Christmas Countdown 17 : Punch

Wassail served from wooden bowls/cups
http://www.cbladey.com/wassail.html

In Australia, in December, the weather is usually quite hot, so drinking the traditional warm wassail punch is certainly not a common practice. However, already this month, I have been to a couple of Christmas parties where a refreshing punch was served as a thirst quenching festive drink on a hot day. I really enjoyed one which was a mixture of fruit juices and ginger ale, so I looked up an amazingly simple recipe which appears to be like the one I tasted..... Just mix equal quantities of chilled apple juice, orange juice, ginger ale and lemonade ( vodka optional) and serve with ice and chopped strawberries - perfect for Christmas in Summer.

I was also amused by a blog post about a seasonal punch called "Santa's Little Helper , so named after the cute dog in 'The Simpsons" and because mothers need a Santa 's little helper during Christmas preparations....

http://makinglemonadeblog.com/best-christmas-punch-recipe-santas-little-helper/

However, if you really want to try the traditional, here is recipe for Wassail which comes from an ancient English custom. The head of the household drank to the health of all celebrating with him. The bowl was passed to each in turn to drink from, repeating "wass hael" meaning "be whole" or "be well".

http://www.nytimes.com

Wassail Recipe
from The Williamsburg Cookbook
(20 servings)

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
4 cinnamon sticks
3 lemon slices
2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups orange juice
6 cups dry red wine
½ cup lemon juice
1 cup dry sherry
2 lemons, sliced

Directions:
Boil the sugar, cinnamon sticks, and 3 lemon slices in ½ cup of water for 5 minutes and strain. Discard the cinnamon sticks and lemon slices.

Heat but do not boil the remaining ingredients. Combine with the syrup, garnish with the lemon slices, and serve hot...

If you live in Australia, you will probably have to drink your Christmas Wassail punch yourself, as it is rare to find carollers needing a drink to warm them up from the snow. Enjoy!

Comments

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...

From my workshop page....

Current Workshops Offerings Thinking of a workshop for your group in 2022? Art Doll Workshops : - Garden Thread Dolls (one day workshop - WoW -(Woman of Wisdom) - embellished stump doll with either cloth head or clay head. This is an a rt doll workshop .... either offered as a series of workshops or 2 full days days! - Message/Story Stick doll - doll made with found objects and upcycled cloth. ( one day) - Elemental totems - stick doll variation , with sculpture ( one or two days, depending on surface decoration of fabric) TEXTILE AND MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOPS Temari - embroidered wrapped balls in traditional style. - Dipping Into Tea - tea and embroidery on canvas with photo transfer on fabric. ( two days) work by Judith Bee, workshop participant. - Tea Bag sculpture : ...

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog