Mulled Wine at Your Winter Wedding

Posted by Chris on September 13, 2008

We love the idea from Canadian Bridal to serve mulled wine at a winter wedding.  It only makes sense.  This is perfect for us because our mulled wine mix is so easy to make fast in large quantities.  That kind of feels like a shameless plug, but it’s a true one.

“Your winter wedding menu can be hearty and warming, just like your wedding décor. Serve spiced wine…[and maybe other stuff, too]”

Red Wine Granita

Posted by Chris on September 12, 2008

This freakin’ rules…

Fruity frozen alcoholic sorbet. Delicious. Red Wine Granita

Makes 4 Servings

2/3 cup granulated sugar
zest of 1 orange
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1 lemon or lime
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1/2 cup water
1 bottle red wine (750 ml)

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Over low heat, stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat and maintain a gentle simmer for 3 minutes. Strain the liquid and return to the saucepan. Cover the saucepan and let cool to room temperature.

Freeze the red wine mixture in the saucepan for at least 6 hours. For smaller ice crystals and a finer texture, mix the granita with a fork every 2-3 hours. The alcohol in the wine will keep your granita from freezing into a solid block of ice.

Scrape the surface of the granita with a fork and serve in chilled glassware.

Mulled Wine Prevents Hangovers

Posted by Chris on September 7, 2008

More research is needed to confirm the headline but I think it can be done. Anyone want to chime in?

Kate of “What Katy Did…” tells of her, um, research into how mulled wine might prevent or, at least, not cause hangovers. I have done research that ended with quite the opposite result but I am still exceptionally interested in what she has to say about the subject. Ok, maybe her discover should be classified as something more like accidental than researched.

Either way, it’s a good account…

I had a very weird experience on Sunday morning: I awoke without a hangover… Having supped the previous night on a concoction of champagne, white wine, red wine, mulled wine and some suspicious clear liquid that appeared in a cup by my chair sometime shortly after 2am I was prepared for the worst.

read on.

Mulled Wine Poem

Posted by Chris on September 2, 2008

I thought this was cool. So, it’s not really a poem about mulled wine but it does mention mulled wine.

Anyway, thanks, Tom, for your poem with mulled wine. We like it.

A Sudden Urge to Dance

You eyes look across, past the comfortable circle
of laughing friends, all happily talking at once,
their plates half empty, their wine glasses half full,
their talk full of art and music and hope and habit.

You look past the table, past the warm oak paneling
through the broad glass windows
and into the garden
to the man waltzing in the rain.

What madness makes a man dance so
when the winds of November
whip cold drops of near snow
like icy daggers?

What inner fire warms his eyes,
defies the coming winter
and even in the late autumn mist
shouts joy and passion?
And you wonder,

why is it, that here in the warmth of the teahouse,
safe in the womb of your dinner conversations
and warm mulled wine
you have an urge to step into the falling darkness
and dance in the flowerless garden?

Tom is a creative guy who shares what pours from his head on his blog. Take a look.

Mulled Wine is Awesome…along with some other stuff

Posted by Chris on August 29, 2008

dude, we totally know this feeling.  Some people just do not believe that warm wine is awesome!  I mean, ugh!

The A in AJ went for a hike with friends and broke out the mulled wine to some disbelievers afterwards.  It seems they were converted.

Nice job A.  I’m not Canadian, “A” is a name…  nevermind.

Other things that are awesome, according to A’s post:

• the decision to rent a car instead of take the bus
• Kate, the overweight woman’s-studies roommate
• A’s hiking boots
• TradeMe.co.nz, the NZ version of ebay
• the manager of a hostel in Christchurch who was offered a job
• The idea that…”we’re very different, but both so willing to listen, that it’s more of an expanding experience and deep conversation that the arguments that I’m used to having.”

And I really appreciate this quote:  “We cannot think our way into new action, we must act our way into new thinking.”

Oh, and mulled wine is awesome.

Thanks, A

Mulled Wine - 3 Bottles and A Bunch of Sugar

Posted by Chris on August 28, 2008

Lady Knight, a “modern day woman”, posted this mulled wine recipe in July. I like it because it is a recipe for enough mulled wine to easily serve 10 to 15 people but the ingredients seem a little disproportionate.

3 cloves in 3 bottles of wine? Why bother? I like the idea of the juniper berries. 900g caster sugar? Holy…!

Anyway, try it:

Serves: 6-8 (10-15 light drinkers)

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 15 min

Ingredients

2 oranges
2 Lemons
3 x 750ml bottles Red wine
2 vanilla pods, split
1 cinnamon stick
1 litre water
900g caster sugar
3 Cloves
4 Juniper berries
1 bay leaf

Method

1. Peel the rind from the oranges and lemons and squeeze the juice from the fruit.

2. Combine the rind and juice in a large pot and add the remaining ingredients. Gently bring the mixture to the boil, then leave for 10 minutes to infuse. Serve warm.

Kayaking and Mulled Wine

Posted by Chris on August 14, 2008

This one is near and dear to me since I am a kayaker.  It gets a big cool gluhwein (mulled wine) moment gold star.

This group of five kayakers went paddling in Trial Bay on the SE coast of Tasmania, Australia.  I want an invitation next time they go.

They were pretty laid back about the trip (my favorite way to paddle) and drank mulled wine in the evenings - another one of my favorite things.

Ok guys, next time you go, invite ME!  I will bring all the mulled wine you want!

Ye Olde Standby Glogg

Posted by Chris on August 7, 2008

Yum.  Glogg.  I am sure the guys at Drink of the Week know there is nothing special about this glogg recipe but it’s good stuff no mater. In fact, it’s a great simple recipe - kind of a classic.

Glogg

1 1/2 cups Brandy
1/2 bottle Red Wine
4 Hole Cloves (me thinks they means “whole cloves”)
2 Cardamom Pods - crushed
1 Cinnamon Stick
1/2 cup Raisins
1/2 cup Blanched Almonds
3/4 cup Sugar
2 tsp. Brown Sugar

Combine everything in a saucepan. Warm over medium heat, stir often to dissolve the sugar.
Once heated thoroughly reduce heat to low. Serve Warm.

Enjoy.

Mmmm, Cranberry Stuffed Apples Baked in Mulled Wine

Posted by Chris on August 2, 2008

mmmmmmm gooey pples, cranberries, and mulled wine….

This recipe for cranberry stuffed apples baked in mulled wine looks friggin’ great and it’s an old German recipe so it fits right in with our main subject matter.  I found it on recipezaar.

Mmmmmmm gluhwein…hot spiced wine……

Ingredients

• 4 large golden delicious apples, peeled and cored to within 1/4 inch of the bottom
• 4 tablespoons whole cranberry sauce
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick (broken into several pieces)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 4 tablespoons sugar

Optional topping

• 1 cup heavy cream, stiffly whipped with (optional)
• 1 tablespoon sugar, and (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 3-qt casserole and set aside.
2. Fill the center of each apple with cranberry sauce, mounding it ever so slightly on top.
3. Stand the apples in the prepared casserole, arranging them so they don’t touch the casserole sides or one another.
4. Pour the red wine evenly over the apples, then drop the cloves, the pieces of cinnamon and butter into the casserole, distributing them evenly.
5. Finally, sprinkle 1 T sugar over each apple.
6. Bake the apples, uncovered, for 50-60 minutes, till tender, basting with the casserole liquid ever 10 minutes.
7. serve hot or warm, spooning a bit of the liquid over the top of each apple and adding, if desired, a dollop of the whipped topping.

mmmm, whipped topping.  :) 

Serve with gluhwein, of course.

Non-Alcholic Gluhwein

Posted by Chris on July 28, 2008

I have seen this non-alcoholic gluhwein recipe on other blogs and sites but it does not make sense for me to leave it off of the Gluhwein.Net blog.  I will, however, put a spin on this recipe that will make it taste better.  The weird thing about the recipe is that it is not really a recipe.  I mean, the original version and my new version are only about using a mix and some juice. 

Ooops, I gave it away.  Here it is then - the revised version, anyway.

Ingredients:

* 2 Tbs gluhwein syrup mix to taste better
* 150 ml apple juice or grape juice

Directions:

Duh. Combine ingredients in glass bowl. Heat in microwave for approximately 30 seconds.
Make sure liquid does not boil.
Serve in ceramic mug.

I am not sure why boiling matters or doesn’t matter here. Can anyone tell me? With wine, you don’t want it to boil because you may lose some alcohol. With juice I, well, I just don’t know.