Today is a short column, but it’ll lead to something good.

It’s not summer yet, but I know there are folks in the Mahoning Valley just waiting for it.

Teachers, I’m looking at you.

There’s no reason we can’t dream and plan for the coming months, right?

But first, I need to take you with me on a quick trip down memory lane.

A few summers ago, I was at a friend’s end-of-summer camp party.

Lots of sunscreen, lots of food and lots of beverages.

Now, I’m not one to get inebriated.

I enjoy a nice adult drink every so often, but in the summer I can tell you I don’t like how alcohol and heat mix.

But there is something romantic about dunking your feet in a pool and sipping on a cold, fizzy cocktail.

Another thing I don’t like to mix is citrusy juice with alcohol and the hot summer sun, but here we are, with me building up to the best punch I ever had.

The woman who made said punch mixed it in one of those upright 5-gallon dispensers, and I’m pretty sure I drank most of it over the course of 12 hours.

There was lots of food I inhaled, too, especially pasta salad. I’m an absolute glutton for it.

Luckily, this August day, the air didn’t sit, so it wasn’t stagnant and humid.

It was absolutely hot, not a cloud in the deep azure sky, but there was this constant breeze that made the day perfect.

“Hey, Ash, you should try this. You’d like it,” the woman said.

She poured me an entire disposable cup.

Arrogant, I thought, but as soon as I tasted the punch, the woman had every right to be.

The sweet zip from the pineapple was a perfect complement for the extreme effervescence. I was hooked.

I enjoyed the punch so much that I asked for the recipe on the spot, and I made variations of it all summer.

As with many other recipes I try to share, this can be doctored so you don’t have to have alcohol.

Camp juice

Ingredients

48-oz. container pineapple juice

2 12-oz. cans Sprite

1 cup lemonade, made

2 cups water or ice (water will dilute — play around with how strong you want the mixture)

2 bottles pineapple rum

Directions

In a 5-gallon jug, mix ingredients and serve.

Share your favorite recipes and memories with Features Editor Ashley Fox at afox@tribtoday.com.