Since the celebrations are still going on, the following beverage is drunk as part of the tradition of "wassailing", an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual that "has been practised in Britain for centuries", <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/discover/history/art-collections/wassailing-ritual-and-revelry"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">notes</mark></a> the National Trust. Ingredients can be scaled down to suit numbers:
<em>6 pints brown ale (3.4 litres)</em>
<em>1 lb (450 g) soft brown sugar</em>
<em>1 large stick cinnamon</em>
<em>1 level teaspoon grated nutmeg</em>
<em>Half level teaspoon ground ginger</em>
<em>2 lemons, thinly sliced</em>
<em>I bottle medium dry sherry (amontillado, for example)</em>
Pour 2 pints of the ale into a large pan. Add the sugar and cinnamon stick, and simmer the mixture slowly over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the spices and lemon slices, the sherry and remaining ale.
Before serving, remove the lemon slices.
Serve, if possible, with roasted apples bobbing in the bowl, but this is not crucial.
<em>From the Reader’s Digest The Cookery Year, 1973</em>
<em>On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me</em><br><em>Ten lords a leaping,</em><br><em>Nine <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/?p=782309"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">ladies dancing</mark></a>,</em><br><em>Eight<mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"> <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/?p=781872&preview=true&swcfpc=1">maids a milking</a></mark>,<br>Seven <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/?p=781923"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">swans a swimming</mark></a>,<br>Six <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/?p=781016&swcfpc=1"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">geese a laying</mark></a>,</em><br><em>Five <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/?p=781790&preview=true"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">gold rings</mark></a>,</em><br><em>Four <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/?p=780935"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">calling birds</mark></a>,<br>Three <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/?p=780856&preview=true"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">French hens</mark></a>,<br>Two <a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/?p=781060&preview=true"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">turtle doves</mark></a>, and </em><br><em>A <mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color"><a href="https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-first-day-of-christmas-my-true-love-sent-to-me/?swcfpc=1">partridge in a pear tree</a></mark>.</em><br><br><br>(Image by Sean Jefferson, courtesy <a href="https://www.messums.com/exhibitions/viewworks/871/Sean%20Jefferson%202023"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">David Messum Fine Art</mark></a>.)
