Tag Archives: holidays

Spicy Mulled Wine

I can’t stop digging up treasures on Tasty Kitchen, and when I saw this recipe for Mulled Wine, it was all I could do to stop myself from running at a sprint to the nearest liquor store to make it all happen asap. This little brew tastes like the holidays to me. It warms me to my toes, and I’m so excited to share it with you.

Disclaimer: it’s spicy. Not fire-in-your-mouth spicy, but spicy enough that my friend Carrie wasn’t a huge fan. Sorry, Carrie. Our souls may be knit together, but our taste buds are definitely on different tracks at times. If this is too spicy for you, I recommend adding some orange juice to the brew to sweeten the flavors.

Second disclaimer: you will only be bringing the wine to a simmer, and then serving it directly. So don’t operate under the illusion that any alcohol content evaporates! That illusion could quickly lead down a path to accidental drunkenness. And no one wants that! Take it from someone who’s been there. And it was totally accidental. I’ll tell you the story sometime. Or maybe I won’t.

Hey! Don’t be judgin’–it happened to Anne of Green Gables too! Or rather, she accidentally inebriated her friend Diana thinking a bottle of wine was a bottle of Marilla’s famous raspberry cordial, but don’t worry, because she gained back the approval of Diana’s mother months later when she saved Diana’s youngest sister’s life from a bout of croup using something called ipicac. Or something. Really! It all happened!

What? You have no idea what I’m blabbing on about? You mean you haven’t read the Anne of Green Gables books? Or seen the movie? My gosh. You need to get your priorities straight.

Anyway, I need to get my priorities straight and get this mulled wine made, eh? So here we go.

Ingredients

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp whole cloves

1 tsp whole peppercorns

peel from 1 orange, removed with a vegetable peeler

1 c water

1/2 c sugar

2 bottles (750 ml) red wine such as cabernet or merlot

1/2 c port

First, let’s peel the orange. Grab a vegetable peeler and do your best to get all the orange part of the peel with as little white as possible.

The white suff if Bitter Central.

Now look at the stripped-down orange and contemplate its nudity for a few minutes.

Preferrably in silence.

Okay! Now grab those spices:

It helps if you have an adorable white ramekin to put them in. Really!

Let’s pour that cup of water into a large pot. I used my pressure cooker.

Now put the orange peel, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and peppercorns into the pot, and bring it to a boil.

As soon as it boils, lower the heat and simmer it for about 15 minutes. The spices will start releasing their aromas and flavors, and the cinnamon sticks should start to unfurl.

Round up the rest of the ingredients:

Something that I love about this recipe is that you can use some dang cheap wine, which may not taste great alone, but via this process is transformed into a lovely subtance.

These bottles were about $5 apiece, and distinctly . . . not delicious. According to my palate. They needed sugar and spices to make them nices.

Heh heh.

Oh, and make sure you have some chapstick on hand at all times.

I always do.

Now add the two bottles of wine . . .

Add the sugar . . .

Add the port with its lovely raisiny flavor . . .

. . . and bring it back to a simmer.

Okay, that was closer to a boil than a simmer. But if you don’t tell, I won’t either! Deal? Deal.

Let’s serve it up!

Simple, eh?

Note: I had much better luck serving this with a large measuring cup instead of a ladle. With the ladle, I got wine drips and splatters pretty much everywhere.

We stored the leftovers in an empty bottle we had saved for just such an occasion, pouring it into a funnel through a strainer to get out the spices.

Once the bottle was full, we strained the rest directly into my mug.

Yum.

It’s delicious chilled, or room temperature, or hot. But I love it hot. Maybe because there are so few degrees outside these days.

Cheers!

Click here for printer-friendly version: Spicy Mulled Wine

Christmas at Laura's

Do you mind if I’m still talking about Christmas? I figure we’re still within a reasonable time frame, right? Yes? Eh? Hello?

Now if I’m still posting about Christmas when September rolls around, we’ll revisit the issue and I’ll probably have to make an appointment with a shrink. A shrink who specializes in bloggers. “So . . . take a deep breath . . . close your eyes . . . and now tell me. What are you going to post about tomorrow? What were your childhood fears? Do you feel like your blogging voice is a result of a traumatic childhood event involving a large dog? How does your choice of topics help you connect with your readership? Are your blog posts relevant to your audience, or are you just one more bloggity-bloggerina who can’t stop yammering about all of her life problems and insecurities?? Craaaargggghhhh!!!!” Wow. This Dr. X really has me figured out. It also sounds like he needs a vacation.

Anyway, every year, my husband and his family head down to Indianapolis for Christmas at Aunt Laura’s. Aunts, uncles, and cousins collide as we slurp down eggnog and catch up on a year’s worth of happenings. And we can’t be forgetting Grandpa Laird.

This year I was very excited . . . you see, last Christmas I didn’t have my Nikon. It allowed me to get a shot of Grandpa Laird’s weathered hands.

There’s something about aged hands that just speaks to my soul.

I was thrilled to walk around snapping candid shots. They’re my favorite kind.

Everyone is so grown up these days! I remember when I started dating my husband and came to my first Christmas at Laura’s many years ago–they were all kids.

And now look at ’em! *sniff*

That includes you John, my feisty, debate-crazy brother-in-law.

You adult-thing, you. Having your own opinions. And stuff. Like that’s even allowed!

Further proof of this ‘growing up’ thing is: for the very first time, Kate whipped my butt at Dutch Blitz.

I passed the crown on to a younger, faster, worthier candidate. Or should I say–the crown was wrestled from my reluctant hand?

Let’s go with the version in which I lost with elegance and passed it on graciously.

I know Kate will wear it well, and proudly. Her mama should be very pleased that she raised a Dutch Blitz killing machine.

Good job, Aunt Laura.

Until I take the crown back next year! *evil laugh echoes off the walls of my mad Dutch Blitz laboratorium*

Jake went skydiving for his birthday this year. Can you believe it? I can’t. Isn’t he still, um 12? In middle school? When did he get so . . . so cool??

Oh, I guess he is 18 . . . and finished with high school. It’s like all this growing up happened behind my back.

Honestly, it’s great fun–I have this whole posse of cousins that I have to get to know all over again. On their own terms. As adult-type people.

They have their own interests, goals, and views, and that is kind of thrilling. Joe is a master at the djembe, which ups his coolness factor to about 212 plus/minus 5. On a scale of 100, of course.

Grandpa Laird told his typical slew of stories. Unfortunately, none of them can be repeated here on this family-friendly blog. Or even alluded to, really.

Let’s pretend we’re back in the 1940s. Maybe at that point Grandpa Laird’s stories were considered appropriate.

Then again, maybe not. Though it’s hard to say–he hails from different times.

I love how a simple Photoshop action can make the clock turn back. This is the ‘vintage’ action from the Pioneer Woman’s free, downloadable set.

We took the traditional cousins picture on the stairway. Somehow, I ended up front and center.

I love how we’re all looking in different directions. It’s a classic group-shot problem, and it warms my little heart.

All the cousins posed with Grandpa Laird in turn. Unfortunately, the lovely red wall that was behind us caused my camera to completely wig out. My Nikon doesn’t get along well with intense reds. So my hand was forced. Feel free to hate this effect–it’s what happened late the other night. I can hardly remember what I clicked. All I know is that it makes our eyes look like they’re popping out of our skulls. Huh.

I think it makes Jake look kind of like an alien invader. A hipster alien invader.

Sorry everyone–I’ll do better next year.

One of the most touching moments of the day was when Aunt Laura presented me with this treasure:

There were tears and hugs. You see, it’s a recipe card written in Grandma Sue’s own hand. She died many years ago, and she and my husband had a very special relationship. When my husband was a small tot, they read the Oz books together, made maps of fairy lands, and rode whirly rides at Cedar Point. She was a woman with a lot of character, and she loved my husband very dearly. Therefore I love her very dearly. I wish I could have met her.

I’ll be making this recipe and sharing about it–and I just love the instructions. “Cook until blurps.” Okay Grandma Sue, I’m trusting you to lead me aright! Stay tuned for a historic sugar cream pie recipe.