OUR TOWN COOKS!

This summer, when Tracy Coblentz gave me her recipe for Apple Dumplings (Our Town, Aug '07) she also passed on a recipe lead for our December issue: be sure to contact Karin Conroy for her Wassail recipe. Last month, I did some file digging and came up with the handwritten 'memo to self', and made the call. Karin's husband Ed was not surprised when I told him the reason I was trying to track his wife down. “Everyone talks about that wassail,” he said.
As a child, Karin always looked forward to the wassail her mother made during the holidays. When a friend from college shared her recipe for the holiday beverage, she decided it was the perfect concoction to start her own family custom with her husband and two sons. “It's definitely become a family tradition for us,” Karin said, adding she's been making it for about 15 years for Christmas and other holiday occasions. “When it's simmering, it smells like Christmas.”

Wassail comes from the Old English words waes hael, which means "be well," "be hale," or "good health." A strong, hot drink (usually a mixture of ale, honey, and spices) would be put in a large bowl, and the host would lift it and greet his companions with "waes hael," to which they would reply "drinc hael," which meant "drink and be well." (from noelnoelnoel.com)

WASSAIL
from
Karin Conroy

1 ½ cups apple juice
1 ½ cups orange juice
¾ cup lemon juice (Karin uses concentrate)
1 ½ cups boiling water with two tea bags steeped in it until a strong tea is made
1 cup sugar
7 cups hot water
4 cinnamon sticks

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot and turn on low heat OR simmer the ingredients in a pot on the stove.
Leftovers may be stored in the refrigerator, ladled into mugs and reheated in a microwave.