Just kidding. I love you anyway.
BUT, I'm here to plead my case for wassail! In my house growing up wassail was MORE than just a "Christmas Drink", in fact, I hardly associate it with Christmas at all. It is definitely an Autumn drink in my opinion.
Hear me out: It's warm, it's cinnamon-y, and most importantly it has TONS of vitamin C ( I mean... it is mostly orange juice ). It's the beginning of cold and flu season, so why not get as much of this wassail goodness as you possibly can while getting your vitamin C protection in right?
Now that I have plead my case, I will come back from my tangent.
Today was a magical sort of day here in the Stanfill home. My children... BOTH of my children napped today. **Insert jaw drop here**. This. Never. Happens.
My oldest gave up naps the same week her sister was born. And today, it happened: they both napped at the same time.
I could think of a million things to do, napping was on the list a few times. But instead, I did the dishes slowly without having to pull anyone off the dishwasher door, hands soaking in the warm water listening to soft music. It was so warm, and quiet and peaceful, as my wassail warmed on the stovetop.
I dried my hands, grabbed my favorite fleece blanket, and a giant mug of warm Autumn wassail, snuggled in on the couch and did a little bit of reading ( by reading I mean mostly online shopping mixed with a chapter or two from a book ;) )
As I sat there I got the sweetest email from an old friend. About how excited they were about my blog, and they were so glad I finally got the courage to start this journey I'd been dreaming of for quite some time. Then another similar email came in... and another! I was feeling so much love and warmth (and not just from the wassail), I slid down on the couch, stared at the ceiling for a bit and thought... What a wonderful day.
It was a wonderful day, and I think maybe just a little of it was from the magic of the wassail. The warmth, the taste, the smell filling my home. So many happy things all at once. And then it occurred to me, I wanted to share that magic with YOU!
Autumn Wassail
Ingredients:
5 quarts of water
3 cups of sugar
2 cans of orange juice concentrate
12 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs Cloves
2 sticks of cinnamon
1 cup water
Directions:
Add 5 quarts of water, the sugar, orange juice and lemon juice together in a large pot on the stove.
In a separate small pot, combine the 1 cup of water, cloves and cinnamon together, heat on medium heat until the water is a nice dark color and your home is filled with the amazing fragrance! (It may be best to do this in a coffee filter). When it is done, pour (strain) the water mixture into the orange juice mixture in the large pot. (Make sure the cinnamon sticks and cloves do not fall into the large pot, that wouldn't be fun to swallow). Heat all ingredients together stirring occasionally, until hot/warm.
Serve warm!
I hope you love and enjoy this recipe as much as our family does, and I hope the magic of wassail can bring you a slow, happy and quiet day.
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