ANDREW LEIBENGUTH/TIMES NEWS Members of the Tamaqua Elks Lodge held their annual holiday Boilo contest recently at their lodge. Flavors during the contest consisted of traditional, apple pie and blueberry. Boilo, a traditional Yuletide drink for residents of northeastern and east central Pennsylvania, is characterized with it's holiday recipe ingredients, such as oranges, lemons, nutmeg, cloves, caraway seed, honey, ginger ale and anise seed. The traditional base ingredient in Boilo is moonshine, although most receipes have replaced home-brewed moonshine with blended whiskey. Some area residents believe Boilo has curing properties for the onset of seasonal related ailments such as a cold or influenza. Many locations hold boilo tasting contests, where home brewers compete over whose recipe is most authentic or whose Boilo is the easiest on the taste pallet. Enjoying themselves during the event are, from left, Cookie Osenbach, Barbara Polusky, Lillian Birkmier, Shirley Bond, Andy Lewis and Donette Miller.
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