Celebrating my German Heritage: Glühwein

Deemed a popular beverage around the world , Glühwein (German), grzane wino (Polish) , vin brulé (Italian), vin chaud (French), Glögg (Swedish), Mulled Wine (English), is an excellent cure for pre-holiday fever. Typically it's consumed around Christmas time, but then again...it's October...and it's cold outside, so those seem like good enough reasons to whip up a batch.

Ingredients:

1 large orange
3 cinnamon sticks

13 whole cloves

1/4 cup honey

1 bottle red wine (red table wine or a bottle of merlot)

Directions:

1. Gently zest the orange . When finished zesting, slice the orange.
2. In a large (non-aluminum) pot, combine the orange zest, orange slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves, honey and wine.
3. Without boiling the mixture, simmer on low heat for about 25 minutes or until hot. Taste and add more honey if necessary.
4. Strain and serve.