Friday, December 01, 2006

Wassail, Wassail, All Over the Town


17th century wassail bowl

I love wassail. I love to have it simmering on the stove. It fills the house with Christmas-y smells. It's so relaxing to sip on a cold winter's day. I have a big jug of cider in my fridge that I add simmering spices to for an easy wassail, but for "company" wassail, I like to make my mother-in-law's recipe.

Simmer for 1 hr.:
1 qt. water
8 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 C. sugar
1 ginger root, cut up
10 allspice
Strain (can be made in advance. Cool and refrigerate until ready to use.) Add:
1 large can frozen orange juice plus water called for on can
1 small can frozen lemonade plus water called for on can
2 qts. apple juice

Here's a little wassail trivia from Wikipedia: The word wassail comes from the an Old English toast, waes hael which means good health. Wassail comes from the winter celebrations of northern Europe. Originally wassail was made from beer. Spices like ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon as well as sugar and ale were placed in a wassail bowl, heated, and topped with slices of toast. Yum.

6 comments:

Megan said...

what part do you add the juice to? Is it the part you strained? or the liquid?


Sorry I've never made it. Not quite sure what to do.
Salem is insisting I make it, and I want it to be yummy, yummy.

Erin said...

Add the liquid, throw the spices away. Or simmer them in some water to make the house smell good.

Megan said...

thanks Erin, this is a great help to me.

Amanda said...

Erin, I've got to make wassail for 50 this Thursday and I've never really used a recipe so I think I'll use this one just to be sure it'll turn out. How much does this recipe yield?

Thanks

Erin said...

Amanda,
I'm not sure exactly how much it makes, but I'm guessing it serves around 40. If you think everyone will be drinking it, I'd double it just to be safe.
erin

Amanda said...

Thanks, Erin!