Pretzels & peanut butter, blogging, the color pink, wine, a good book, baking, candles, fall, & women’s Bible studies are a few of my favorite things.
When any of those things are combined, I just get that warm fuzzy feeling all over.
In this post I am combining several of those things & that just totally rocks my world!
First – Blogging. I don’t have to tell you how much I love it because I do it all the time. The people who I’ve met are by far some of my favorite people on the planet. So you can totally understand how excited I was to meet one of my favorite bloggers, Madison, at the Renew Retreat last month. To top it all off we went wine tasting in Gatlinberg.
While we sipped our Famous Tennessee Muscadine wine another brilliant idea was born – a cooking with wine collaboration where we both share our favorite wineo recipes! Brilliant right?
So that brings me to Wine. The fall lover in me knew that my recent wine concoction was a must share for our new idea.
Last year some friends brought over two bottles of wine & some boxed spices to make mulled wine in the crockpot. It was fantastic….expcept for when I couldn’t find the box of spices this Fall. I scoured Pinterest & the Internet to find the perfect recipe – however I didn’t LOVE any of them. So, I made my own!
What you’ll need:
2 bottles red wine
2 cups fresh apple
cider
3 Fresh Oranges (2.5 freshly
squeezed & 1/2 to float on top)
1/3 cup packed brown
sugar
1/4 tsp pumpkin
pie spice
1/4 tsp
cinnamon
4 cinnamon
sticks
4 whole cloves
4 Star Anise
Most recipes called for dry red wine but I am a sweet kind of gal. Just choose your favorite red! I choose this Soft Red Wine from Oliver winery because it’s somewhat local & made in Bloomington, IN!
Pour your two bottles of wine into the crockpot.
Juice the three oranges & add to your wine.
Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, & pumpkin spice.
Next, you can choose to either add the cloves, star anise, & cinnamon sticks directly to the mixture or you can wrap them up in square of cheesecloth & then drop them into the wine. I personally just floated all the ingredients in the crockpot but you will want to make sure that when you go to serve the wine you keep an eye out for the tiny cloves. If you of choose to use the cheese cloth, make sure to stir it around occasionally to evenly disperse the spices & remove it before serving.
Slice the remaining half of the orange and allow it to float on top while the wine heats.
Cook on low for 4 hours to allow wine to heat up & spices mix.
Serve warm & be cozy!
If you’re in a pinch for time you can certainly kick it up to high but only for a short time You don’t want your wine to come to a boil because it will loose the alcohol. If you’re wanting a non alcohol version than that’s a great alternative.
This recipe serves 4-6 people so it’s ideal for a bonfire night or family get together!
This post was so fun to get together & work with Madison! You definitely don’t want to miss out on her Moscato Cupcakes so click on over to indulge in another fabulous wine recipe!
I hope your November is off to a great start & stay cozy this season!
Frankly my dear…love that warm cozy feeling!
Visit my sweet friend & sponsor, Anna!