One of my very favorite traditions is setting up the Christmas tree and drinking hot wassail. It feels like the official start to our holiday season. We start the wassail and then gather all our decoration boxes out of storage. I love watching the kids open the boxes and they remember. The memories come flooding back when they see the popsicle stick ornaments they made in school the year before. Hot wassail smells like Christmas. I want our kids to remember our family Christmas traditions when they smell it. I want them to tell their kids about how their mom made hot wassail while we decorated the tree. I make it once a year, so it directly tied to their feelings about this special time of year. I hope they always remember.
I usually make our wassail on the stovetop, but I am constantly adjusting the flame if our wassail is too hot or too cold. As I am checking the wassail, I am missing out on moments. So I was more than thrilled when BLACK+DECKER® sent me a beautiful slow cooker. I love slow cookers so much. They make my life so much easier. Bonus: It is a chalkboard slow cooker! You can write on the outside of it! I heart it! BLACK+DECKER® has made a lot of women really happy with this feature!
The holidays are the most stressful/most amazing time of the year for me! I have found that simplifying helps me to feel the goodness. I probably use my BLACK+DECKER® slow cooker more than any other small appliance. It lets me spend my time doing things I love, while my food/drinks cook. It is easy to use and high quality. It even comes with locking wires to keep the lid in place while moving your slow cooker! They have thought of everything.
The wassail turned our amazing in our BLACK+DECKER® slow cooker. This is how I made mine:
Slow Cooker Hot Wassail Recipe
- Combine in slow cooker
- 4 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 10 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- half of a ginger root (sliced)
- 4 cups orange juice
- 2 cups pink lemonade
- half a gallon of apple cider
- handful of cinnamon red hot candies
- right before serving, add apple slices and orange slices. They float and make it look pretty 🙂
Set slow cooker to high for 4 hours. Strain the wassail or use a slotted spoon to get the cloves, cinnamon sticks, ginger slices out. After it is done, set the slow cooker to warm while you are serving it. It keeps it at the perfect temperature.
Notes:
I like my wassail with a little grit in it. I purposely buy orange juice with pulp and I buy the un-strained apple cider. It gives it a little texture, but I know some people don’t like that, so adjust accordingly.
I wish you could all smell this stuff! It is the scent of happiness! And look how pretty it is!
And also look how sweet the chalkboard slow cooker is! It is a classic look, matte black goes with any kitchen…so it would be the perfect gift! What woman doesn’t want to have her life made easier?
Go get yourself a BLACK+DECKER® slow cooker here. Then make some wassail and tell me how you like it! You can also check out BLACK+DECKER® by clicking on these links:
- BLACK+DECKER®website
- YouTube
- Amazon (I’m also eyeing one of those BLACK+DECKER® rice cookers! Maybe for Christmas…hint, hint!)
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of BLACK+DECKER® . The opinions and text are all mine.