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Add milk and heat, do not boil. If desired, beat before serving. Serve hot. Makes 3 servings.

CHOCOLATE EGG NOGG
1 cup chilled milk
3 tablespoons Cocoa Syrup
1 egg well beaten
Add milk slowly to syrup, stirring constantly; add to egg, and beat or shake well. Pour into tall glass. Serves 1.

BRAZILIAN CHOCOLATE
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1 cup strong coffee
2 tablespoons sugar
Dash of salt
3 cups milk
Add chocolate to coffee in top of double boiler and place over low flame, stirring until chocolate is melted and blended. And sugar and salt and boil 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Place over boiling water. Add milk gradually, stirring constantly; then heat. Beat with rotary egg beater until light and frothy. Let cool and pour over ice in tall glasses. Makes 4 servings.

CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM SODA
1/2 cup chilled milk
2 tablespoons Cocoa Syrup
1/2 cup carbonated water
Chocolate or vanilla ice cream
Add milk slowly to syrup, stirring constantly; pour into tall glass. Add carbonated water and stir enough to mix. Add ice cream and serve at once. Serves 1.

BANANA-ORANGE MILK SHAKE
1 fully ripe banana
1/2 cup cold milk
1– 6 ounce can Florida orange juice concentrated
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Slice banana into a bowl and beat with rotary beater or electric mixer until creamy. Or press through medium wire strainer with a spoon. Add milk. Dilute concentrate according to directions on can; add 1/2 cup juice (reserve remaining juice for other use) and sugar and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately. Makes 2 servings.

FRUIT PUNCH (1 gallon)
1/4 bottle pineapple juice
3/4 bottle lemon juice
1 bottle orange juice
1 cup powdered sugar
block of ice
Sir well, add sliced pineapples, oranges, cherries or other fruit in season. 1/2 cup on all.

APRICOT MILK FLOAT
1 cup pureed apricot, sweetened
(canned, dried, or fresh apricot may be used. If canned, no additional sweetening needed)
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups chilled milk
1 pint vanilla ice cream
Combine pureed apricot and milk in bowl. Add salt and 1/2 of ice cream. Beat with rotary egg beater until well mixed and frothy. Fill 12-ounce glass three-fourths full. Top each drink with 1/4 remaining ice cream. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.

APPLE-ORANGE QUENCHER
Mix equal parts of chilled orange juice and apple juice.
Serve over ice cubes.

SLICED LIMEADE
6 Florida limes
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup water
1– 3-inch pc. stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon whole cloves
Ice Cubes
Sparkling water
1 Florida lime, sliced
Cut 6 limes in half and squeeze. Combine in saucepan, sugar, water, stick of cinnamon and cloves. Place over low heat, stir until sugar dissolves. Simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; add lime juice. Fill 6 tall glasses with ice cubes; divide sliced lime mixture between the glasses. Fill glasses with sparkling water. Garnish each glass with slice of lime. Makes 6 servings.

SPECIAL ICED TEA
3 cups of tea
1/3 cup lemon juice
Sugar to taste
5 mint sprigs
1/2 cup orange juice
1 pint Ginger Ale
6 slices orange
Make tea double-strength and pour it over chopped ice or ice cubes. Add lemon and orange juice and as much sugar as desired. Add ginger ale when ready to serve. Serve with ice in tall glasses with a spring of mint and a slice of orange in each glass.

OLD FASHION EGG NOGG
1/2 pint milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Shake well or beat ego with rotary beater. Dash nutmeg on top. Serve in full glass.

LEMONADE REFRESHER
1 dozen medium lemons
2/3 cup sugar, or to taste
2 quarts ice and sparkling water
Wash lemons. Extract the juice from 8 of them and cut the other 4 into paper-thin slices. Combine slices, lemon juice and sugar in pitcher. Stir (with a wooden spoon if possible) until sugar is dissolved. Punch the lemon slices a little as you stir. The punching releases flavor from the peel. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes before adding ice and water. Serve with lemon slices floating in the glasses. Serves 12.

MOCHA-KOKA FRAPPE
Bottle koka-type beverage
1/2 cup chocolate bits
1 cup triple-strength coffee
2 1/2 cups milk
Fill freezing tray of refrigerator with koka-type beverage (number of bottles required will depend of size of tray). Set controls at freezing and freeze. Place chocolate bits and half of the triple-strength coffee in top of double boiler and melt chocolate slowly, until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining coffee and milk.
Fill tall glasses with shaved koka-ice Pour mocha-milk mixture over koka-ice and serve. Makes 6 servings.

PINEAPPLE MINT SMOOTHIE
1 cup milk
1 cup pineapple juice
2 drops peppermint extract
Blend thoroughly and serve over finely cracked ice. Makes 2 to 3 servings.

PERSIAN DELIGHT
6 bottles orange soda
1/2 cup grape jelly
1/2 cup water
4 lemon slices
Freeze contents of 2 bottles of orange carbonated beverage and chill remaining 4 bottles. Heat grape jelly and water in small saucepan until they combine to make a syrup. Cool.
To serve e. Shave or crack carbonated beverage ice and place in 4 tall glasses. Pour two tablespoons of the syrup over ice in each glass. Garnish glasses with lemon slices. Makes 4 servings.

Orange Bliss
5 –(12 ounce size) bottles of orange soda
2 — (7 ounce size) bottles lemon-lime soda
1 –(12 ounce size) bottled cream soda
3 egg whites
2 cups fresh, or 1 package frozen strawberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Place bottles of carbonated beverages in refrigerate to chill. Beat egg white until they form small peaks, add strawberries and beat lightly. Slowly add one bottle orange soda, lemon juice and mix. Quickly place in the freezing tray of refrigerator, with controls set at freezing. When mixture begins to freeze, remove from freezing tray and beat with egg beater until foamy. Return to freezing tray and freeze until ready to serve.
To serve. Remove the strawberry ice from freezing tray and place in bottom of punch bowl. Slowly add remaining bottles of chilled carbonated beverages. Makes about 28 punch-size cups.

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