ISLAND COOLER RECIPE

For our Gilligan's Island theme party this past weekend, we made a huge batch of my favorite tropical cocktail.  Some of you might notice a few similiarities between this recipe and the Lakeside Cooler recipe I posted a few weeks ago.  It's pretty much the same thing, except the Island Cooler makes a HUGE batch, has a fun umbrella, and is served in a  real pineapple.  The whole pineapple thing makes this drink instantly more island-y, but it would still taste delicious in a regular glass.

Island Cooler Recipe:
Serving Size: A lot!  Enough for about 15 people drinking all night (or 5 people who have a really high tolerance:)
--2 quarts of OJ (just buy a milk jug of OJ)
--64 oz. cranberry juice (I like to get the diet kind)
--32 oz. non-alcoholic lime margarita mix (again, you can get the zero calorie version)
--1 bottle of rum and adjust according to how silly you want to get (careful about putting too much in right away, because it will really sneak up on you since the alcohol taste is blocked by all these delicious juices)
--3 12 oz. cans of diet ginger ale

Pour the OJ, cranberry juice, lime margarita mix, and rum in a really big punch bowl or drink dispenser and stir.  Then top it off with the ginger ale for a little bit of fizz.

Next comes the fun part.  Take a whole pineapple and cut the top off of it.  Then, use this contraption to take out the insides and leave a nice clean hollowed out shell.

Since the pineapple rind may leak, I like to put a plastic cup in the pineapple and then pour the drink in.  This makes it easy to reuse the pineapple rind again, too.  If you want to keep the pineapples for future use, then just store in the freezer.  We've had a few that we've had for over a year.  This is the best way to keep your drink cool, too! 

Top your concoction off with an umbrella, and you're all set to enjoy a tropical evening no matter where you are.  Cheers!