Christmas Favorites - Mulling Spice

Some how crazy amounts of time have passed and it is December 17th.  A week from now it will be Christmas Eve.  A week from now I will be begging an overexcited three year old to go to sleep so that I can do last minute wrapping and probably decorate a birthday cake, because that three year will be turning four the next day.  So, it is double excitement for this boy who knows that "December 25" is his birthday AND that Christmas comes on HIS birthday.  Because you know, being a "the world revolves around me and me alone" three year old, his birthday must have come first!

In an effort to slow down and enjoy the season, I am going to take some time this week to share some of my holiday favorites with you!

Mulled apple cider is something that I've had around the holidays for as long as I can remember.  Mom would dump a jar of home pressed apple cider, that we made the previous summer from the apples from my Papa's orchard into the slow cooker.  She's throw in a couple of cinnamon sticks and and is she had them, a handful of cloves.  It was simple and it was good.  

Then I grew up and on a trip to Niagara on the Lake, years ago when we lived in Hamilton and could go visit the wineries whenever we wanted, we bought a bottle of mulling wine with a package of spices.  And it was so good!  I have been hooked on Mulling Spices ever since.  About two years ago, we discovered that Mulled Cranberry juice with Ameretto or Rum was a perfect Christmas drink. 

Normally, I buy an already made mulling spice mix but this year, I decided to make my own.  And I don't know if it was the freshness of the mixture or what but I think it is the best I've ever had. 

And it was fun to make ... I mean really, who doesn't have fun smashing things with a hammer??  Oh, and also cheap (enough of all ingredients to make a double batch was $10 at the Bulk Barn) and easy!

 First you take the hammer to a bag of cinnamon sticks.

 Don't put that hammer away yet, next you get to smash up some nutmeg.  I always wanted to buy whole nutmeg, just because it is cool, but never had a reason until now!

 Cinnamon Sticks and Nutmeg ... starting to smell really good!

The Allspice is a little trickier because it is small, the hammer didn't work so well.  So, for this I used my marble rolling pin and just rolled it back and forth over top of the buds.

 Cloves and dried orange peel are kind of boring, there is absolutely no smashing or crushing involved, they just get dumped in as is.

 Throw it all in a bowl together, mix it up and you are done!

Put it in a little jar and it makes a good gift, but once you try it, you aren't going to want to give it away because it is SO GOOD!

Mulling Spice

6 cinnamon sticks

1 whole nutmeg

1/2 cup whole cloves

1/2 cup whole allspice

1/4 dried orange peel

Add two tablespoons of spice mixture to four cups of beverage (apple juice or cider, cranberry juice or red wine).

Put in slow cooker and simmer for a couple of hours.  Serve hot.  (Can also be done in a pot on the stove for about half an hour if you are in a hurry.)  Longer = more flavour.

For red wine, add 1/2 white sugar or else it will be very bitter.

For the grown ups, add a shot of ameretto or run to your apple or cranberry juice when serving.  

From Pumpkin Patch to Pumpkin Pie

Our journey from Pumpkin Patch to Pumpkin Pie started a couple of weeks ago.  On a sunny Saturday morning, we went to Miller's Farm in Manotick in search of pumpkins.

We took the wagon to the pumpkin patch to look for the perfect pumpkin.

Although there were lots of great pumpkins in the field, all of the REALLY big ones were already at the store area and we wanted a REALLY big pumpkin!  We came home with a 40 pound pumpkin.

Then it was time to get that pumpkin cleaned out and turned into a Jack-O-Lantern for Halloween.  Once all the guts were removed, it was carved into a scary face, as per Liam's instructions.

As is the case with all good Jack-O-Lanterns, when Halloween is over, so is their life.

 The 40 pound pumpkin turned Jack-O-Lantern was destine to be cut into pieces ...

 ... put in a 350 degree oven ...

... and baked for an hour.

 As if that wasn't enough torture for  poor Jack, he was then peel and chopped into smaller pieces ...

 ... tossed in the food processor ...

... and made in to puree.

And that my friends, is what we used to make a lovely pumpkin pie for dessert!
(And A LOT left over to go in the freezer for future pumpkin goodies!)

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 375 F for 50 minutes.

For a large deep dish pie, double recipe.

Homemade Iced Tea

I've been making homemade iced tea for years and although it has always (well almost always) been good, it has taken me until this month to come up with the perfect blend of ingredients and method for ME!

After commenting on twitter that after years of trying, I had finally perfected my iced tea making abilities, I was flooded with requests for the recipe, OK, maybe not flooded, but there were some comments and requests.  (The two of you who really did ask for the recipe, I hope you feel special, getting a whole blog post!)  So, here it is!

Nicki's Perfect After Years Of Trying Homemade Iced Tea

*Note* This is an easy recipe, but not a quick process, it take a couple of hours to make the tea and several hours to chill!  

Boil 8 cups of water.

Add 12 orange pekoe tea bags.

Let sit for 1-2 hours.

Remove tea bags.

Add 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup lemon juice.

Stir well until sugar dissolves.

Add 6 cups of cold water.

Chill and serve.

*If you are looking to be all fancy, you can garnish it with fresh fruit.  Strawberries, lemons, oranges, raspberries or blueberries all work well.

**If you are wanting to be REALLY fancy, serve it in a punch bowl with fresh fruit.

***If you are looking for a little kick, try adding a shot (or two!) of Peach Snapps to you glass.

Now, just because this is MY perfect iced tea, doesn't mean that it is perfect for you.  Experiment with the number of tea bags to make stronger or weaker tea.  Play with the sugar and lemon juice to get the perfect blend for your taste buds.  You can even replace some or all of the tea bags with your favourite herbal tea for a completely different iced tea experience!

Whatever you do, think of me on the next hot, humid summer day as you fill your kitchen with steam in search of your own perfect glass of iced tea.

When Did Cooking Become Such a Chore?

I used to love to cook.  When I was in college, my friends and roommates were often surprised at my cooking skills, and baking too.

Now, I just about dread having to cook dinner each night.  My cooking has become routine and boring.  I am always stressing to figure out what to cook that we will enjoy and that Liam will actually eat.  And it is always a challenge to prepare and cook a meal before Liam dissolves into a miserable, starving child who is so upset that he can't remember that he is hungry and therefore throws his food on the floor without eating a bite.

Gone are the days when I could spend hours in the kitchen cooking a new recipe and making dessert.  I don't have the time to look for new recipes.  I don't have the energy to try new things that may not turn out.  And even if I do happen to stumble across a recipe that I would like to try, I am usually missing ingredients.  By the time I get the ingredients, I've lost the recipe or I use them for something else.  Then I am back to a recipe with no ingredients.

I used to have a very good relationship with my slow cooker, seen above with the remains of tonight's Italian Herb Chicken, but lately that relationship has been strained.  You see, when I fell in love with my slow cooker, I worked a late shift and I could throw a meal in the pot before work in the morning and turn it on.  When we got home at 6:30 pm, we had dinner.  Now that I work an early shift, there is no way that I have time (without getting up before 5 am) to get a meal into the slow cooker.  So, unless I am organized enough to get it all put together the night before, the slow cooker sits sad and lonely, collecting dust on the shelf.

I love having things, like lasagna, prepared and in the freezer, to just throw in the oven, but that also requires me to be prepared ahead of time.  Again, that just doesn't happen as often as it should.  I was good on Sunday, along with making Sunday night's dinner, I made a big pot of chili that we had for dinner Monday night and froze enough for another meal.  I also froze two lasagnas and a container of spaghetti sauce.  If I could be that productive every weekend, cooking would be a breeze.

I really need to find a way to get myself out of this cooking rut.  But I really don't know where to start.  I've tried menu planning, and that takes away the stress of trying to figure out what to cook, but it hasn't put the enjoyment back into cooking.  Hopefully, soon, something will change and I'll find my interest in cooking again.  I bet it's hidden away somewhere with my memory, energy and motivation.