It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas

Christmas and the holidays is without a doubt a very stressful time of the year. Christmas cards, church, shopping, parties, decorating, dusting, cleaning, cooking, presents, and more presents. I'm not going to talk about the religious aspect of the holidays, since it's different for everyone. What I will talk about is sharing the holidays with your loved ones, family, friends, and others.

I recently received an email from a friend who informed me that we would not be receiving a Christmas card this year. It wasn't personal, she said, it was just something that was not going to happen this year. Bummer, we always used Christmas cards that were sent to us to decorate for the holidays. I haven't purchased a card in years and prefer using photographs that I took personally to make my own cards.

Chicago Christkindlemarket 2009

To help you get through the stress of the holidays, why not dust off your holiday drink recipes as a starter? This recipe will fill your home with the wonderful aromas of the holidays, guaranteed to give you that warm and fuzzy feeling all over. Warm and fuzzy without any alcohol! The Holiday Wassail was something I learned in my younger years while bartending at a suburban restaurant. It is a drink that the senior clientele just loved. The recipe is simple and you won't believe the aroma. 
Holiday Wassail (non-alcoholic version) 

Ingredients

3          cans     frozen apple juice

1          can       frozen cranberry juice

4          cans     water

1/2       tsp.      cinnamon

1/8       tsp.       ground cloves

1          tsp.       allspice

Directions

In a piece of cheesecloth wrap the cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Drop the cheesecloth packet into a large pot. Empty the frozen juices into the pot and add the water. Mix well and heat the Wassail until hot. Remove the cheesecloth spice packet. When it smells and tastes just right ladle the hot Wassail into mugs. Put on some holiday music and serve.
Now I'm sure that one or two of you just might want something with a little more kick to it. Just add a little rum (plain or spiced) to your drink and enjoy!

© TMelle 1998-2011