Wassail
Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green...
So what does "wassailing" mean? In the context of the song, it means caroling. Wassail is a hot punch served at Christmastime, and it was often kept on hand to offer to carolers when they came to your door. The word "wassail" reportedly comes from the ancient Saxon greeting Was hail!, meaning "Your health!" Whenever sharing wassail with friends and family, custom dictates that you offer this salutation before drinking.
Traditionally, this beverage contains alcohol. However, I've noticed that the overwhelming majority of my readers are (in America, at least) under the legal drinking age. So for the underaged, and for those who just don't want alcohol, I'm offering two recipes for wassail -- one with and one without.
Wassail with alcohol
Ingredients
- 1 gallon apple cider
- 8 cinnamon sticks
- 1 lemon, washed and sliced
- 1 orange, washed and sliced
- 1 tbsp. whole cloves
- 1 tbsp. allspice
- 1 gallon white wine
- 2 cups rum
Combine all the non-alcoholic ingredients in a large pot and simmer for one to two hours. Add the rum and wine ten minutes before serving. Always serve wassail hot.
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Kid-friendly Wassail
Ingredients
- 1 gallon apple juice
- 2 oranges
- 2 lemons
- 1 lime
- 1 tbsp. cloves
- 1 tbsp. allspice
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 quart water
- 1 cup sugar
Boil the water in a large pot. Cut the lemons, lime and oranges in half; squeeze the juice into a bowl and set it aside. Put the pulp and skins of the fruit into the boiling water, along with the spices, and allow it to simmer for one hour.
After the hour, fish out the cinnamon sticks and some of the cloves and set them aside. Use a slotted spoon to remove the remains of the fruit, as well as any spices still visible in the water. Put the cinnamon sticks and cloves back into the mixture, add the apple juice, and put it back on the burner until it boils again.
Remove the pot from the heat and add the fruit juice you saved earlier, along with the sugar. Continue to simmer the wassail very lightly for another ten minutes and, as stated in the other recipe, always serve it hot.
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