spiced apple cider with vodka and vanilla

We discovered this lovely treat from New Scandinavian Cooking with Tina Nordström. She also made a mustard glazed ham with browned cabbage, which I will probably be posting here soon, but for now, the cider.

We like to make our spiced cider with unfiltered apple juice, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and allspice. The amounts you use will depend on how much cider you are making, but for a medium sized saucepan, we usually use 2 cinnamon sticks, one whole nutmeg, crushed, and maybe five or six whole allspices.

Just put all the spices into the apple juice in the saucepan, and over medium heat, simmer it until the aroma coming off the saucepan smells nice and spicy.

She made the recipe with vanilla-infused vodka, but since we didn't have any of that on hand, we just used normal vodka, and just a splash of vanilla. In an 8oz mug, add about a quarter teaspoon of vanilla, and three tablespoons of vodka, fill the rest with cider. Stir it around, taste it and add more vodka or vanilla to your taste if you like.

This is a wonderful drink for a cold day. Enjoy!

quick and easy marinara sauce

A good marinara sauce is the basis of all kinds of different dishes, and it's such a simple and quick thing to whip up. We've been making one like this quite often lately, so I thought it would be nice to post it here for anyone who'd like to try it. It's so much nicer freshly made than out of a jar or can, and so easy and cheap.

Ingredients:

• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh basil
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Cook the garlic in the olive oil until it is just starting to brown.
2. Add tomatoes and mix garlic in.
3. Add sprigs of basil, whole, and submerge them in tomatoes.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Allow sauce to simmer for 20 minutes or so, until the basil is very soft.
6. Remove basil sprigs, and you're done!