Recipe: Mandarin mulled cider gets sweetness from fresh citrus
Apples and oranges (mandarins, that is) combine in a sweet, spicy and warm drink for cold days. Debbie Arrington
It’s apple cider season – which coincides with mandarin season. Put the two together and you get a mulled cider that smells as good as it tastes. While it’s warming, this fragrant mixture fills the kitchen with wonderful fall scents; it’s better than potpourri.
Made from fresh pressed apples, apple cider tends to be a seasonal drink. Cider is minimally processed and without added sugar; that’s why cider tends to be tarter than apple juice. (Unless it’s fermented “hard” cider, there’s no alcohol.)
Mandarins add natural sweetness to cider as well as citrus zing. Lemon slices give this mulled cider a little more zest, too.
Cinnamon and cloves are a must for mulled cider. Using whole spices instead of ground keeps the cider from becoming grainy. Green cardamom pods give it more subtle sweetness. (Don’t use black cardamom; its flavor is too intense.) Nutmeg is another favorite addition as much for its scent as flavor.
Mandarin mulled cider
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 quart (4 cups) apple cider
2 mandarins, thinly sliced and seeded
½ lemon, thinly sliced and seeded
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves
2 green cardamom seed pods (optional)
½ whole nutmeg, broken into pieces (optional)
Instructions:
In a large non-reactive saucepan, combine all ingredients. Over low heat, gently warm the cider, citrus slices and spices together. Bring it to a very low simmer, but do not boil. Heat for at least 10 minutes before serving.
Serve warm, straining out spice pieces. Garnish with a slice of mandarin and a cinnamon stick.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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