Colleen James

Tag: food

  • Grandma’s Wassail

    Picture of my grandma’s wassail drink on a pretty cloth

    I don’t have many memories of going to my grandparents’ house for Christmas when I was young,  but I do succinctly remember what their house smelled like one Christmas that I did.

    As soon as my family and I walked through the front door one year, we were embraced by a warm citrus and cinnamon scent, and I instantly knew that that’s what Christmas should smell like.

    Soon we discovered that this wonderful scent was coming from Grandma’s stove, from a mixture of juices and other ingredients, which she called wassail. It was my first time to try such a delightful drink, but I quickly decided it couldn’t be my last! I wrote down the recipe over that visit and have been making it ever since living on my own.
    Ironically, I recently discovered I was making it wrong after talking to my aunt (my grandma’s only daughter) about it. I’m not sure how I was missing one of the main ingredients. All I can think of is that I was young when I copied the original. I’m glad I have the true one now.

    My grandma is still around but hasn’t made this drink for years. She’s here in body, but her memory has been gone for quite some time, so having her recipe is extra special to me. It’s one of many ways that her memory will live on for me of days when she had her memory and made Christmas and every visit so special for us. I can’t help but think of her when I make it, and I hope to pass this recipe onto my boys when they get older and tell them about her too. She was a devout Christian that served as a role model to my dad and his siblings of what it meant to live a godly life, and I’m so grateful to her for that. She left them a spiritual legacy which has been passed down to me and many of her other grandchildren, and it’s the best gift she could have ever given anyone. Making this recipe is just a way of remembering her impact with a grateful heart. It’s a way of honoring her and the legacy she has left behind. She may not be earth-bound much longer, but the ways she made an eternal impact will last forever, so I’ll make this drink every Christmas and remember her and pray that God will allow that legacy to continue to the following generations until the day He returns.

    GRANDMA’S WASSAIL

    Ingredients:

    • 2 quarts (8 cups) water
    • Black tea (3 tea bags or 3 teaspoons instant. I used decaf)
    • 2 c sugar (see NOTES)
    • 1 c water (see NOTES)
    • 2 quarts apple juice or cider
    • 2 c grapefruit juice
    • 2 c pineapple juice
    • 2 c orange juice
    • 1 c lemon juice
    • 3 t ground cloves
    • 2 to 3 cinnamon sticks
    • Optional garnish: fresh cranberries, cloves, and/or grapefruit, orange, or lemon slices.

    Instructions:

    Bring water to boil over the stove, then add the tea and let steep for five to ten minutes. Add sugar and additional water and stir until dissolved, then add the apple juice (or cider) grapefruit juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, and lemon juice. Simmer for three hours, adding the cloves and cinnamon sticks within the last hour. Garnish with fresh cranberries, cloves, and/or grapefruit, orange, or lemon slices.

    NOTES: I do not personally add two cups of sugar to my wassail, as that is an exorbitant amount. I did want to include this recipe as close to how my grandma made it in her honor, however. So, here it is. Please feel free to add less sugar according to your own taste. The last time I made this, I used only a quarter cup. The amount of water added should roughly be half of the amount of sugar. Also, all the juices used here are either from the bottle or a can.

    On a separate note, this will most likely be my last post before Christmas, so I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! May Jesus be celebrated most of all this season!

    For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

    Isaiah 9:6

  • Mini Nutella Swirl Gingerbread Loaves with Nutella Buttercream

    Warm and spicy flavors of gingerbread mingle with rich, creamy Nutella in every bite. Perfect to give away as gifts this Christmas season, to share at a holiday party, or to simply enjoy with loved ones at home. Picture of four mini loaves

    Recipe #2 for this Christmas season is Nutella swirl gingerbread loaf with Nutella buttercream frosting. But before we get to the recipe, let me tell you the back story to this creation.

    Over the summer, Liam begged me to make gingerbread cookies, and I kept resisting the idea because it’s such a seasonal, Christmas treat. But he kept asking, and then we ended up attending a Christmas in July event in town, so I figured, why not?

    I bought the few ingredients lacking to make the cookies, and Liam and I quickly whipped up a batch of cut-out cookies just a few days later, pulling out the sprinkles and other cookie decorations while they baked. But then I realized my grave error—I hadn’t bought frosting or ingredients to make any! Fortunately, I vaguely remembered having a tub of frosting in a cupboard, so I scrummaged around for the only thing I had—store-bought strawberry frosting. The combination was definitely not ideal, but Liam was happy, so I was too. As we went about spreading pink frosting over the gingerbread, it dawned on me that I had also bought a container of Nutella months earlier, so I got that out and began to spread it over one of the cookies and then promptly ate it.

    I might as well preface this story right now by telling you that I am not a big fan of gingerbread (although I do like to decorate gingerbread houses!). Or better put, I wasn’t until then. The Nutella gingerbread combination was so, so good! I easily ate three cookies in a row and had to fight off the temptation to eat another!

    Ever since unintentionally pairing those two flavors together, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of creating a recipe involving the two and was determined to make it a bread recipe with a Nutella swirl. Well, this combination was definitely easier said than done! But after a lot of persistence and many failed, albeit delicious attempts, I stumbled upon a Nutella banana bread recipe that led me in the right direction to come to the recipe I am presenting to you all today. So without further ado, here is the recipe:

    Ingredients:

    • ½ c butter, softened
    • ½ c brown sugar
    • ½ c granulated sugar
    • ½ c apple sauce
    • ½ c molasses
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 c flour
    • 2 t cinnamon
    • 2 t ginger
    • ½ t cloves
    • 1 t salt
    • 1 t baking soda
    • 1 t baking powder
    • ¾ c Nutella

    For the Buttercream:

    • ½ c Nutella
    • ½ c butter, softened
    • 1 ½ c powdered sugar
    • 1 T milk

    Instructions:

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease 4 mini loaf pans.

    In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer, then add the apple sauce, molasses, and eggs and mix thoroughly.

     In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, then mix the dry ingredients in with the wet. For the Nutella mixture, mix together 1 cup of the bread batter with the ¾ c Nutella in a separate mixing bowl.

    Alternate between the gingerbread and Nutella mixture, adding both batters by the spoonful to each bread loaf (the spoonful of gingerbread batter should be slightly larger than the Nutella one).  Continue to do so until each loaf pan is filled halfway full. Gently shake down to get rid of any air bubbles, then smooth out the top of each loaf with a butter knife. Place the mini loaf pans on a baking sheet in the middle rack of the oven and bake around 20 minutes or until the loaves have risen and look firm when looking in through the oven door. Do NOT open the oven to check, as this may cause the bread to fall. Once baked, turn off the oven and keep the mini loaves inside to continue to bake and then slightly cool. The loaves can be transferred out of the oven after about fifteen minutes and set aside to continue to cool.

    For the Nutella buttercream, beat together the Nutella and butter, then add the powdered sugar and milk and beat until smooth. Once the mini loaves are completely cooled, they can be removed from the loaf pan and frosted with the buttercream according to taste (I had leftover buttercream once I finished frosting mine). Or, if giving as a gift, place in disposable loaf pans and frost. Makes four mini loaves.