Mulled Wine

What are 20-something girls made of?

My friend Kate has somehow become famous in her circle for being The Girl Who Makes Mulled Wine At Parties. I think it's because she made it once, and that was that -- it truly is that good. She made it for my birthday party two years ago, and it was so delicious that eventually we ditched our cups and proceeded to huddle around the stove and sip it straight from the ladle. Come to think of it, maybe it was because we'd already had a handful of glasses... but I digress. It was incredible.

Sugar and spice and everything nice...

So I tried my hand at it this weekend. I just simmered some ingredients on the stove, and left them alone for a while, and voilà! Perfect snow-sipper!

...and wine.

If there's anything more lovely than curling up during a snow day with a knitted blanket and a cup of warm mulled wine, I haven't found it. Well, Adam being here to curl up with me would have been more lovely...


Lemon-Orange Mulled Wine
via WineIntro.com, adapted moderately

½ cup water
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar (packed)
1 orange
2 lemons
3 sticks cinnamon
12 whole cloves
1 whole nutmeg, or whatever stub you're currently grating for recipes (mine was about a quarter of a whole one)
2 bottles red wine

Step 1: Combine water, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in a medium-to-large saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes without boiling.

Step 2: Add wine.

Step 3: Peel the orange and lemons and add in the peels (I had a really hard time peeling the lemons, so instead I just sliced off the peel with a knife).

Step 4: Let sit for a while (not an exact science) on low heat, simmering without boiling (this allows the flavors to all steep together). Strain out the larger bits, and serve warm in mugs.