Welcome to my Christmas kitchen!

Come on in!

It's a delight to have you here!  Although I won't be serving up pancakes like this vintage Vermont Maid ad (and I wouldn't be serving fake syrup if I were), I hope that you can almost smell spiced cider simmering on the stove and the fragrance of fresh-baked Christmas cookies!

What I will be serving up every day in December is a daily helping of Christmas joy in one form or another.  It could be a poem, a recipe, a decoration or ornament to craft, a handmade gift idea ... maybe even a few thoughts on Christmas-related Scriptures.

Today, I'm just going to share how I make hot spiced cider.

MRS. T'S HOT SPICED CIDER

 1 gallon fresh cider
1 teaspoon whole cloves plus several more cloves
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon broken cinnamon sticks in small pieces
Coffee filter and string for making spice bag
1 orange

Transfer the cider to a large kettle and place it on your stovetop over medium heat.

Place the 3 teaspoons of spices in the center of a coffee filter.  Gather it up to form a little bag and tie it securely closed with string.  Add the spice bag to the cider.

Wash the orange, then cut it into quarters and stick 2 or 3 whole cloves into each quarter.  Add the clove-studded orange quarters to the kettle of cider.

Heat until the cider comes to a simmer, then reduce heat to low (or transfer to a crock pot and set on Low) until you are ready to serve it.

And I recently found that this can be made in a large electric coffee percolator as well.  Just put the cider into the percolator and place the spice bag and the orange quarters in the basket where the coffee would normally go, then plug in the percolator.

So easy!  And so delicious.  Why not pour yourself a mug right now?