Wassail

From the book entitled:

 Revolutionary Recipes Colonial Food, Lore &  More.

An old English custom which is part of the New Years celebrations, this Wassail recipe is non-alcoholic. Spike it up to your liking! The master of the house would be offered a bowl of Wassail from which he would drink and then pass the bowl around to the guests. Hmmm I don't suggest this part of the custom but, please feel free to cheerfully repeat the phrase Wass Hael, it's Saxon and means "be whole" or "be well". 

I drank the first half of this glass full of warm, sweet beverage. As it cooled, it became incredibly sweet. Hence the addition of booze, I do believe. Or lots of ice cubes and enjoy it cold. I'll be refrigerating and or possibly freezing the remainder and serving chilled from now on. If you aren’t making this for a crowd you might want to only make half of the recipe. I did. Now I have Wassail and leftover juices in my refrigerator for the rest of the week. Modest and frugal! 

Here's what you'll need:

Wassail

3 cups of boiling water

3 black tea bags (or family size tea bags if you have them) 

2 cups of white sugar

1 quart of apple cranberry juice (or 1 pint of cranberry juice and 1 pint of apple cider)

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/2 cups of orange juice

1/2 cup of lemon juice

Steep the tea bags in the boiling water for five minutes. Add the sugar, apple cranberry juice, and spices, then simmer for 5 more minutes. Add the citrus juices and heat until simmering again. Serve warm....but you know...I'll be serving mine over ice.