Friday, December 9, 2016

Christmas Traditions and Wassail

Right now I have the Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas song stuck in my head. Some people hate that song, but it has a bit of history in our family. Back when it came out on record--an actual record--Daddy and some of his siblings got the album for my Uncle Keith for a Christmas present when they were kids. But Uncle Keith got it "used." Somehow Daddy and Uncle Calvin, I think, managed to listen to it repeatedly before Christmas without the recipient finding out. I'd never really thought about it until recently, but that must have been quite a feat of sneakery. How on earth do you do that? Siblings are nosy and the Chipmunk Song isn't exactly hard to recognize.

So I grew up hearing the Chipmunk Song on this old record at Mamaw's house and the story that came with it. It's now a part of Smith Family Tradition. In the non-extended portion of my family, we have some other traditions, like the Christmas pudding (or the "figgy pudding" as Daddy sometimes calls it) and Shaina's wassail. We have had these traditions since Shaina and I were in junior high. In 7th or 8th grade, our English teacher had us read A Christmas Carol, and at the end of the semester we had to do a project. I can't remember the purpose or the exact guidelines, but Shaina chose to make wassail and the next year when I was in that class, I chose to make a Christmas pudding. At the time, I absolutely hated that English class. But looking back now, I think Mrs. White was wasted on teaching junior high. I would have rather her teach my college-age self instead. In junior high I hated the work... and I was not the greatest student. Much has changed. Now, I think I would actually enjoy it. Although English class was the bane of my existence back then, I am grateful for these delicious traditions that came out of the ordeal.



Wassail

Ingredients:
1 gallon fresh apple cider
1/2 gallon orange juice
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2- 1 Tablespoon mulling spices, depending on your taste
 ---OR---
2 cinnamon sticks, 7-8 cloves, a cardamom pod, crushed so the seeds come out; star anise, mace, the last heel of a used-up nutmeg, a few allspice berries, or whatever whole spices you may have lying around in the baking pantry.Crush them under a heavy pan to get more bang for your buck.
1 orange, sliced thin
1 lemon, sliced thin

Directions:
Put the sugar in to a large stock pot, pour the juices over it, and give it a stir to dissolve the sugar. DO NOT toss out the jugs from the juice. It's easier to store it in these than have a huge pot in the fridge. Take your mulling spices and put them in a mesh tea infuser. If you don't have one, just tie the spices into a little pouch made of cheesecloth and drop it in the pot. My tea infuser has a chain with a hook on the end, so I just attach that to the lip of the pot. Turn the heat to medium high and let the wassail come to a simmer as you slice the citrus. Put the slices into the pot and stir it occasionally until it's hot and the flavors have come together. The spices may not be strong enough at this point, so if you plan on serving it immediately, use the larger quantity and smash them up good. If not, the spices should adequately flavor the drink by the time you're ready to refrigerate it. Just don't leave them in there the whole time...It will turn into cinnamon juice if you let it!

At this point, you can serve it or let it cool for later use. If not serving immediately, let it cool completely before pouring it into the orange juice and apple cider jugs. (Don't forget to fish out the spices and citrus rounds first.)It's easiest to do this with a funnel and an extra pair of hands. If serving immediately, I find it's easiest to have a 1-cup glass measuring cup (with a saucer to set it on between uses) to scoop and pour it into mugs. There's a lot less dripping and spilling that way. (P.S. I hate messes and sticky.) Put an orange or lemon slice from the pot in each mug. If you're feeling frisky, give it a splash or rum too!

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