A Season Beverage with History
With the Holiday Season in full swing and the cold on almost the entire Nation’s doorstep, we thought it good to remind you of a triple of great heart warming beverage recipes to keep you warm.
Basic Wassail Recipe
Wassail was originally a word that meant to wish health upon someone — groups would go out wassailing on cold evenings, and when they approached a
door would be offered a mug of warm cider or ale. Over the years, the tradition evolved to include mixing eggs with alcohol and asperging the crops to ensure fertility. While this recipe doesn’t include eggs, it sure is good, and it makes your house smell beautiful for the Holiday Season
Ingredients
1 Gallon of apple cider
4 cinnamon sticks
1 1/2 tsp of whole allspice or several good shakes of powdered allspice
1 teaspoon of whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon grated or powdered nutmeg
1 large orange, thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Sugar, to taste
Combine cider with spices and fruit slices and heat over a low flame until warm and steamy. Simmer gently for 1 hour or more. The longer you simmer it, the spicier the brew. Add sugar to taste. Strain the mixture through a sieve, although purists may prefer to their wassail chunky-style.
When ready to serve, remove from heat and add optional spirits, rum, brandy, mead or the ends of all those dusty bottles lurking in the liquor cabinet, to taste of course.
Serve hot. If you are using a Crock Pot to keep the wassail hot, use the low setting to prevent alcohol from evaporating.  An old Germanic tradition.
Home Made Eggnog in Quantity
Ingredients
- • 12 egg yolks
- ‚Ä¢ 1 lb. confectioners’ sugar
- • 4 or more cups dark rum, brandy, bourbon or rye
- • 2 quarts whipping cream
- • 8 to12 egg whites
- • Fresh nutmeg
Directions
Beat the egg yolks until they are light in color. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar. Add 2 cups of liquor (or combination of liquors) very slowly, beating constantly. Let the mixture stand covered for 1 hour to dispel the “eggy” taste.
Add, beating constantly, 2 or more cups of liquor and the whipping cream. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold them lightly into the other ingredients. Serve the eggnog sprinkled with fresh nutmeg.
Hot and Creamy Cocoa (research has shown it to have tremendous health benefits)
Ingredients:
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1/3 cup boiling water
3 1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
Directions:
Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn’t scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 4 mugs.
Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature.
