Christmas tips pt 6

I don't know what it is like where you are but this morning when I woke up it was freeeeezing cold and a pair of track suit bottoms that I hand washed yesterday were frozen solid on the washing line. I could literally hold them upright in my hand. Sadly looks like no snow for a white Christmas here at our Gite in Creuse, Limousin. Central France but you might be lucky or unlucky depending on how badly it snows. We did have snow for 5 days last week but that has now all gone. Thankfully it was not as bad as when we first moved into our house. On our self catering Gite Blog you can read all about what happened to us a few winters ago.

The frost has lifted now and there is not a cloud in the sky and it is a typical sunny winters day where the temperature does not get up to high despite being bright and sunny. I call it "watery sunshine" and I know that tonight there will be a gorgeous bright orange sunset followed by the early evening stars dotting the fading light. Later on the skies will be full of stars and it will be a very cold night. As it is Christmas Eve and the likely hood of being a cold night I think I will make a batch of Mulled Wine.

Mulled wine is easy to make and warms the 'cockles of your heart. It also uses up all the bottles of red/white wine that you might have left over from parties or from people who have come to dinner and brought along a bottle for the meal and somehow you never got round to drinking it. Wine that would rip the back of your throat out or strip paint if drunk on it's own can be very palatable served warm with the addition of a few simple ingredients.

Once again there is no recipe for this Mulled Wine as it is meant to be a way of using up anything that comes to hand. By all means follow a recipe but after making so many of these mixes I don't bother.

Cut two lemons and oranges in half and squeeze out the juices. You can put it in the mix or keep for all those little cooking jobs that require lemon/orange juice. Stud the orange & lemon halves with cloves if you have got them. Using a suitable sized pan (to hold the gallons of unused wine ) put honey, orange/lemon juice, brown/white sugar and the wine into the pan. Add the studded lemon & orange halves into the mix and stir. Grate nutmeg and add a Cinnamon stick or if you do not have a stick use powdered Cinnamon. That's the basics of the mix but you can add what you like to give the wine a bit of a kick. Cheap cooking brandy or at a push a whiskey will certainly give the mix a lift and get your guests in the festive spirits quite literally.

Put the pan on a medium low light and do not boil. Let the mix simmer gently for at least 60-90 minutes to allow it to reduce by a third to give it plenty of body. When ready pass through a fine sieve and put into a smaller pan to keep warm and reduce further. It is perfect for greeting your guests and warming them up when they step in from the cold. Serving the mulled wine with roasted chestnuts was a very traditional thing to do in a bygone era where they went to church on Christmas Eve for a late service and gathered at a Friends house to see in the Christmas.

Roasted chestnuts is another simple and easy thing to prepare. Your local shop or supermarket will have them. In our case we are very lucky and can gather them from our own small Chestnut tree and trees nearby. We also have a huge Walnut tree at our gite that provides us with plenty of walnuts for Chritmas. About a 3/4 weeks ago I went and gathered a huge box full of Chestnuts and will be serving them whole roasted with my Mulled Wine and any left over will be peeled for my home made sage & onion stuffing and or served with our sprouts. To prepare for roasting cut a cross in the top and bottom of the chestnuts and pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes on a medium heat (keep an eye on them) and when ready serve warm with your Mulled Wine.