Wassail, 'Uiha Style

CHRISTMASS EVE in 'UIHA... And some firecrackers are going off down the road in the village, the rain has stopped, and we're warm, with bellies full of pineapple wassail, recipe below.  In the spirit of conservationism, we didn't cut down a tree from our land.  Instead, I found this piece of triangular lumber that washed ashore a few weeks ago.  Makes a pretty beautiful statement, no?  The lights on it are solar powered.  I'm in the process of decorating it with pieces of red and blue cellophane from the wrappers of chop suey noodles.

Our Driftwood ChristMASS Tree

Dad and Fesi (our cousin) drinking wassail

PINEAPPLE WASSAIL RECIPE:  
Ever wonder what you should do with those leftover pineapple peels?  DON'T THROW THEM OUT!  Rather, cover with water in a pot and simmer them along with a squeeze of citrus (I used sour orange, or kola) and some mulling spices like Whole Allspice and Whole Cloves. 

 Simmer about 20-30 minutes or longer with spices, on low heat...its called "Mulling", I think...and I'm leaving mine overnight at room temperature...

 Add some sugar or honey, and what you get is a delicious, sweet, spicy, fruity hot drink - Perfect!  Tastes great cold too, with or without the mulling spices.  I did a little digging and found that the making of Wassail was originally part of a ritual to the Apple Trees.  It made me think  about Tree worship in general.  I mean, the Christmass tree, with its triangular shape does symbolize the Holy Trinity, but its also supposed to be a remnant of the so-called Pagan or nature religions.

This is from Wikipedia.com under Main article: Wassailing

"In the cider-producing counties in the South West of England (primarily Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire)or South East England (Kent, Sussex and Essex) wassailing refers to a traditional ceremony that involves singing and drinking the health of trees in the hopes that they might better thrive. The purpose of wassailing is to awake the cider apple trees and to scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest of fruit in the Autumn.{"England In Particular", Common Ground 2007} The ceremonies of each wassail vary from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements. A wassail King and Queen lead the song and/or a processional tune to be played/sung from one orchard to the next, the wassail Queen will then be lifted up into the boughs of the tree where she will place toast soaked in Wassail from the Clayen Cup as a gift to the tree spirits (and to show the fruits created the previous year). Then an incantation is usually recited such as:

Here's to thee, old apple tree, That blooms well, bears well. Hats full, caps full, Three bushel bags full, An' all under one tree. Hurrah! Hurrah!"  

MERRY CHRISTMASS EVERY BODY!!! TIS THE SEASON TO BE GRATEFUL AND WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR OUR LIFE, OUR BLESSINGS, AND FOR YOU ALL!!! 'OFA ATU, LEA LANI - SALESI - and - VAIOKEMA, the 'Uiha Crew....