Merry Christmas and Cider!

Two of our goodies from this years' LEGO Friends and Star Wars advent calendars 

We just finished our second family Christmas celebration - cookie swap on Sunday and dinner tonight - with at least two more to go - country breakfast and afternoon snack binge tomorrow. This is a super busy time of year what with the shopping and the parties and other obligations, but we're blessed to have so many people to visit and things to do.

We want to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season for whatever you celebrate and with whomever you make memories with. We hope that you take the time today, tomorrow and every day - holiday or not - to slow down and take the time to be with, talk to or think of the ones you love. And  of course, to cook, share or eat something delicious.

In the spirit of the season and general deliciousness, I'll share the recipe for the hot spice apple cider (also called wassail) we took to tonight's event. This beverage is a great seasonal drink - it just tastes like the holidays - with cloves, cinnamon and citrus. Like most of my recipes, it's very customizeable to your palate - use more or less spice as you'd like. It's a good make-and-take beverage too; we made ours hours in advance and reheated and kept it piping hot in our Crock Pot.

Merry Christmas from our family and table to yours!

Hot Spiced Apple Cider

Ingredients:

1 gallon apple cider

1 c citrus-y juice (orange or pineapple; this time we used 50/50)

3 T brown sugar (+/- to taste)

8-10 whole cloves  (+/- to taste)
1 orange sliced in circles
1 T cinnamon (+/- to taste)
1/2 t ground nutmeg  (+/- to taste)

Method:
Pour all ingredients into a large pot and bring to a rolling boil. Continue boiling for at least 15 minutes (we boiled ours for about 20); the longer you boil it, the stronger the flavors will be. Strain and serve.

Note: I kept my orange slices intact and then put them back into the Crock Pot when we arrived; it made for a very pretty presentation.