I do not know about you and yours but we listen to Christmas carols every year but we do not actually listen to them. We hear the familiar tune and maybe hum along but we do not really listen to the words with the intention of understanding the real meaning. Most old, traditional songs and customs have some reason that they were started. You might find it fun to explore some of the old Christmas songs or transitions to find out where and why they started, what is the meaning behind them.

The point, in fact, the common Christmas carol: Here we go a-wassailing. Have you ever really listened to the words and thought about what it means? We did not until some years ago, we were introduced to Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas cartoon from 1987. If you have not seen it, you should get it for your family, the kids love it and it has some great moments for the adults also. In the Claymation Christmas, they have a section on the carol “Here we go a-wassailing”. There are dogs that are “waffling”, Ducks that are “waddling”, pigs and some other animals all doing it wrong. Finally, the elves show up and sing it correctly and give the explanation for wassailing. There are many other pieces in the show and all are great fun. The Claymation Christmas is a cute, family holiday tradition in our house, we have been watching it just about every year.

I took these pics of Google search.

According to whychristmas.com the word ‘wassail’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase ‘waes hael’, which means “good health”. So you are actually wishing good health and happiness to people along your way. Wassailing is an old tradition of going around singing Christmas carols and sharing wassail. Wassail is a drink similar to apple cider. The original wassail was of course made from an ale or hard cider but today we have the non-alcohol version that is family/kid safe. The idea was for groups of people to get together and go around singing Christmas carols and having a jolly good time. It was common for house owners to offer a hot drink to the carolers, often wassail. Sometimes you could find a street vendor selling hot wassail to people passing by. Overall it was a fun time singing and celebrating with friends, family, and hot wassail.

Again, the original wassail was made of hard cider or ale with spices added to give it a yuletide flavor. We have the family/kid-safe version here. There are as many different recipes for wassail as there are traditions for it. Every recipe is slightly different. You can take several, combine them, mix, them, or add and subtract the parts you like or do not like. Whatever way you go with your recipe, making it to your liking, you will get a unique, hot drink with a holiday flavor. We like wassail better than we do regular hot cider. Some of our kin like it hot but others will wait till it is cold to drink it. Not sure you are supposed to drink it cold but to each their own.

Here is the way I like to make my wassail. You will need:

1-gallon apple juice or apple cider

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup of sugar

1 can apricots

1 can pineapple crushed is best

1 can mandarin oranges

1 can pears

spices:

nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice

We use a large crockpot and just put it up in the morning and let it “fester” as Jack would say until you were ready to drink it. You can put it on the stovetop if you prefer but do watch it as it likes to boil over. Just add all ingredients to your crockpot or stovetop pot and put on the heat.

When it comes to the spices, you can either add them straight and loose to the pot or you can tie the spices up in a spice bag and put the bag in the pot. We use already dried powders but you can grate your own fresh if you like. But I find fresh grating is just to much trouble, I do not have to be that authentic. You can also use whole spices if you prefer. You can nix the individual spices and buy a bag of what is called “mulling spices”. The bag of mulling spices has all the above spices already in the bag. Mulling spices are commonly used for apple cider and spiced wines.

If you add all ingredients straight to the pot and boil, you will get a very real “authentic” drink. It will have lots of spice and fiber. Many people do not like the extra fiber in the bottom. Some might even call it sludge left over. I will admit it is a bit thick when you get close to the bottom or if you mix vigorously. If you put the spices in a bag and boil the bag in the pot, you will not get the extra particles but I think you also do not get as much spice flavoring.

Depending on how you like it, you can add more or less sugar and spices. This is one of those recipes that you can make to your taste. If you use apple juice you may need more sugar and spices. If you use cider you may want to start with less and add as you like.

Some of the recipes do not call for the fruits, while others add different fruits. On the occasion, you will find a recipe that calls for walnuts or some other kind of nut. Some recipes call for lemon or lime juice also. My thinking on the reason for the different recipes is that people added the kinds of fruits, spices, and nuts that they had in their area. So every community or county would have a slightly different flavor.

If your fruits do not totally dissolve while cooking your wassail, you will get the added fun of spiced fruit to eat. You can fish out the fruit and put it out as another holiday special treat. If you want you can puree the fruits before adding them to the mix and avoid having the fruit pieces left over.

You might like to look at several different recipes and try out a couple to see which one you like best. Of course, if someone in your circle is allergic to some ingredient, it would be best to omit that part. Wassail is like many things that have been handed down over generations, everyone likes to put their personal touch to it. And that is ok, make it yours. Make a new family tradition or keep an old one. This is also a great drink for social events. It is a rare drink in the arena of social outings. So add wassail to your next church social, family eating, or Christmas party and see if your friends and family take to it. We hope you have enjoyed this family recipe and hope you will try it out.

Once your wassail has cooked, you just fill up cups, add a bit of spray cream, maybe a stick of cinnamon and there you have it. You have an alternative to the cider that will have your guests asking for more.

Thank you for visiting and please come again for another edition of Out Standing in the Field.