Holiday Wassail

Tags

Christmas, Cooking, holiday punch, wassail

One Holiday tradition that I have set ever since I have been married is to make wassail.  I make it many times during the Christmas Season, because I absolutely love it!  No taste embodies more Christmas spirit to me, than wassail, especially when paired with before mentioned gingerbread cookies!

I was inspired many years ago to try out wassail for a few reasons…  1. I could not actually cook anything, so making a warm drink sounded easy enough, and 2. I am a Christmas freak!  I love Christmas and anything to do with it, so I had to try out just for myself what the song “Here We Go A-Wassailing” was all about.

Many times when I take wassail to a party, people have no idea what I wassail is.  So, here it is, if you don’t know-

was·sail  (wsl, w-sl)

n.

1. a. A salutation or toast given in drinking someone’s health or as an expression of goodwill at a festivity.

    b. The drink used in such toasting, commonly ale or wine spiced with roasted apples and sugar.

2. A festivity characterized by much drinking.

 

That is dictionary.com’s definition, and to be honest, I wasn’t entirely clear it meant all of those things.  To me, wassail is a traditional hat Christmas drink similar to spiced cider.

 

Ok, so here it what you need to make wassail…

 

 

2 qt. apple juice
1 qt. orange juice
2 c. cranberry juice
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 can pineapple nectar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
Navel Orange Slices

1 coffee filter

 

(I forgot to picture the brown sugar)

 

 How to make…

1.  In either a large pot or a 4-qt. crock pot, pour in the apple juice.

 

 

2.  Follow with the orange, cranberry, pineapple, and lemon juices.

 

 

 

 

3.  Stir in the sugar until dissolved.

 

4.  Place the cinnamon and the cloves in the center of a coffee filter and tie up the top. 

 

This serves a kind of “tea bag” of spices. 

 

 

 

5.  Add a few thin slices of a navel orange.

 

 

6.  Put the crock pot on a low setting for 4 hours to let the spices infuse into the mixture.  If you are in a hurry, you can put either the crock pot on a high setting for 1 hour and reduce, or put the mixture in a large pot on high for about 20-30 minutes and reduce.

 

 

If you don’t drink it all at your fabulous Holiday party, it can be refrigerated and reheated for up to 3 days.

Plaid Holiday Nails

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Christmas, Nails, Sally Hansen Salon Effects

As I was browsing through my Ulta sales add, I saw some Holiday Sally Hansen brand nail things…I guess you could call them rub-ons. Sally Hansen Salon Effects is the actual name.  Anyways, I tried them out the other night and I really liked them!  I chose the Christmas tartan.

You will have to excuse the occasional chip.  I did these on Wednesday, and it is now Saturday.  So, they actually hold up pretty good.

Here is what the box looks like in the store…

These are fun and easy to do.  I would recommend trying them.

Hounds- Rated “R”

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Basset Hounds

There is something disturbing that frequently happens in our house when we give attention to Earl and not Annabelle.  She tends to get a little bit jealous.  But when Annabelle gets jealous, she doesn’t pout in the corner, bark for attention, or any other thing that a normal dog would do.  She does this…

I apologize upfront front for the graphic photos.  We are just keeping it real here in the Holley home.  There are things about the animal kingdom that I still do not understand!  For instance…why, Annabelle, why?  Why do you perform such heinous acts!?  Why do you do this to poor Earl when neither of you have had reproductive parts since you were 5 months old!?

And poor Earl…

It is incredibly sad that he has to endure this humiliation.  And look what her long toenails are doing to his knee fat!!!  What did he ever do to deserve this!

I think Annabelle does this as a sort of alpha female behaviour.  Does anyone have experiences with female dogs behaving in this way?

She is the queen, you know, and no one is going to forget it!

Who me?  I am completely innocent in all of this! 

Yes, Anna, you!  And for the love of Pete, get your toenails cut!

If she won’t leave me alone, I’ll just go on to bed…