Winter holiday traditions change with time and location, with their current forms retaining little of their old forms, wassailing (rhymes with fossil-ing) possibly more than most. The modern interpretation of wassailing has been simplified to singing carols, though it was born of much more diverse traditions, from a cheer of good health before battle to scaring evil spirits from apple orchards. From these origins come wassail the drink, and that's just one of the many foods of the winter season (Food Timeline prev., 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). A few more are covered below the break. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Dec 25, 2009 - 8 comments

This of course begs the question, what is so comforting about green toffee? I don't know about you, but I prefer my toffee brown. And why would you make a hair removal product resemble anything remotely edible? It removes hair for chrissakes!
posted by mathowie on Aug 22, 1999 - 0 comments