Recipe for Old Fashioned Christmas Punch (1968)

Recipe for Old Fashioned Christmas Punch. The recipe requires 2 cups of sugar, 6 lemons, 1 cup of water and 1 quart of grape juice. Make a syrup by boiling sugar and water until it spins a thread. Do not stir after sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool and then add the juice of lemons and grape juice, and let stand in refrigerator overnight. Serve over ice cubes, thinking with clear water.

The holidays are a time to come together with family and friends. It's also a time for seasonal delicacies that are only served at this time of year.

The Inverness Cook Book was published in 1968 by the All Saints Episcopal Guild in Inverness, Mississippi, as a fundraiser for the renovation and expansion of the church. The book is organized like many cookbooks with recipes listed by types of food such as appetizers, beverages, vegetables, desserts and pies. In the beverages section, there's a recipe for Old Fashioned Christmas Punch. The recipe is remarkably simple with only four ingredients – sugar, lemons, water, and grape juice.

This book is one of over 1,500 Mississippi community cookbooks found in Special Collections at Southern Miss. To read more about the history of the Episcopal Church in Inverness or to browse recipes in the cookbook, find the cookbook here. If you have any questions about the cookbook collection, contact Jennifer Brannock at or 601.266.4347.

Text by Jennifer Brannock, Curator of Rare Books & Mississippiana.