Here's a little recipe for you to enjoy this Christmas....this was given to me by an elderly lady (we miss you Miss Jane) in our old church...it is well over 100 years old...and it is fabulous. I make this every year...for parties and such...but it sits simmering on our stove all day long on Christmas Day with a ladle ready for scooping up a mugful. Before being given the recipe, I was clueless about Wassail...and faintly remember mention of the word in "Here We Come A-Wassailing". So we did like any Homeschool family does...we looked it up!
"The term "Wassailing" refers to singing carols door to door. "Here We Come A-Wassailing" is an Old English Wassail song to wish "good health"...which is what the word "wassail" means. According to Readers Digest, the Christmas spirit often made the rich a little more generous than usual and a band of beggars and orphans used to dance their way through the snowy streets of England, offering to sing good cheer and to tell of good fortune if the householder would give them a drink from his Wassail bowl or a penny or a pork pie...or let them stand for a few minutes beside the warmth of his hearth. The Wassail bowl itself was a hearty combination of hot ale or beer and spices and mead. Just alcoholic enough to warm the tingling fingers and toes of the singers."
There is no alcohol in our rendition of Wassail so if you make this and end up dancing on the tables, or telling your neighbor that you hate her cat, you only have yourself to blame....or maybe the Rum Balls. I hope you get a chance to whip this up for your family this year...and if not you can at least add it to your recipe box for next year. Enjoy!
1 Gallon Apple Cider
1 Large (46oz. I believe) can of Pineapple Juice
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
2 Cinnamon Sticks
1 lemon zest
Mix, simmer (hotter the better to me) and serve!
"Love and Joy Come to You
And to You Your Wassail Too
And God Bless You and Send You a Happy New Year
And God Send You a Happy New Year!"
"And whatever I do, may it always bring glory to you"
