December 14th- Boilo

     Ah, Boilo... A delicious coal region beverage that most of you guys have probably never heard of.
     In fact the coal region is pact with tons of its own food and drinks that are completely delicious yet scarcely known to the rest of the world. Today however, this will be the only one making an appearance.

     Every year when the weather gets cold and the townspeople begin to shiver, This drink is brought forth in hundreds, if not thousands of  varieties. To be sipped on cold nights, to share with friends by the bottle, some say a shot or two before bed will even cure a cold.
     I don't think anyone knows exactly how Boilo got started, but I doubt there is a single adult in my county who doesn't know how to make it.
     cherry boilo, apple boilo, blueberry, strawberry, and many more are made every year. But today I made mine traditional...Well, my version of Traditional.
     Boilo has no set recipe, and this is mine. But before you begin, there are two things you must know.
1. You drink Boilo hot. heating your drink up will times its flavor by ten.
2. If you do not like the taste of whiskey, you will want to make some changes to this recipe before you'll even want to go near it. My boilo is especially strong on the whiskey compared to most recipes.
-Here are a few things you can do to fix this.
     You can cut the whiskey in my recipe down to half, but I wouldn't go any lower than that.
     You can replace the whiskey with a 5th of pure grain alcohol. It will get rid of the alcohol taste almost all together.
     I think I've covered everything I need to.

Here's what you'll need!

2 5ths Whiskey ( It doesn't need to be expensive. I use 4 queens. )
4 Oranges
4 Lemons
2 packs Raisins
2 liters Ginger ale
24 oz Honey
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
5 Cinnamon Sticks

     Many Boilos taste like pure honey, or pure Cinnamon. Some like pure orange juice. This recipe, in my opinion, brings out equal parts of all ingredients. And the whiskey strengthens them.

Lets get cooking!

     First begin by bringing your ginger ale to a boil in a large pot.
     Cut your oranges into 16ths, your lemons into 8ths. Squeeze the juice into your ginger ale, then toss in the rest, peels and all. Mix well.
     Add your raisins, honey, and cinnamon. Mix again and continue to boil for about 8 minutes.
     Finally, take your pot off the burner and after 5 minutes add in your alcohol And don't be shy with it.

     Any that's pretty much it. You're finished. This recipe yields 5 delicious fifths. Just strain  out the bigger pieces and fill up your favorite bottles or jars. Add one cinnamon stick to each bottle.
     Now it's time to share. Don't be stingy. Traditionally the maker of the boilo will hand out jars to all his friends, keeping only one bottle for himself.
     Also traditionally, the maker will soon receive a jar of boilo from each one of his friends as well. But it's just never quite as good as your own.

     Well....there's nothing wrong with being a little stingy. Keep a second bottle in the closet and save it for next year. It will only get better with age.