Winter…. I love to get cozy and gather friends around the kitchen table and go through seed catalogs together.   Sweet and spicy mulled wine is the ultimate adult beverage to share, that warms from the inside out!

During this dark and cold season, the herbs that I previously harvested are nature’s medicine cabinet and there are so many ways to employ them.

Urban farmers would do well to cultivate a healthy patch of herbs for teas, medicinal tinctures and/or herb bundles for soups and an array of culinary applications…many of which could be income producing as well.

So, mulled wine fills the house with the aroma of cinnamon, cloves and other delightful spices and helps us celebrate tradition and nurture family and friends!

Merry Mulled Wine

Serves: about 11 cups

Ingredients

• 8 black peppercorns
• 6 whole cloves
• 3 pinches of nutmeg powder
• 3 pinches of cardamom powder
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 teaspoon anise seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 bottle red wine (French is the best!)
• 6 cups 100% fresh pressed sweet organic apple cider
• 1 cup brandy
• 1 cup local honey or whole, organic cane sugar
• 2 oranges

Instructions

1. Bundle the whole spices in a round cut out of cheesecloth that has been gathered and tied with cotton twine. Place it in a stainless steel or ceramic stock pot. Pour in the wine, cider and brandy and stir in the honey or sugar. Slice one orange and drop it into the pot along with the bay leaves.
2. Warm over low heat at least 1 hour. DO NOT allow the wine to boil or you’ll cook out the alcohol.
3. Ladel into mugs, garnish with sliced orange and serve warm.