mulled apple cider and red wine (Glühwein)

Nostalgia! The smell of Glühwein simmering on a stove reminds me of the holidays. If your family made you hot apple cider after you shoveled their steps, the smell of this mulled red wine will bring you back. This recipe has everything you want from a hot winter drink – it’s full of warming spices, and sweet but not too sweet. You’ll get an extra burst of warmth from the wine, but of course, you can leave it out if you don’t drink.

I read Paige Bennett’s attempt at three different mulled wine recipes. She preferred the simplest, most affordable recipe – a classic from Ina Garten. If you’ve already got whole spices and a bottle of red wine, you’ll just need apple cider and an orange to make this.

Is this a holiday recipe? Sure, but only if you make it on a holiday.

I’m not big on wine, but I AM big on apple cider, and this is really, really good.

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4 cups apple cider (can also use OJ)
1 (750-ml) bottle of cheap Cabernet Sauvignon
1/4 cup honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange, zested and juiced
4 whole cloves
3 star anise
4 oranges, peeled, for garnish
optional: a few black peppercorns, juniper berries, or allspice berries

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat until delicious. Pour into mugs. That’s it!

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recipe adapted by friedsig from an Ina Garten recipe

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Friends, this is really, really good. My family’s recipe does not call for apple cider, and this hot apple cider / mulled wine hybrid is by far my favorite. Apple cider, oranges, and cab are dirt cheap at Aldi – I paid under $5 for all 3. No use in splurging on fancy wine – much of the flavor comes from the apple cider and spices.

She says it’s ready in 10 minutes, but keep it going longer if you can. The spice flavor will only intensify the longer it simmers.

Honey is totally unnecessary if you’re using sweet apple cider, but go ahead and add some honey, sugar, or sweetener of your choice if you like it sweeter. You can also add more fresh squeezed orange juice.

For more autumnal/winter red wine recipes, check out this currant and clove pan sauce that goes with anything from roasted chicken to veggies, my family recipe for German sweet and sour cabbage, and my all-time favorite thing to do with red wine – sauerbraten!

sweet potato julius (orange creamsicle smoothie)

1 cup almond milk or other milk
1 medium sweet potato, baked whole
2 medium oranges, peeled
1 Medjool date, or more to taste, pitted
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Dash of sea salt
Dash of ground cinnamon

blend everything on a high/smoothie setting; serve with ice

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recipe adapted by friedsig from mckel hill via epicurious

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Much closer to liquid sweet potato pie than an orange julius. This recipe was definitely strange. I used the one orange the recipe called for, but the sweet potato flavor far overwhelmed the orange flavor. Next time, I’ll use 2 oranges. The recipe called for 1 t vanilla, but I used 1/2t. The vanilla flavor was detectable but maybe a little too subtle. I think next time I’ll use 3/4t. It was sweet enough without extra honey or other sweetener. I was hoping for a creamsicle, but instead it tasted like a sweet potato pie smoothie. I definitely didn’t hate it, but didn’t love it, either. A good use for leftover baked sweet potatoes. I’ll make it again some time that I am craving a smoothie in the middle of the winter when the only ripe fruit are citrus.

the copywriter (honey lemonade with whiskey)

looks like another winner from serious eats

honey syrup:

1/2 oz hot water
1/2 oz honey

drink:

2 oz whiskey
1/2 oz sweet vermouth
3/4 oz freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
1/2 oz honey syrup
(seltzer)

mix drink & top with seltzer

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from serious eats

golden milk

one of my favorite drinks of all-time.

i make this recipe regularly, or whenever i can remember to. curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, has been clinically shown to reduce inflammation, and therefore ease symptoms of everything from arthritis to allergies. other studies tentatively show it may shrink cancers, reduce the plaque in the brain associated with alzheimer’s, and calm anxiety. in traditional ayurvedic medicine, it clears skin and regulates blood sugar, as well as reducing inflammation and “assisting the whole female system,” which sounds pretty good to me.

i wouldn’t be so inclined to believe them if i didn’t crave golden milk so much, particularly during the changing seasons. it turns my bad knee into my “not quite as good” knee.

(warning: turmeric permanently stains absolutely everything, including things you didn’t even know could stain, like your grater, your hands, your stove, and your sink. it’s completely worth it.)

+ set a saucepan on low.
+ add two cloves and a quarter to a half inch of cinnamon bark. toast for a few minutes.
+ add 1 cup milk (any milk or milk substitute! some people even use water – but add a drop of ghee, coconut oil, or almond oil to aid absorption. i recommend cow, goat, coconut, or almond milk.)
+ grate 1 inch raw turmeric and 1/4 inch raw ginger into the milk. if you can’t find them raw, feel free to use turmeric or ginger paste, juice, or even powdered.
+ make sure to stir regularly
+ add a saffron thread, if you have it
+ add a pinch of black pepper. this is the only ingredient, besides the turmeric and milk, that isn’t optional! pepper helps you absorb the turmeric.

you will notice a sharp change in flavor when it is done – between five and eight minutes, usually, is all it takes to release the active chemicals.

made with thick, unhomogenized local milk and finished with a spoonful of raw honey, it’s a rich dessert. taken just as is, it’s perfect medicine for the winter blahs, for seasonal allergies, for healing injuries, and as a general tonic to stay well.

probably one of my top ten most highly recommended recipes.

soda sữa hột gà (egg soda)

I remember, as a child, reading an old book where the kids drank egg creams. I begged my mom to let me try one. Finally, she let me have one in a dingy old diner. I was horrified by it. No egg? No cream? Not overly sweet? Misleading!

This year, I tried a soda sữa hột gà with my friend in a great Vietnamese restaurant in Chicago. That was what I wanted as a kid, all those years ago. We both loved it. I’ve craved it a few times since then (like now)

It’s light yet heavy, sweet but not overwhelming, and not nearly as strange as it sounds. Think of a lighter, unspiced eggnog.

1 T sweetened condensed milk
1 raw egg yolk
seltzer (as needed, 1-2 cups)
ice
two glasses

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adapted from wikibooks

blueberry oatmeal smoothie

1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup almond milk (or other milk)
1/2 cup berries (frozen are ok; i used a combination of blackberries and blueberries)
1 small banana, broken into 3 or 4 pieces
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
handful of fresh strawberries
honey, to taste (~ 1T) (optional)

soak oats in milk when you get up.

make smoothie 15 mins later.

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adapted from here

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i didn’t have oats (whoops, forgot about my oatmeal-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip cookie baking spree a few weeks ago) so i used a little oat flour. i added the strawberries to the original recipe, and it is totally awesome. a perfect breakfast for a spring morning!

strawberry-banana juice plus

handful of strawberries
banana
a splash of juice (whatever you have)
few spoonfuls of ice cream (i used vanilla; you can use strawberry, chocolate, or whatever you have around – wonderful with vegan ice cream or sherbet, too)
pinch of cardamom (optional)
pinch of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon (optional)

blend

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really delicious!

cold ginger-melon soup

puree 2 cantaloupes or muskmelons

stir in
a cup of fresh orange juice
a quarter-cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

add a tablespoon of ginger juice or puree
(you can squeeze minced ginger in a cheesecloth to juice it with your hands)

refrigerate for two hours.

garnish with kiwis, strawberries, or fresh mint.

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from the joy of cooking

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update 8/14

i pureed a mess of cantaloupe with ginger juice, half a ripe nectarine, half a lemon’s juice, and a handful of frozen mixed berries. i think the orange juice must really lend a sunniness to it, because it seemed to be missing something. i think next time, i will add fresh mint and be sure to not skip the oj. it’s more of a drink than a soup. i prefer the blueberry oatmeal smoothie, but this is a good way to use up all that melon from the garden!

arnold cranpalmer

lemonade
cranberry juice (sweetened with simple syrup if unsweetened)
cold herbal or black tea
ice cubes
bourbon or your favorite booze

a little sourer and better looking than your average arnold palmer. this is awesome!

invented for today’s brunch

the worker

5-6 fresh mint leaves, plus extra to garnish if you want

25ml/1fl oz bourbon

splash of cranberry juice or concentrate

splash of ginger ale

Place the bruised mint leaves into a glass and cover with ice. Pour over the bourbon and cranberry juice, then top up with the ginger ale.

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modified from “the boss”