Welcome the New Year with Fizzy Orange Cream Punch

This year my two close girl-friends and I decided we would celebrate our New Year's Eve with our parents at home. It was a warm, cozy, and fun-filled evening and of course, I enjoyed planning the menu for the night. The orange welcome drink was a spontaneous creation and hit among the ladies while the men stuck to less sweet beverages :). This is a simple, refreshing and cheerfully welcoming concoction and the sweetness level can be easily controlled. More importantly, it's super easy. Here's the recipe.

For eight 8 oz.  glasses as shown in photo -

You'll need:

• 5 glasses of pulpy orange juice (freshly squeezed is best, but Minute Maid works quite well too)
• 2 small scoops of vanilla ice cream
• 1 glass or 8 oz. Sprite (Sprite tastes better than 7 Up for this recipe)

Procedure:
Add the orange juice and vanilla ice cream to a jug. Blend for about 30 seconds with a hand blender until it gets foamy. Don't over blend; it might get too frothy. Top off with Sprite and stir lightly with a spoon.

Decorating and Presenting:
Put a small cut in the center of an orange wedge and hang it on the rim of the glass. I prefer stemware for it's elegance. Pass a paper umbrella or another tooth-pick decoration carefully through the middle of the orange wedge. You may decorate with a fancy stirrer or a cherry. Try not to add anything to the drink but decorate only on the glass rim with fruit.; keep the beverage plain and original in it's taste.
Serve within 10 minutes of preparing to keep the fizz.

Alternatives:
You can try this with most fresh or good quality packaged juices. Lychee juice is another of my favorites. You can also try this with mango, peach, or berry juices.

Enjoy!