Spiced Apple Cider

The first thing that Mandy & I made together last weekend was apple cider. This isn't just any apple cider-this is the best apple cider that I have ever had. I'm not lying when I say this. I've never really been a fan of apple cider. The cinnamon to apple ratio has always made me cringe. Cringe I did when I saw the ingredients to make it on Mandy's grocery list. I saw that this recipe called for cloves & immediately rambled out a story about how my mom used to make ham with cloves. I never cared for cloves & I think they smell odd. But, because all of the things we were making that weekend were things we had never made before, I thought I better give this apple cider a shot. Speaking of shots, this cider is non-alcoholic.

Look at those orange peels! I did that. :) 

Mandy had to show me how to peel just the orange part of the peel with a peeler. I got the hang of it pretty quick. She also demonstrated how to use a mortar & pestle while crushing up the cardamom pods. Those things are nuts! I had no idea how they worked. I thought they were strictly for people who wanted to pretend they were pharmacists. Mandy got all her recipes from Epicurious.com in case you guys wanted to check out that website. It's pretty neat & easy to navigate. 

Ingredients:
1 large orange
4 quarts apple cider
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
15 whole cloves
10 whole allspice
8 whole green cardamom pods, crushed
5 cinnamon sticks, each broken in half

Directions:
Using vegetable peeler, remove peel (orange part only) from orange in strips. Place orange peel in heavy large pot (reserve orange for another use). Add apple cider, golden brown sugar, fresh lemon juice, cloves, allspice, cardamom pods, and cinnamon sticks to pot. Bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until cider mixture is reduced to generous 8 cups, about 40 minutes.  Strain cider into medium pot. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated). Rewarm cider. Ladle into mugs.

The best part about making this cider was watching the stream roll off the top of the pot & the smell of spices & oranges filling the kitchen. We kept sticking our noses over the top of the cider & breathing in super deep. (Mandy wants to me to put in a disclaimer that you could get a steam burn from doing this. She doesn't want me to get sued because people weren't smart enough not to burn themselves!)  It was so hard to wait the 40 minutes until it was ready because we wanted to drink the cider as soon as we started making it. The cider was absolutely delicious! I was craving some my entire trip back to Iowa.

Enjoy guys!