Wassailing, wassailing all over the town
Our cup it is white, and our ale it is brown.
Our cup it is made from the fine ashen tree,
and so is our ale of the finest barley.

The VT Nav Christmas party was Saturday. Among other things, I wound up taking some Wassail and it was a hit. While most people had never heard of wassail, or had heard the word (as in "here we go a-wassailing...") but had no clue what wassail was. People were anxious to try the curiosity and the wassail went fast. I should have made at least a double batch.

For those of you who don't know what Wassail is, I refer you here or here, rather than try to explain it myself.

I will, however, share with you my family's recipe (non-alcoholic, of course):

1 Gallon apple cider
6 whole cloves
6 whole allspice
2 tsp ground nutmeg
6 oz frozen orange juice
6 oz frozen lemonade
1 C brown sugar
short cinnamon sticks (a few for the pot, or one for each person's mug)

In covered 6 qt sauce pot, over low heat, simmer 2 C cider, cloves, allspice, nutmeg for 10 min. Add remaining apple cider, undiluted lemonade and orange juice, brown sugar. Heat until hot, no boiling.

For effect: Float baked apples (cored, baked @ 350 for 25 min.) and sprinkle with sugar.

Enjoy.