Mulled wine

Prague Old Town, December 2008

Tonight's experiments with the stove made me nostalgic for walking around the Christmas Market in Prague with a steaming cup of mulled wine, spicy and sweet. And by nostalgic, I mean I remembered the one time in my life that I have ever done that.

The mulled wine I made tonight was from a recipe a la Food Network/Ina Garten, found here. If you are too lazy to click on the link, the following is what you need to do to recreate your own Prague Old Town Square in December feeling:

4 cups apple cider
1 bottle red wine (she mentions a Cabernet Sauvignon, which is what I used -- an $8-$9 bottle)
1/4 cup honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange zested and juiced (I got lazy with the juicing and just used 1/3 cup orange juice)
4 whole cloves
3 star anise (being very suspicious of the licorice-like smell, I only used one)
4 oranges peeled for garnish (I skipped the garnishing step entirely, meh)

Combine the cider, wine, honey, cinnamon sticks, zest, juice, cloves and star anise in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Pour into mugs, add an orange peel to each and serve.

It's too easy. Every night in November and December can easily be Prague Old Town Square night around here.