Food for Thought

The History of Fruit Cake and other Christmas Goodies�

By Arlene Wright-Correll

(Artwork by Arlene Wright-Correll)

A good fruit cake recipe includes red domestic and imported French cherries, select almonds, crisp Georgia pecans, California walnuts and raisins, imported pineapple, and lemon and orange peel.  Plus some sort of liquor or brandy.

although it is not necessarily the color that counts.

The lighter ones are less rich than their darker cousins and have subtler flavors and aroma. They are made with granulated sugar, light corn syrup, almonds, golden raisins, pineapple and apricots. The darker cakes are considered by some bakers to be the top of the line. They are much bolder in flavor and appearance. These get their color from molasses, brown sugar, raisins, prunes, dates, cherries, pecans and walnuts.  The more expensive fruit cakes have brandy or liquor in them.

It seems that fruit cakes materialize just in time for the Christmas Holidays.  The oldest fruitcake company in the United States is the Collin Street Bakery, Corsicana Texas [1896]

While the practice of making cakes with dried fruits, honey and nuts may be traced back to ancient times, food historians generally agree that fruitcake (as we know it today) dates back to the Middle ages.

Britain, from Portugal and the east Mediterranean. Lightly fruited breads were probably more common than anything resembling the modern fruit cake during the Middle Ages. Early versions of the rich fruit cake, such as Scottish Black Bun dating from the Middle Ages, were luxuries for special occasions. Fruit cakes have been used for celebrations since at least the early 18th century when bride cakes and plum cakes, descended from enriched bread recipes, became cookery standards.

Fruit breads which include yeast are not to be confused with fruit cake which does not.  The Victorians enjoyed their fruitcakes. Even today it remains a custom in England for unmarried wedding guests to put a slice of dark fruitcake under their pillow at night so they will dream of the person they will marry. It is said that Queen Victoria once waited a year to devour a birthday fruitcake because she felt it showed restraint.

from loaves, had to be pounded and sieved; butter washed in water and rinsed in rosewater. Eggs were beaten for a long time, half an hour being commonly directed. Yeast, or barm from fermenting beer, had to be coaxed to life. Finally, the cook had to cope with the temperamental wood-fired baking ovens of that time. No wonder these cakes acquired such mystique...

Immigrants from Germany, England, The Caribbean and other parts of the world brought their own style of fruitcakes to the United States and that�s why no one can agree on the definition of a fruitcake. The ones displayed in groceries are almost all Americanized versions of the classic.

Fruit cake recipe # 1

• 2 cups chopped dried peaches or apricots

• 2 cups golden raisins

• 1 cup chopped dried pears

• 1 cup chopped dried pineapple

• 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped

• 1 -3/4 cups bourbon or dark rum

• 3/4 cup fresh orange juice

• 2-/12 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

• 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 cup blanched, slivered almonds, toasted

• 12 tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 4 large eggs

• 2/3 cup heavy (or whipping) cream or buttermilk

• 1/4 cup honey

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dried fruits, apple and 1-1/4 cups of the bourbon. Heat the orange juice in a small saucepan over low heat until warmed through. Pour it over the fruits. Cover and let stand at room temperature, tossing frequently, until the liquid has been absorbed, about 2 hours or refrigerate over night.

2. Adjust an oven rack to the middle shelf and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter a 10-cup Bundt pan. Dust the pan with flour, shaking off any excess.

3. Sift 1 cup of the flour with the cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking soda into a small bowl. Set aside. Add the remaining 1-1/2 cups flour and the toasted almonds to the fruits, and toss thoroughly. Set aside.

4. With an electric mixer at medium speed, beat the butter and sugar in another large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one a time, beating well after each addition. Fold the batter into the fruit mixture, mixing well.

5. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. Smooth the top. Bake until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack.

6. Combine the honey and the remaining 1/2 cup bourbon in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat, stirring until the honey has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Brush 1/2 of the hot glaze over the top and sides of the cake. Gently turn the cake over, and brush on the remaining glaze. Let the cake cool thoroughly.

7. Wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap, then in heavy-duty aluminum foil. Let the cake mellow a couple of days at room temperature before serving.

The last time I was in Scotland, I came across a fruit cake type of cake called Dundee Cake and it was quite good.

Dundee Cake                                                

Dark Rum Nut Fruit Cake

Soaking the fruit and nuts overnight allows the cake's flavors to mingle. This cake tastes best if given a few weeks to mellow before it is topped with almond paste and iced.

• 6 cups diced, mixed candied peel
• 1 1/2 cups diced candied citron
• 1 1/2 cups halved red candied cherries
• 1 1/2 cups halved green candied cherries
• 4 cups currants
• 6 cups seedless dark raisins
• 2 cups blanched slivered almonds
• 2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 cup dark rum
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups butter
• 2 1/2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
• 7 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves

In large bowl, combine candied fruit, currants, raisins and nuts. Pour rum over mixture; stir to combine. Cover; let sit overnight.

Prepare four 9 by 5 loaf pans as desired by buttering and lining them with buttered parchment paper.

Drain any liquid from fruit/nut mixture, reserving liquid. Add 1/2 cup flour to mixture; stir to coat.

In separate large bowl, cream butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy; add brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla and reserved liquid from fruit.

In another bowl, sift together 3 cups flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Add gradually to creamed mixture, stirring just to blend. Stir in floured fruit and nut mixture.

Turn mixture into prepared pans. Bake 3 to 3 1/2 hours in preheated 250 degree F oven or until a tester inserted in middle of each cake comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes in pans, then turn out on to racks. Carefully remove paper and cool completely.

Fruitcake # 2

• 2 pounds pitted dates
• 1/2 pound green candied cherries
• 1/2 pound red candied cherries
• 1 pound candied pineapple (cut in pieces, if whole)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 pound English Walnuts, shelled
• 1 pound pecans, shelled
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Leave nuts and fruit as whole as possible.

Sift flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder over fruit and nuts. Mix well with hands.

Beat eggs and vanilla extract and pour over flour mixture. Blend well.

Line two bread pans with wax paper and butter well. Divide dough into the two pans and bake at 200 degrees F for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Put on rack to cool.

When cool, wrap tightly in foil or freezer paper.

French Fruitcake

• 3/4 cup candied orange peel
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1 5/8 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tablespoons light cream
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Toss candied orange peel, walnuts and raisins with 2 tablespoons of the flour. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar and honey. Beat in the egg, then the cream or milk, rum and vanilla extract.

Stir together the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour and the baking powder; beat into creamed mixture. Stir in the fruits and nuts. Turn the batter into a greased and floured 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 10 minutes.

Lower the heat to 325 degrees F. Bake the cake for 45 minutes longer, or until it tests done with a wooden pick. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Yields one 9 x 5-inch loaf cake.

Tiny Christmas Fruit Cakes

• 1/4 pound candied cherries, chopped

• 3 candied pineapple slices, chopped

• 2 1/4 cups chopped pecans

• 1 (6 ounce) can coconut

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

• 3 tablespoons butter (do not melt)

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Cut or chop fruit and nuts. Add fruit, nuts and coconut to milk, butter and vanilla extract. Mix well.

Grease tiny muffin tins very well and fill three-fourths full. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden on top. Remove carefully when cool.

Quick Mincemeat Fruitcake

• 2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 (28 ounce) jar ready-to-use mincemeat

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

• 1 cup chopped walnuts

• 2 cups candied mixed fruit

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line two 9 x 4-inch loaf pans with wax paper.

Sift the flour and baking soda together.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, mincemeat, condensed milk, fruit and nuts. Fold in dry ingredients. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 2 hours or until center springs back and top is golden brown. Cool.

Turn cakes out onto a wire rack; remove wax paper.

A Brief History of Candy Canes                  

excellent remedy for winter colds. It might be eaten in the form of candy crystals...or it might be made into little twisted sticks which were called in Latin penida, later Anglicized to pennets. The tradition of penida survives most clearly in American stick candy which is similarly twisted and flavored with essences supposed to be effective against colds, such as oil of wintergreen.

Legend has it that in 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany handed out sugar sticks among his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Creche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into shepherds' crooks. In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio, decorated a small blue spruce with paper ornaments and candy canes. It wasn't until the turn of the century that the red and white stripes and peppermint flavors became the norm.

Each year 1.76 billion candy canes are made � enough to stretch from Santa Clause, IN to North Pole, AK and back again 32 times. For 200 years, the candy cane came only in one color � white.  National Candy Cane Day is celebrated December 26th in the United States.    In December 1998 Richard and Kathleen Fabiano-Ghinelli made the biggest candy cane at 36 feet 7inches    

Why are some candies associated with Christmas? Hundreds of years ago sugar was very expensive. It was a food of the wealthy. For other people, it was a special treat saved for holidays (Christmas, Easter) and other special occasions (weddings, christenings). Many of these traditions remain today including candy cane which are said to resemble the shepherd�s crook or J for Jesus.

Candy Canes

• 6 c. sugar

• 3 c. cold water

• 2 T. light corn syrup

• 1/8 t. salt

• 1 t. cream of tartar

• flavoring OIL (peppermint, etc., found   at pharmacies and specialty stores)

• food coloring

Combine sugar, water, corn syrup and salt in a heavy 6/7 quart pan.  Heat and stir until sugar crystals are dissolved, and then stop stirring.  Bring to a rolling boil and wash down the crystals, then add the cream of tartar.

Boil rapidly to the hard crack stage.

Pour two-thirds of the syrup out quickly onto a slab or greased flat pan.  Pour the rest into a buttered glass pie pan.  Do not move until partly set.  Turn the edges in on each portion and add flavoring to each.  .about 6 drops of oil to the large portion and 3 to the small.

Add food coloring to the small dish.

As soon a humanly possible, start to pull the portion in the large container until pearly-colored. (It will be really hot. .butter your hands and set it down when it gets too hot!)  Form it into a ball.  Meanwhile gather up the colored portion and form it into a rope

and wrap it around the ball.  With one person on each end, start to stretch and twist the ball in opposite directions to form a long rope with the traditional stripe.  Cut into lengths as necessary.  When the desired diameter is achieved, cut and form into canes (roll it on the board to get it smooth).  If it gets too cold to work with, put on a wooden breadboard in a warm oven to soften.

Christmas Cookies                          

Each of us at one time or another has made Christmas Cookies. Our youngest daughter, Glynis has a catering business called the �Cookie Woman� and she can make the most amazing and elaborate Christmas Cookies and Cakes.

significant occasions. Many of these recipes and ingredients (cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, almonds, dried fruits etc.) were introduced to Europe in the Middle ages. They were highly prized and quickly incorporated into European baked goods. Christmas cookies, as we know them today, trace their roots to these Medieval European recipes.

Lebkuchen (gingerbread) was probably the first cake/cookie traditionally associated with Christmas. For Christmas over a hundred years ago, Pennsylvania German children in Lancaster County helped cut out and decorate foot-high cookies to stand in the front of windows of their stone or brick houses. These cookie people--often gingerbread men and women iced with rows of buttons and big smiles--were a cheerful sight to snow-cold passersby. Figural cookie-making was practiced in Europe at least as far back as the sixteenth century--most of them were made using intaglio molds rather than with cutters.

 By the 1500s, Christmas cookies had caught on all over Europe. German families baked up pans of Lebkuchen and buttery Spritz cookies. Papparkakor (spicy ginger and black-pepper delights) were favorites in Sweden; the Norwegians made krumkake (thin lemon and cardamom-scented wafers). The earliest Christmas cookies in America came ashore with the Dutch in the early 1600s...but it wasn't until the 1930s that whimsically shaped cutters made of tin became less expensive and more abundant--and the Christmas-cookie boom began.

As a child, I can remember pfferneuse cookies every Christmas. It was a tradition in my dad�s father�s home.  These were the round cookies that had hard brown spicy centers and were heavily dusted with confectionary sugar.

 Pfferneuse cookies

mince to chop finely, whose own origins are in the Latin minuere, "to diminish," and once mincemeat referred specifically to a meat that had been minced up, a meaning it has had since the sixteenth century. By the nineteenth century, however, the word referred to a pie of fruit, spices, and suet, only occasionally containing any meat at all. In Colonial America these pies were made in the fall and sometimes frozen throughout winter.

When in Britain you will find that mince pie is a miniature round pie, filled with mincemeat: typically a mixture of dried fruits, chopped nuts and apples, suet, spices, and lemon juice, vinegar, or brandy. Although the filling is called mincemeat, it rarely contains meat nowadays. In North America the pie may be larger, to serve several people. The large size is an innovation, for the original forms were almost always small. The earliest type was a small medieval pastry called a chewette, which contained chopped meat of liver, or fish on fast days, mixed with chopped hard-boiled egg and ginger. This might be baked or fried. It became usually to enrich the filling with dried fruit and other sweet ingredients. Already by the 16th century minced or shred pies, as they were then known, had become a Christmas specialty, which they still are. The beef was sometimes partly or wholly replaced by suet from the mid-17th century onwards, and meat had effectively disappeared from mincemeat' on both sides of the Atlantic in the 19th century

Plum Pudding or Christmas Pudding            

Stir-Up Day is the name traditionally given to the day on which Christmas puddings are made in England.

beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of they faithful people, what they plenteously bring forth the fruit of good works..." This prayer was parodied by the choirboys: "Stir up, we beseech thee, the pudding in the pot. And when we do get home tonight, we'll eat it up hot." The Christmas pudding is traditionally "stirred up" on this day. All family members must take a hand in the stirring, and a special wooden spoon (in honor of Christ's crib) is used. The stirring must be in a clockwise direction, with eyes shut, while making a secret wish. 

Holiday Breads Stollen                                

Christ Child in swaddling clothes, whence the name Christollen sometimes given to it. The Dresden Stollen, now known internationally as a Christmas specialty, is made from rich, sweet yeast dough, mixed with milk, eggs, sugar, and butter, sometimes flavored with lemon. Raisins, sultanas, currants, rum or brandy, candied peel, and almonds are worked into the dough. After baking, the Stollen is painted with melted butter and dusted with sugar. It may then be further decorated with candied fruits.

Stollens were developed in Europe during Medieval times and were traditionally saved for holiday times because they were expensive. Cook of all times and places save their very best ingredients for special occasions. These special holiday yeast cakes were made with the cook's finest wheat flour, white sugar, butter, eggs, and dried fruit; some included rich filling, such as marzipan [almond paste]. Three kings cakes (related to New Orleans' King Cake) required similar ingredients and were/are connected with Twelfth Night and Mardi Gras.

The last time we were in Vienna we went to a castle and into the kitchen where they were making wonderful Stollen.

Sift the flour into a bowl and make a crater in the center.  Into the crater, add 1/4 c. of the confectioners' sugar and 1/4 cup of the milk.  Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and dust the yeast with a little flour.  Let the yeast develop for 15-20 minutes.

Add the butter, lard, egg, salt, remaining sugar, vanilla extract, rum, cinnamon, grated lemon peel, slivered almonds, candied lemon and orange peels, and raisins.  Add only enough of the remaining milk to make dough pliable.  Knead thoroughly and cover the dough with a damp towel and let it rise overnight. 

Knead again for 1 minute then shape the dough into a loaf and put it on a large buttered baking sheet.  Use your fingertips to push back into the dough any raisins that may have popped up to prevent scorching.  Baste the loaf with tablespoons of milk and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for approximately 50 minutes.  Stollen must turn golden brown.  Test to make sure it is done with a toothpick. 

Baste the Stollen generously with butter while it is still hot, and then sprinkle with powered sugar.  Repeat this process in order to attain a nice white surface and to help keep the Stollen fresh and moist for several weeks.  It's best to store for at least a week before serving.

Sugar Plums

Oxford English Dictionary defines the word sugarplum thusly: "A small round or oval sweetmeat, made of boiled sugared and variously flavored and colored; a comfit." The earliest mention of this particular food is 1668.

Buche de Noel  Pronounced: boosh / duh / noh el  

Buche de Noel is one of many traditional cakes baked at Christmas. As the name suggests, it is of French origin. The name of this recipe literally translates as "Christmas log," referring to the traditional Yule log burned centuries past. The ingredients suggest the cake is most likely a 19th century creation. That's when thinly rolled sponge cakes filled with jam or cream and covered with butter cream icing begin to show up in European cook books.

The Christmas Yule Log is a log-shaped cake traditionally prepared for the Christmas festivities. It is usually made of rectangular slices of Genoese sponge, spread with butter cream and placed one on top of the other, and them shaped into a log; it is coated with chocolate butter cream, applied with a piping bag to simulate bark. The cake is decorated with holly leaves made from almond paste, meringue mushrooms and small figures. A Swiss roll (jelly roll) may be used instead of sliced Genoese cake. There are also ice cream logs, some made entirely of different flavored ice creams and some with the inside made of parfait or a bombe mixture. This cake is a fairly recent creation (after 1870) of the Parisian pastry cooks, inspired by the real logs which used to be burned in the hearth throughout Christmas Eve. Before then, the cakes of the season were generally bioches or fruit loaves

Buche de Noel                             

• 4 eggs, separated

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• pinch of cream of tartar

• 3/4 cup cake flour, sifted

• For the frosting:

• 1 cup whipping cream

• 10 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate

• 2 Tablespoons rum

Preheat oven to 375�F. With the rack in the center of the oven. Grease the bottom of a 15 x 10-inch jelly roll pan and line with parchment paper.

Put the egg yolks into a large bowl.  Remove 2 tablespoons of the sugar from the 3/4 cup measure and set aside. Beat the remaining sugar and eggs together until pale.

Beat in the vanilla.

In a 2^nd grease free, clean bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of the cream of tartar until they hold soft peaks.

Add the reserved sugar and continue beating until the whites are glossy and hold stiff peaks.

Divide the flour in half and gently fold it into the egg mixture in 2 batches.

Add one-quarter of the egg whites into the batter to lighten the mixture. Fold in the remaining whites.

Pour the batter into the pan and spread it evenly into the corners with a metal off-set spatula. Bake 15 minutes.

While the cake is baking, spread a dishtowel flat and lay a piece of parchment paper, the size of the cake, on top of the towel. Sprinkle the paper with some sugar.

Invert the cake onto the paper and carefully peel off the lining paper. Slowly, roll up the cake with the paper inside, and starting from a short side. Wrap the towel around the cake, place on a rack and allow to cool.

Prepare the filling & frosting:
1. Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Bring the cream to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Stir until it has melted.

2. With an electric mixer, beat the chocolate until it is fluffy and has thickened to a spreading consistency.

3. Spoon one-third of the chocolate into another bowl and stir in the rum.

4. When the cake is cooled, unroll it. Spread the rum-flavored chocolate evenly over the surface. Roll the cake up again, using the paper to help move it forward.

5. Cut off about one-quarter of the cake at an angle. Place it against the side of the larger piece of cake, to resemble a branch from a tree trunk.

6. Spread the remaining chocolate mixture over the rest of the cake. Using a fork, press the back side of the tines against the chocolate and lightly drag through to resemble bark.

To serve:

The cake may be made up to two days ahead and stored covered in the refrigerator. Before serving, add some decorations, such as sprigs of holly, or other figurines. Dust with confectioner's sugar to resemble snow.

The Twelfth Night Cake

 The cake is a basic yeast-based brioche filled with dried fruits and nuts. The recipe descends from Ancient Arab recipes. The practice of serving this particular cake, often with a prize or bean inside, around Christmas time actually predates Christian times. Ancient Romans served a similar item. The traditional King Cake, as we know it today, was made by Christians throughout most of Europe by the Middle Ages. King cakes were introduced to America by European settlers. In places settled by Spanish missionaries (Mexico, South America, Florida, California), rosca de reyes was served. In the United States, the King Cakes of New Orleans are probably the most well known.

Twelfth Night Cake is also known as Rosca de Reyes, Gateau des Rois, King Cake and honors the Three Wise Men who visited the baby Jesus on the 12th day after his birth. This Christian holiday is called Epiphany, Twelfth Night, and Three Kings Day.

• 9 ounces puff pastry

• 8 ounces frangipane (a hazelnut-sugar paste available in gourmet stores)

• 1 bean

• Egg wash

Roll pastry into 2 discs, of equal size and each about 1/2 inch thick. Place one disc on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Push bean into dough. (During baking, the dough closes up and conceals the bean.)

Spread frangipane on disc, leaving a 1/2-inch rim uncovered. Brush edge with water or egg wash. Place top disc over frangipane. With a sharp knife, trace a decorative pattern. Brush with egg wash.

Bake at 475� F. until dark golden brown, 20-30 minutes.

At my brother-in-law�s home, nothing would do to have eggnog at Christmas time and many people have it then and on New Year�s Eve and day.  I personally am not a fan of eggnog. From its earliest times the term �wassail� referred to the drink itself, a hot spiced wine for drinking toasts to one�s health onChristmas Eve, New Year�s Eve, and Twelfth Night celebrations. It was said to have originated

with the fifth-century legend of the beautiful Saxon Rowena, who toasted the health of the English King Vortigern with the words �Wass-hael�(your health!). Her spiced wine libation was a form of the ancient Roman hypocras, and survived to hold a place in the early Middle Ages cuisine of the wealthiest Both the wine and the spice were imported and prodigiously expensive (England, after all, did not have the climate to produce wines). In later centuries the wine was replaced with fine local ales, making it more characteristically English and far more available to the great majority. As the British developed spice plantations in their tropical Asian and Indian colonies, the cost of spices was gradually reduced and consequently they were more available (at least for special occasions).

Wassail was always served from a special bowl�not to be confused with a punch bowl�called the Loving Cup by early monks. It was fashioned from sturdy materials, most commonly wood and more rarely pewter. The special wooden bowl, sometimes rimmed with metal and dressed with festive ribbons, was not only the serving bowl but also the drinking bowl, as it was passed from hand to hand drunk from directly.

As children, I can vaguely remember singing this traditional

English and Midland�s song at Christmas time.

�Here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wandering, so fair to be seen.
We are not beggars� children that go from door to door,
But we are neighbors children that you have seen before.
Love and joy come to you, and to you your wassail too,
And God bless you and send you a happy New Year,
And God send you a happy New Year!�   
Our wassail cup is made of rosemary-tree,
So is your beer of the best barley.

Six eggs, a quart of milk, half a pint of brandy, six table-spoons of sugar;  beat the yolks and sugar together, and the whites very hard; mix in the brandy; boil the milk and pour it into the mixture.

Of course today, one can walk into most any super market and buy a quart of ready made eggnog.

Many of our American Christmas Traditions came from England. However, as our country became inhabited by immigrants from other countries, we absorbed their Christmas cultures.

As time goes on, each of us and our families develop our own unique Christmas traditions and heritages which we pass on to the younger members of our family.

Tread the Earth Lightly  and in the meantime� may your day be filled with�.Peace, light and love, 

Arlene Wright-Correll  

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