Sangria Overflowing

I am making sangria for a New Year’s Eve dinner party. I thought it would be a pleasant prelude to a main course of Spanish chicken and sausage paella. Odd New Year’s Eve choice? Possibly, but I thought odd=out of the ordinary. Quirky. Fun! And I am all about fun!! (And I am also exceedingly quirky. Just ask my friends and family.)

I thought I’d get a jump-start on my New Year’s Eve soirée by preparing the sangria tonight. I began by pouring the ingredients into a pitcher. Then I was forced to switch to a larger pitcher. Than I gravitated to a uber-big punch bowl by necessity. There are oh, so many, many cups of many, many things in this recipe, including fruit juices, wine and brandy. My gosh. Who knew??

By this evening, I had created a beautiful red sangria topped with cut up grapes and lemons in a ginormous punch bowl. I have sangria enough to warm the bellies of a medium-sized Spanish village! But also a small, already packed-to-the-gills refrigerator. And these are the moments when it is very convenient to live in the Midwest during winter dinner parties. Who needs a deep freeze or spare fridge when we have the great outdoors?? So my covered punch bowl will spend the night on a chair on my deck.

But I was just thinking……..does anyone want to place bets on how many inebriated rodents I’ll find passed out in my backyard tomorrow morning??