You may have heard that this is a particularly tough flu season. Simple actions like choosing healthy foods can boost the immunity of yourself and your family to give all of you the best chance of fighting off flu and colds.

Your Immune System

Your immune system defends your body against disease by ridding your body of foreign invaders. Your immune system is not a constant, though. Your actions can boost or inhibit your immunity. If your body is already struggling because you are tired, for example, you will have more difficulty fighting off a cold.

The simplest way to boost your immunity this winter is to understand which foods provide your body with the nutrients it needs to function well.

Basic Immunity-building Pantry

Foods help your immune system through the vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients that help the system function. The most important immunity building vitamins are: Beta carotene (increases number of cells fighting infection), Vitamin C (increases white blood cells and antibodies), and Vitamin E (increases B-cells that destroy bacteria). Immunity building minerals are zinc (helps white blood cells reproduce quickly) and selenium (increases fighting cells). Don’t run out and buy a supplement pill, though. You can get all of these vitamins and minerals in food.

Stock your pantry with colorful fruits and vegetables. Carrots and sweet potatoes have beta carotene. Citrus has vitamin C. Blueberries, cranberries, pomegranate seeds, cherries, and other dark blue, purple, and red fruits are high in antioxidants, which reduce inflammation. Elderberries are particularly good for helping you fight colds and flu as an antiviral an antioxidant. Mushrooms have selenium and many other minerals an vitamins. Garlic is a great flu fighter with antioxidants and other immune-building properties.

Choose a variety of proteins. Beans, nuts, fish, and lean meats can all contribute toward your immune-boosting diet. Almonds provide vitamin E. Salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Sunflower seeds have selenium, as do many nuts, whole grains, and seeds.

Add herbs and spices to your foods. Medicinal herbs, like echinacea, goldenseal, and astragalus, are all immune boosters that fight viruses or increase the efficiency of white blood cells. You don’t want to add these to your foods, though. Culinary spices, like cayenne, oregano, and ginger, are also bacteria fighters. Use them fresh if you can, but use them in any form. Even black pepper can give you a little immune boost.

Every Day Foods

The range of immunity building foods is broad. It wouldn’t make any sense for me to tell you that only 5 or 10 or 50 of them are best for you because there is enough variety for you to choose your favorites. Still, I am going to suggest a few foods that will help you build immunity every day.

Smoothies. Start your morning with smoothies. Add dark fruits and vegetables, almond milk or yoghurt as a base, a few ice cubes to make it cool and reduce the intensity. That’s it! Just choose a colorful collection every morning.

Soup. With lunch, have a cup of soup every day. Chicken or vegetable broth both make a good base, but make sure you add garlic, perhaps ginger, lots of herbs and spices, and a few colorful vegetables.

Salad. With dinner every night, have leafy greens. Spinach and romaine lettuce are both very nutritious. Choose your dressing carefully. Better yet, make your own from olive oil, vinegar, and herbs. Each of these gives you a little boost. Maybe sometimes you have cooked kale with cider vinegar instead, but make sure you eat leafy greens every day.

Whole Grains. If you are going to eat cereal or bread, make them rich and nutty. The variety of grains, nuts, and seeds will help you over time.

Doesn’t that seem simple? It is. Boosting your immunity really isn’t difficult to understand or to do. These choices are easy to make every day, and the benefits build over time.

Keep in Mind

Avoid processed ingredients like white sugar and bleached wheat flour. Just avoiding those two will help you avoid many processed foods that have been drained of most nutritional value.

Get enough sleep. Yes, that isn’t a food, but rest is important enough to the healthy functioning of your immune system that you can undermine all of the good work you do with nutritious food by not getting enough sleep. Sleep for your health.

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Over the past month or so, I’ve become the cooking star of my family. My husband is usually the cook, but I tell him, “Oh, I’d be happy to help,” then I whip out some idea that I found on Pinterest and everyone is so happy to see exciting, new foods that we haven’t tried before.

The most popular pins on Pinterest are Food & Drink. This doesn’t surprise me. My friends, family members, professional colleagues, and even nonprofits I follow all seem to pin food. The appeal of food is very visual, and clear photographs make it easy to create cooking tutorials without too many words. Food is a winner on Pinterest, and I think my family have actually benefitted from my newfound interest in pinned food.

I’ve made great improvements in lunches for my children. Since they are homeschooled, we face the need for a decent lunch together every day. I try to keep them from eating a giant pile of one thing (the way they eat when they cook for themselves) by introducing very small portions of several things on their plate. Pinterest has helped me make a few minor changes that keep them interested in lunch.

We have already tried Zucchini Tots. These are a great, quick alternative to frozen shredded potato snacks. Add shredded zucchini, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, and egg then pour into a mini muffin tin. I give each person several tots for lunch then freeze the rest. When they want a snack, they have a homemade snack ready to heat up.

I met Hasselback potatoes for the first time on Pinterest. By slicing a potato every 1/16-18″ across, without slicing all of the way through the potato, then drizzling with a bit of oil, the potato opens up and crisps up as it bakes in the oven. My family has had potatoes this way several times since my discovery.

My husband just walked in with wonton wrappers, so tomorrow we are going to try mini wonton tacos. Press one wanton wrapper into a muffin tin, add whatever taco ingredients (or, really, anything else) you like, and you end up with a finger food that has crunch and flavor.

Over the weekend, I made the rainbow fruit skewers above for a family reunion—a nice counter to all of the sugary foods. This is a great example of an image that makes sense in a flash. It doesn’t take a recipe or a lot of concentration to realize that I organize fruit by color to attract potential eaters.

Still on my list for this week are bell pepper egg flowers. My kids love sunny-side-up egges. I am going to use 1/4″ slices across several colors of sweet peppers as molds for eggs. The shape is so beautiful, and the yolk becomes the center of the flower.

Those were just a few of the foods that caught my eye. I keep one Pinterest board for items that I plan to make. Once I make each food, I comment on the pins to let my followers know how I liked the recipe.

Set up a board for foods you think your children will like, foods you want to save for the holidays, foods that can help you keep lunches healthy. Keep the sugary, fantasy foods on another board entirely so you won’t be tempted to mix them.

Whether you are the dreamer, who finds good food and shares with others, or the doer, who creates good food and uploads for others, eat well!

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Do you have this fantasy of yourself as an organized, creative mother who makes all of the recipes you pin on Pinterest and packs a balanced, organic picnic for every trip out?

Don’t panic!

As the holiday weekend approaches, chill out and realize that your kids will love anything you choose to call a picnic. Take your regular dinner outside and eat on the lawn. It’s a picnic! Take cheese and crackers to the park. That’s a picnic, too. When it is 100°F outside and you have a red air warning, spread a blanket on the floor in the living room, and call that a picnic. You don’t have to drive an hour into the wilderness with a full meal packed in a specially designed basket with matching flatware. Yes, it would be nice, but don’t worry about the details too much.

Nice to Have

A Blanket. If you have an outdoor blanket that you can spread on the lawn then easily wash afterward, you’re set. No blanket? Just choose a spot with picnic tables.

A Basket. Sure, it’s nice to have a basket with every little thing tucked into its tidy pocket. It you have it, take it. If you don’t, put some tough plates and forks into a canvas bag. The basket may be iconic, but it isn’t necessary.

Drinks. This is a must. It doesn’t have to be wine or juice or anything more than water, but bring the drinks.

Finger Foods. Clean and dry. Though not essential, its easier to picnic on foods that don’t spill or get your fingers all messy.

Room Temperature. Hold the mayo. If you are going to be outside for a while and you don’t have the basket that fits ice packs to keep everything cold, skip the foods that spoil or wilt quickly.

Cloths. Bring reusable cloths. Maybe not absolutely essential, but going anywhere with children is easier if you have a few washable cloths and a spray bottle. We use ours as napkins then unpack right into the washing machine.

Individual Portions. You don’t need portions separated at all. You could pass around one container and share, but, if you want to serve individual meals, it can save space and make serving easier if you pack each person’s food in a separate storage container that doubles as a serving container. Lightweight, stainless lunch containers for school lunch easily double as picnicware.

Games. This could be as simple as a doll or a toy car for a young child, but we like to throw in a card game. It gives us an excuse to linger in our chosen spot. Of course, you don’t need an excuse. Just linger! Go for a walk. Just consider whether your children need enough entertainment to keep them occupied while the adults eat.

Utensils. If you bring finger foods, you don’t need utensils. If you do need utensils, bring reusable. It’s just too easy not to. Super lightweight bamboo utensils don’t add much bulk or weight to your basket or bag.

As in so many situations as a parent, you soon realize that you don’t need a bunch of extra stuff made specifically for one situation. If you have a long weekend coming up and you want to go on a picnic, just grab what you have and go. It’s an adventure. Your children will have a great time.

Image © Pavel Losevsky | Dreamstime.com

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Chilled summer soups are a great surprise for children asking for cool lunches as the days get warmer. “Anything that isn’t hot,” my children tell me, but enough salads already. Flavorful, cold soups from a variety of fresh vegetables are my answer.

You may already be familiar with traditional cold soups like gazpacho (tomato, onion, sweet peppers), borscht (beet), and vichyssoise (potato and leek). Don’t stick with traditional recipes, though. Beyond the traditional chilled soups, there is infinite variety. Use what you have. Clear out the vegetable drawer. Pull a few carrots from the garden.

Cold Soup Tips

• Add fats and proteins. To make your soup a hearty, filling meal, add beans or dairy for protein and nuts or avocado for fat.
• Get out the blender. A lot of cold soups are quite similar to smoothies. Cold soups don’t have to be smooth. I actually like smooth or slightly textured cold soups, but you can also leave the ingredients very chunky.
• Vegan or raw. Though a lot of traditional cold soups start with broth, you can easily make that vegetable broth or avoid the cooking altogether and create 100% raw cold soups by blending savory flavors as a base.
• Spice it up! I don’t particularly like sweet soup. I make sure that my cold soups are savory and flavorful. Even if you like fruit soups, spiking the flavors with hot spices can take the edge off too much sweet. Even radish or horseradish garnish can add a little kick to your soup.
• Make the soup in advance. I like to let the soup sit in the refrigerator overnight so the flavors develop.
• Chill the serving bowl. Keep the soup cool until the last spoonful.
• Don’t serve too much at once. This goes for most foods, but I find it especially so with chilled soups. A little bit is a tasty treat, but too much can get cloying very fast. Serve a cup of soup with half a sandwich, and you have a meal with variety.
• Freeze the extra. Rather than serving a cup of the same soup meal after meal, freeze it.
• Add garnishes. One of my secrets to avoiding separate meals to meet varying tastes is to create a fairly plain base meal and let everyone add their own garnishes. Create your own garlic croutons. Snip herbs from the garden. Add sour cream or yogurt and swirl it into a nice design before serving.

Cold Cucumber Soup

My favorite cool summer soup is cucumber. The way we make it is a bit like liquified tzatziki (Greek yogurt dip).

2 cups vegetable broth
3 medium cucumbers – peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 Tbs fresh mint
1 Tbs fresh dill
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice
2 cups plain yogurt
Salt and white pepper to taste

Sometimes we saute the onions before blending, but you can also just put all ingredients in a blender and buzz until smooth.

Garnish with ground nuts, lemon zest, or fresh mint or dill.

Half serves a small bowl each for a family of four. Freeze the other half.

Image © Olya Smith | Dreamstime.com

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The busy life of a parent is a shock to a lot of us. It was to me. But, this was the life I signed up for. It’s up to me to figure out where busy-ness pushes too hard, where stress reaches in to squeeze me and ruin my health, and where I just need to gently but firmly push back and reclaim the parent I intend to be.

If you are ready to reclaim your natural parenting, start one place where you can model for your children, and, really, for yourself, that ideal you want. Start with time that matters for health, for calm, and for culture. Start by reclaiming mealtime from preparation through clean up. Make the whole meal family time.

Someone whose embrace of healthy, whole foods is really inspirational to me is Tamara, our own Nature Mom. She didn’t do it because she’s has some extraordinary will power that the rest of us lack. She experienced a problem as a parent (allergies), and she kept working on the fix. She developed habits of even healthier eating as the solution to allergies, and it didn’t happen all at once.

Question: How did you come to reclaim mealtimes and whole foods for your family?

We didn’t really have a choice but to get to this point with our eating, but it was a long process. My two girls (ages 3.5 and almost 7) and I have very long lists of allergies that had been causing health problems for years. It took 3 years to get to where I don’t have to constantly think about food because it’s our lifestyle now, not just a burden or challenge. It hasn’t been easy, but you do what you have to do for your kids. We were never big junk food eaters (I grew up with no pop, no fast food, no junk food) but learning to cook without processed foods (no cans, jars or boxed food) was the tough for me.

3 Steps to Reclaim Mealtime

• Take it slow. Understand that food is more than fuel. Create a family habit of slow cooking and slow eating. If you want support from a community of people who also recognize the importance of the meal, look for convivia (chapters) in your area through Slow Food Canada or Slow Food USA.
• Sit down together, face to face, when you eat. Reclaim that time with your children—and with yourself! Clear off the table so you won’t be tempted to eat elsewhere.
• Embrace wholefoods. If it’s overwhelming to think of making all meals from scratch right now, just start by replacing one processed food a week as you shop. You can work on banning all boxed, canned, and other processed foods as you go.

This morning, as my husband was writing a shopping list and asking about food for the coming week, I saw him write canned tomatoes on the list.

“We talked about this. No canned tomatoes.”
“But, they don’t have whole tomatoes in glass jars.”
“I’ll tell you where they do have them.”
“Where?”
“In the vegetable aisle. Just buy tomatoes. It’s not that hard to blanch a tomato.”

I thought we were already past that decision. We’ve had the conversation before, and we might have it again. It is not easy to get to the point where everyone in your family is moving in the same direction. Cooking from scratch is a project in process in my house. Don’t stress it. Just move forward gently but firmly.

Just reclaim one meal at a time, and slow down.

Image © Zurijeta | Dreamstime.com

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Have you heard “The Toxic Truth about Sugar”? Last week, a group of scientists published their research on sugar in the journal Nature. Sugar, they found, can trigger “liver toxicity and a host of other chronic diseases.” They suggest using the models of intervention used to reduce alcohol and tobacco use to similarly reduce sugar use.

A lot of our customers talk about how they have created sugar-free nutrition for their families. This isn’t just a would-be-nice dream. When you consider the damage sugar can cause, keeping your children away from sugar becomes a high priority for their current and future health.

So, where do you start?

Know Sugar When You See It

Start in your pantry. Look at every food item and train yourself to find the hidden sugars that you didn’t even realize were hiding in your kitchen. Look for:

• Agave Nectar
• Brown Sugar
• Cane Crystals
• Corn Sugar
• Corn Sweetener
• Corn Syrup
• Crystalline Fructose
• Dextrin
• Dextrose
• Evaporated Cane Juice
• Fructose
• Fruit Juice Concentrate
• Galactose
• Glucose
• High-fructose Corn Syrup
• Honey
• Hydrogenated Starch
• Invert Sugar
• Lactose
• Malt Syrup
• Maltose
• Mannitol
• Maple Syrup
• Molasses
• Polyols
• Raw Sugar
• Sorbitol
• Sorghum
• Sucrose
• Sugar
• Syrup
• Turbinado Sugar
• Xylitol

That might not even be all of the hidden sugars. I compiled the list from several sources calling attention to added sugar on food labels.

And, Know Where Those Sugars Hide

Next step, look beyond the obvious places to find places that you just can’t believe would have added sugars. Look for sugar in toothpaste, cough syrup, chewing gum, mints, flavoured yogurt, vitamin water, bottled tea, juice drinks, packaged cereals, instant cereals, granola bars, applesauce, preserved fruit, salad dressing, barbeque sauce, tomato sauce, baked beans, soup, sugar-cured meats, as well, of course, as candies, cakes, and everything else you already know has sugar in it.

Have you found sugars in most of your canned, boxed, bottled, and otherwise packaged foods? To avoid the hidden sugars, start your family’s sugar-free journey by giving up prepared and packaged foods. It’s a simple and essential move.

Maybe you still want sweets (like the gooey sugar-free brownies we linked to on Saturday on the Making Love in the Kitchen blog). There are an abundance of websites and cookbooks that will help you find substitute sweets or sweets with less sugar, but they are still sweets.

Stop Looking for Substitutes

In the end, I suggest that rather than looking for substitutes to satisfy a sweet tooth, you get to the root of the problem and eat without the sweet. Pull your family’s natural human appetite for sweets back to levels the body can handle and satisfy that appetite with natural sweeteners like fruit, dairy, or even a bit of honey or maple syrup.

Start now so your children won’t expect sweets. By now, I mean even if you are just pregnant. Start from the first minute and the minute before that to bring your family’s nutritional focus to whole foods. Help your young children value the tasty, natural flavors of fresh foods without additives. (Read “My Sugar-free Son” at Mothering.com.)

Families are going sugar free by managing then shifting expectations about sweets. The amount of sugar consumed by the average North American is staggering. You don’t have to accept that as normal or inevitable for your children. Start with substitutions then move on to a whole new way of looking at food. You’ll feel great, and your children will grow without the hindrance of all of those toxic calories.

Image © Giedrius Zaleckas | Dreamstime.com

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Where does Nature Mom go when she needs allergy-free recipes and clear reasoning for changing her eating habits? Making Love in the Kitchen with Meghan Telpner.

I seriously can’t recommend her site/blog enough. And if you are lucky enough to be local (she’s in Toronto), her cooking classes completely changed my boring, tasteless cooking void of all our allergy foods. I’m still learning everyday.

1. Don’t Take No for an Answer

A diagnosis of disease is not the last word. You have control of your health. It’s best if you start now, before allergy or disease force you to change your habits. If you are already facing disease, nutrition-dense foods will only help. No, I’m not claiming that you should forgo allopathic medicine, but you can improve body and mind through diet.

This is one of the most important lessons I learn from Meghan Telpner. She was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and chose meditation, acupuncture, and a whole foods diet rather than surgery or medication. After six years, she is symptom free. During that time, she became a certified nutritionist and opened her own cooking school in Toronto.

2. Create a Guide that Excites You

For Meghan, her creed is her philosophy of living. Her creed is the image you see above. You might find this inspiring, but I want to tell you that part of the power of this creed is you flipping the switch and realizing that YOU can and you MUST create your own beautiful philosophy of living so that you are realizing your own dreams. Start here if you like, but stretch it, test it, try out a few new things, and build a philosophy that makes your heart sing.

3. You Can Still Eat Brownies

Are you worried that your food will be boring if you remove sugar and other processed ingredients? Really? Well, stop that right now. If anything, conventional, processed foods are a crutch that keeps you from being creative with food. If you need to be convinced that you will be fine in a future with healthful foods, Butternut Squash Ooo-eee Goo-eee Brownies will ease your transition.

When you hang out on the Parenting by Nature Facebook page, you will find that Nature Mom and others mention Making Love in the Kitchen a lot. Join us!

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Super Foods are nutrient-packed, disease-fighting foods, many of which you probably have in your refrigerator or pantry right now. They aren’t unusual or difficult to find.

A lot of our customers have asked Nature Mom about the super foods that she uses, how she includes them in meals for the family, and how much she uses. Start where you are and add more foods over time.

Do you have a few of these around?

• Dark berries
• Dark greens
• Nuts & seeds
• Hot peppers
• Raw cacao nibs
• Honey

If you already have any of these on hand, you are ready to start adding health superfoods to your family meals. Add more dark greens to salads. Sprinkle seeds on many main dishes. Add hot peppers to your foods, if your family can handle them. Sweeten foods with honey. Add fresh or frozen berries to your cereal in the morning. There you go! You are a superfood super star.

Nature Mom’s Fast Food Breakfast

Nature Mom, owner of bynature.ca, eats fast food for breakfast. Shocking isn’t it? Well, hold on to your blenders, because it’s even faster food than you think. At least 2-3 mornings a week, when she is rushed, she has a super food smoothie.

NOTE: If you are nursing or pregnant, and there is anything that might be a concern, just leave it out. This recipe is really flexible, and she uses what she has in the fridge at the time.

Nature Mom Super Food Smoothie

1 cup of frozen berries (fresh is okay too, but frozen makes the smoothie taste colder)
2 handfuls of greens (I usually use spinach but cabbage, kale, Swiss chard also works)
1 large celery stalk
1-2 Tbsp nut butter of choice, I usually use Almond Butter (or Tahini for a nut-free version)
1-2 Tbsp hemp seeds
1 heaping Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 inch ginger, peeled
dash of cayenne pepper
3 cups of water

Put this all into a high powered blender. Blend and drink as you’re running out the door!

Optional superfood additions (I use them all):

• 1 handful cacao nibs (I like mine chocolatey!)
• 1 Tbsp lucuma powder
• 1 Tbsp goji berry powder
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds

A Month of Your Health Ideas

We’re devoting February to food and other ways our readers keep their families healthy. It’s the depth of winter and there are fewer fresh options, so it takes even more vigilance to eat fresh, healthy, whole foods. Comment here or jump over to Facebook and tell us how you keep your family healthy in the winter especially. We want to include your ideas.

Image © Tomislav Pinter | Dreamstime.com

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One consistent theme among all of my friends is the need to save money in the current economic climate. For the next month, Eco Baby Steps will offer tips to save money. This week, we’ll look at essentials like food and heating.

What else do you want to save money on? Yes, I know: EVERYTHING! That’s obvious. Tell me, then, how you would finish this statement: “I wish I could save more money on ______.” Where are you really trying to squeeze the budget? Tell me, and I’ll see if I can come up with a few tips to help you.

Today, save money on food. This is one of the biggest items in my family budget, but I want to keep the family healthy and well nourished as well, so we look for a balance.

Focus on Un-processed Foods
Buy whole foods (not to be confused with a high-priced grocery store by that name). I know a lot of people who lower their food bills to almost nothing by using coupons, but I don’t do that. Most of the coupons are for processed foods and other items I wouldn’t normally buy. Keep your overall focus on those foods that have not become ingredients in other foods. Buy fewer prepared meals and more fresh foods.

Use Sales and Coupons
If you would buy the foods anyway, definitely use coupons and show up for sales, but keep in mind the value of your time as you search for and organize your coupons.

Manager’s Specials
In my grocery store, the food that is about to expire within a day or so is often marked down to half of the usual price or less. I often bring home foods with those bright red stickers and either use them right away or freeze them. If you are willing to be flexible about what you eat tonight, you might find a special.

Food Rescue
More than a billion tons of food is wasted around the world annually at every link on the supply chain. When food is past its sell-by date, a store won’t sell it, but the food might still be edible. Sometimes you can work with grocery stores for food rescue. Often, this food is donated, but a lot of dumpster divers find edible food for their families.

Start with a List
If you plan your meals, even if you are flexible about changes when you see opportunities in the store, you are less likely to buy expensive foods or foods that will go bad and end up in the compost. Before you arrive at the store, start with a shopping list. Also, make sure to list those foods your family really eats rather than the foods you wish they would eat. Food that is ignored is more likely to be wasted.

Buy and Cook in Bulk
You may have to pay more up front for a larger bag of flour, but you will pay less per pound. On the other hand, if you can’t use all of the giant bag of lettuce before it starts to brown, you haven’t really saved money. Having a chest freezer can be a great way to keep foods as you buy or cook them in bulk. Buy as much as you can afford, as much as you can store, and as much as you will use.

Join or Create a Buying Club
Some wholesalers don’t mind selling food to buying clubs as long as they can meet the minimum. To find a local buying club, ask around or do a search. There are also more organized clubs, which you can find through United Buying Clubs. Or, gather a group of families and start your own buying club.

Freeze the Leftovers
When you have bread that had gone stale or vegetables or rice that you won’t use before they go bad, freeze them. When it is time to make stuffing, you will already have plenty of bread ready, so you won’t have to leave fresh bread out to dry. When it is time to make soup, you will have a variety of ingredients to add to your soup. Even if you can’t use food right away, save it if you can use it later.

Grow Your Own
Whether you have a lot of space to grow your own fruit trees, a medium-sized space to plant a garden, or just enough space to grow a few herbs in pots, growing your own will save you money as long as you don’t overdo the money spent on gardening supplies.

Keep Chickens
Another big trend I’ve noticed among my friends is keeping chickens for eggs. My children took care of their grandparents’ chickens over the holidays, and they are very confident that they can become small-scale farmers themselves. My local garden store has classes in chicken keeping. You might find a similar local class that eases your transition from gardener to farmer.

How do you save money on food? Your friends, neighbors, and family members are all trying to save money. It is just one of the realities of our time. Share your tips.

Image of my in-laws’ backyard chickens.

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The holiday tradition of spiced cider or mulled wine stretches from Halloween to Twelfth Night through all of the holidays in between. Wassail is most usually associated with Christmas now, but it wasn’t always so.

Wassail is both the drink and the act of going house to house asking for the drink. “Waes Hail!” is a toast. It means “Good Health!” When roving bands of young men showed up at the doors of the wealthy in a town, holding out their wassail bowls asking for free food and drink, wassailing more closely resembled trick or treating. For those who go Christmas caroling, the offer of a hot drink is from the same tradition. For my family, we keep a pot of mulled cider on the stove through the harvest and winter holidays.

If you are establishing your own family traditions, keep in mind that scents can be very evocative. Apple and cinnamon wafting through the house is one of those signals for my children that it is holiday time. Perhaps you might want to add wassail to your celebrations.

Start with a large stock pan.

Base drink. You can make a kid-friendly version with apple cider or even apple juice with added orange juice. We add a gallon of apple and half a gallon of orange to start.

Alcohol. If you aren’t feeding kids or you are making an adult version, you can start with red wine or hard cider. You can also add brandy, port, or sherry. Anything sweet will mix well.

Spices. Add cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, or any of the sweet spices you like. You can make it all powdered or add whole spices for a beautiful look.

Sugar. I don’t add sugar, but most recipes call for it. Apple juice adds a lot of sweetness that gets thicker as the night goes on, so skip it.

Fruit. We add orange wedges with cloves stuck into the rind, and I’ve also seen apple slices added.

Warm without boiling. You want to let the spices steep for at least 30 minutes, but an hour or two will give you a thicker, spicier version. If you are serving at a party, continue to top it up with more apple and orange through the evening. Topping up is likely why the alcoholic version becomes more potent as the evening wears on.

Waes Hail!

Image © Gunter Hofer | Dreamstime.com

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