Here We Come A-Wassailing

For those of you who don't know, wassailing was a tradition wherein people would walk from house to house singing Christmas carols.  Scholars believe the practice started as an Anglo-Saxon pagan ritual based of an Old English salute - "waes hael" - which basically meant "good health."  In addition to walking along and singing, carolers or wassailers would "beg" for some sort of charitable gift and perhaps a warm beverage as well.  Wassailing traditionally occurs on "Twelfth Night", January 5th or 6th, rather than before Christmas. So if you haven't gone wassailing yet, you still have time.

I managed to start a new Christmas tradition last year when I found this delightful recipe for wassail at the Jane Austen Centre's online magazine.  (I do love trying out historical recipes.)

I did some fiddling and adjusting this year based on how last year's wassail turned out, and everyone agreed it was better than before.  To make this "stronger" you can also mix in brandy while the wassail is heating, but I always serve it on the side, as there are some in my family who prefer to leave out the alcohol.

And yes, we did sing before we drank it.  No, no one got it on video.  Thank God.

Traditional Wassail
Ingredients

• 1/2 gallon apple cider
• 3 small (6 ounce) cans of pineapple juice
• 3/4 cup of hot tea (I used English Breakfast, but you can use any black tea you like)
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• French brandy (optional)
• Orange slices (for garnish)

Method

1. Measure out the spices into a coffee filter, and securely twist and tie the filter with thread or string to prevent anything from leaking out.  This creates a spice bag.
2. Pour the cider, pineapple juice, and tea into a 4 quart pot and stir to combine. Add the spice bag.
3. Bring to a simmer on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Then reduce the heat to low to keep the wassail hot.
4. Offer orange slices for garnish - and a slightly stronger citrus flavor.  Offer brandy on the side if anyone wants to add a splash to their cups.

Notes:  This can also be made in a slow cooker.  Combine all ingredients and heat on low for 4-6 hours.  In place of ground cinnamon, a cinnamon stick can be used, and you can also add allspice.

And with that, "may God bless you and send you a happy New Year!"

Seriously Old-Fashioned Recipes

I haven't been doing much cooking this week - okay, let's be honest, I've done no cooking this week - due to the heatwave the northeast (and apparently the rest of the United States) has been experiencing.  When it's 95+ degrees out, and your house is not equipped with any sort of air conditioning, firing up the oven is the very last thing you want to do.

But just because it's not physically comfortable enough to cook doesn't mean you can't look at recipes.

I love looking at recipes.

I particularly like looking at old-fashioned recipes.  And I'm not talking about stuff from the 1950s.  I mean historical recipes.  In April, I went to a seminar about the War of 1812 and was thisclose to purchasing a cookbook with recipes dating from the early 1800s.  You know, back when recipes were called "receipts".

As I was attempting to stay cool yesterday, I was poking around the internet and stumbled across a website that I'm dying to dive into:  The Civil War Interactive Cookbook.  Okay, I didn't stumble.  I deliberately did a Google search for Civil War era recipes.

I should probably inform all of you that, aside from my love of cooking and baking, I am a ridiculous history geek.  And the Civil War is kind of my historical area of expertise, if amateur study can lead to any sort of expertise.

I literally went "OOOOOOO" when I clicked on the link.

Now, aside from the various recipes out there for military hardtack, there isn't much in the way of recipes Civil War era soldiers would cook.  All of these recipes are from the home front.  What's really cool is that the editors of the website include some explanations about what some of the historical ingredients are (for example, crushed loaf sugar is nothing more than today's granulated sugar), and they also give sources for the recipes too.

My sweet tooth must be acting up this week because I spent the majority of my time perusing the sections regarding baked goods.  As soon as this heat wave lets up, I might have to try to whip up some authentic Boston creme cakes.

It may take some financial planning, however, before attempting one of the sponge cake recipes calling for 15 eggs.  (And you thought the 12-layer cake called for an obscene amount of eggs!)