{"id":1737,"date":"2010-12-17T09:14:36","date_gmt":"2010-12-17T14:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/?p=1737"},"modified":"2012-12-09T16:48:09","modified_gmt":"2012-12-09T21:48:09","slug":"wassail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/wassail\/","title":{"rendered":"Wassail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here we come a-wassailing
\nAmong the leaves so green;
\nHere we come a-wand’ring
\nSo fair to be seen.
\nLove and joy come to you,
\nAnd to you your wassail too;
\nAnd God bless you and send you
\na happy New Year.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I made my first batch of wassail five years ago after having visited the Daniel Boone homestead, which is about 20 minutes from here.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"At Christmastime, the homestead was decorated in a colonial manner, of course, and before your tour began, you were offered a cup of hot wassail. That cup, although delicious, varied dramatically from the wassail one enjoyed centuries ago. Today’s version is more like a mulled cider\u2014yesteryear’s incorporated ale and spices with \u201csops\u201d or toast placed on top to \u201csop\u201d the liquid.<\/p>\n

Wassail was also part of a ritual offered to apple trees to showcase the current year’s harvest and ensure a healthy harvest the following year. One such ceremony included the election of a village king and queen. The Wassail Queen would be lifted into the boughs of the apple tree to place sops, an offering, so to speak, to the \u201ctree spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

The term \u201cwassail\u201d refers to the salute \u201cWaes Hail\u201d — an Old Norse and Old English phrase meaning \u201cBe in good health.\u201d The consumption of wassail dates as early as the 11th century but, I think, we tend equate it with a later use. Apparently, in the 17th century, it was common to take your bowl of wassail from door to door offering cups to friends and neighbors — thus, \u201chere we come a-wassailing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below is a basic recipe for wassail, compliments of www.about.com<\/a>
\n2 tsp whole cloves
\n3 short cinnamon sticks
\n1 1\/2 tbs crystalized ginger, chopped
\n1 3\/4 cups sugar
\n4 cups water
\n4 cups orange juice
\n1\/2 cup lemon juice
\n8 cups apple juice<\/p>\n

Preparation:
\nIn a small piece of cheesecloth, tie a bag with the cloves, cinnamon sticks and ginger pieces. In a saucepan, heat the water, sugar and spice bag until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Heat on a low simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes. Remove spice bag.In a large punch or serving bowl, stir together the juices and add the spiced sugar water. Stir through and serve while still warm. Serves about 24 people.<\/p>\n

So, if you’ve grown tired of taking the holiday platter of cookies to neighbors, why not offer a bowl of wassail and toast to \u201cgood health\u201d. Hey, wait a minute: I wonder if that’s where \u201ctoast\u201d came from?\u00a0 The sops??\u00a0 Hmmmm. Time to do a little more research.<\/p>\n

Here’s to your health!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here we come a-wassailing Among the leaves so green; Here we come a-wand’ring So fair to be seen. Love and joy come to you, And to you your wassail too; And God bless you and send you a happy New Year. I made my first batch of wassail five years ago after having visited the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[153,35,18,19,154],"class_list":["post-1737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-christmas-traditions","tag-family","tag-farming","tag-hobbyfarm","tag-wassail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.homegrownonahobbyfarm.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}