03 December 2007

Glögg

Yesterday we lit the first advent candle. Unbelievable how fast time flies. Only three weeks left before Christmas is here and not a present is bought. The letterbox is filled with leaflets and junk mail everyday. All of them with the same message – buy, buy, buy! But I refuse to be stressed. . I decided years ago to try not to be like my mom who stood in the kitchen on Christmas eve totally stressed out and crying. We always celebrate Christmas at my house and along with the invitation is a list of what food to bring. My daughters makes small gifts for everyone because I think it’s important not only to receive but also to give but we grownups don’t give each other any presents. And my birthday is on the 26:th so I get presents anyway. Ha, ha! So on the whole it’s a stress free Christmas for everyone involved.



I try to make a new Advent candle holder each Christmas and this is was this year’s look like.


On Advent sunday we always put the outdoor lighting up. And every year it`s the same. We put all the stuff up before we acually check out if the lights work. And of course it never does. Work I mean! This year we decided to do just the opposite. With a help from a friend.




Another tradition on Advent Sunday is to drink Glögg. Glögg is similar to the Old English mulled wine or German Glühwein; each is just slight variations on a heart-warming winter drink.

Do you want the recipe? Here is two just for the fun of it:

GLÖGG 1

Boil together in 1 pint of water: 15 whole cardamom seeds (peeled) 7 tsp. cloves 4 sticks of cinnamon the peel from 2 oranges (take out white)

HOW TO DO IT: ~ Boil for 20 minutes, cool and strain. Add 2 quarts of Claret wine (or a good Burgundy) and one quart of vodka. Add 2 cups sugar (or to your taste). When heating for serving, add a few raisins and an almond to the (each) cup.

GLÖGG 2

1 bottle of red wine (cheap) 1/4 - 1/2 cup (0,5 - 1 dl) vodka (not spicy) 5 - 20 pcs. of cloves (whole cloves) 1 large teaspoon of cardamom seeds 2 - 4 pcs. (sticks) of cinnamon 1 - 2 pcs. of ginger Peels from half a lemon 1/2 - 1 cup of sugar 1 large teaspoon of vanilla sugar

HOW TO DO IT: Crush cinnamon and cardamom. Peel lemon. Put all spices + peels in a glass jar with the vodka. Cover. Leave over night. Strain the vodka, toss the spices. Mix the now spicy vodka with wine and sugars. Heat all ingredients in a large kettle until steaming hot. Do not boil! Stir and taste. If not sweet enough, add sugar. If too sweet, add vodka and wine. Serve with peeled almonds and raisins.


( photo: dl.nu)

A word of caution though. Go easy on the drinking. A Glögg induced hangover is no laughing matter. Once, in my irresponsible (and wild) youth I overdid the Glögg drinking a bit and it took years before I could even smell the stuff. But now I`m back to enjoying a glass or two.


Speaking of poison are you wondering what happened to the rat at our country house? Well he is gone to meet his maker but unfortunately a lot of friends showed up for the funeral so we are back to square one…..So if you have any suggestions of how to get rid of them that doesn’t contain snakes ( sorry Angela) or other dangerous animals please let me know

12 comments:

Linda said...

I lived in Germany for 2 years and absolutely loved Gluhwein. Yummy. thanks for the recipe.

Eva Agnes said...

Glögg ja. Jag har skaffat två flaskor glögg som heter Lucia och är baserad på choklad. Vet ej när jag ska ta dem. Kanske på julafton...
Kikade neråt i din blog och upptäckte de underbara nallarna du gjort. Gud, så mysiga de är där de sitter på Myllas soffa.
Hoppas de blev adopterade allihop.
Kramar Eva Agnes

Leisa said...

Hi Janette, Thank you for stopping by and making a comment. I have just visited your blog and had a lovely read back through some of it. Saved in my favourites now. Leisa

ShabbyInTheCity said...

Yum yum!!! Nice and warm :)
Thank you for your recent visit!!

Val said...

Hi Jeanette - I enjoyed your Blog, and the recipes sound great! Have a lovely resful peaceful Christmas! Val

gunnelsvensson said...

Det är tur att vi har advent efter mörka gråa trista november - eller det är väl tom med mörkare nu, men vi har ljus och stjärnor och glögg!

Emma said...

Tack! gjort den sj.

Kerstinsdottern said...

Ja.... apelsinen ska hänga några cm ovanför spriten! Jag vet att det låter knäppt, men så är det!
Testa, den blir verkligen god och något enklare recept får man leta efter!

Val said...

Hi Jeanette - The Drinks sound really great but a bit stronger than Mulled Wine I reckon! Love the pic. Can smell the alcohol from here! Happy Christmas to you and your family. Val

Jane LaFazio said...

I never knew vodka was in glog! I wonder if I've only had it with wine, which I love...hmmm.
lovely lovely advent candles!!!
merrry christmas!

Anonymous said...

Gillade vrerkligen dina adventsljustakar... skulle passa mej perfekt, får komma ihåg det till nästa år

Anna Stilla said...

Tittar in för att önska dig en god jul.

Min sambo har också gjort sin egen blogg. På svagdrickan men den har blivit hiskligt stark. Jag dricker min egen glögg gjord på vitvin och kryddor. Betydligt bättre tycker jag.