This year marks the very first Christmas I’ve spent with my in laws! The Sellers’ have a fairly large family, however, we had a very low-key day with all of my husband’s siblings in other cities celebrating with their families. It was just David and I and his parents. His mom and I did a lot of cooking for just four people, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way!
{Roasted Rosemary Seasoned Salt Potatoes}
{Paula Dean’s [ya’ll] Broccoli Casserole}
For the occasion, I wanted to make sure we could end our night with a cozy beverage. I thought about something simple such as Hot Chocolate or Apple Cider. But then I thought a little outside of the box and remembered this is a wine crowd (with the exception of me. For some reason, I can only drink a Moscato). I had tried Mulled Wine earlier in the year and thought it was quite tasty and figured this would be the perfect time to try my hand at it.
Here’s the how-to with my personal modifications.
I first looked on Pinterest to find a Mulled Wine recipe and found this one. I loved her gorgeous photography on her blog and seeing as how she had Mulled Wine in Europe, I thought that this recipe would do.
What You’ll Need (not including my modifications):
- 1 (750 ml) bottle red wine
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1/4 cup brandy (optional)
- 1/4 cup honey or sugar
- 8 whole cloves
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise
I’ll start off by saying that Star Anise wasn’t in my grocery store. However, the extract was but that’s not what we’re going for. I ended up going to a spice shop to get the ingredients which turned out to be cheaper than buying them at the grocery store. I loved seeing the whole pieces of clove, anise, and cinnamon!
My Modifications:
I ended up using equal parts (three cups of each) wine and added Apple Cider. I’ll also note that you don’t have to use your good wine to make this recipe. After the spices had brewed in the mix for 20 minutes, I took out the Star Anise, as beautiful as it is. If you haven’t worked with it before, it tastes like licorice and I hate that taste. I added two more cloves and one more cinnamon stick. After taking out the Star Anise and adding the last cloves and cinnamon, the taste of the Mulled Wine seemed to balance out.
We enjoyed our Mulled Wine in clear glass mugs, allowing the rich wine color to show. We ended our night by watching It’s A Wonderful Life while sipping our warm drink.
Brandie Sellers 