A friend shared this recipe with me years ago and it has become a holiday favorite in our home. The smell of the simmering wassail is enough to create a sweet holiday memory all by itself!

Holiday Wassail

• 1 1/2c white sugar
• 8 whole cloves
• 3c water
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 1 1/2c orange juice
• 1c lemon juice
• 1 gallon apple juice

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cloves, water and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and allow to cool for 1 hour. Stir in orange juice, lemon juice and apple juice. Return to heat and boil for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cloves and cinnamon sticks before serving.

I think the juice in this recipe is sweet enough for wassail, so we almost always reduce the sugar some, or omit entirely. We also make huge batches of this early in the season, and freeze into milk jugs, or ziplocks to pull out and thaw when we want to sip a cup in the evening. Yummy!