On The Homefront: Marine and Wassail

Jordan, my Marine, will be home for Christmas sometime today. We're on pins and needles and his new wife, Ali, is beside herself. I don't know how much work I'll get done today. Monday night we're doing the family gingerbread house decorating contest. I got the kits from Costco and I'll pick up extra candy from RiteAid today. We'll have a chicken and dumplings dinner first, then do the houses. It's going to be great to have him home for 2 weeks.


I have a great wassail recipe that makes a ton. We do a batch right after Thanksgiving and keep it in jugs in the refrigerator. In a cold climate, you could keep it in the garage. By the end of December, it's gone.

1 gallon water
5 cups sugar
2 T whole cloves
12 cinnamon sticks
2 t ground ginger
1 gallon apple cider
1 gallon orange juice
2 cups lemon juice

Mix 5 cups sugar with gallon of water and bring to a boil. Add spices: cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Boil for 2 minutes, then turn off heat. Let sit overnight. Skim off and discard cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. You'll now have a dark brown spicy pot of water. Add the apple cider, orange juice and lemon juice. Mix. To store, pour the finished wassail back into the jugs from the apple cider and orange juice, or use a few pitchers. To serve, heat on the stove or in a crockpot. It's a yummy, warming drink. We'll be having this while we make our gingerbread houses, and on Christmas Eve.