Advent 20 - Mulled Wine, Mistletoe and Wine and Magi

December 20th

Photograph by Syd Spence - thank you Syd



Matthew 2:1-2

The Magi visit the Messiah

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’

Click on the arrow to hear the music and see the story of the Epiphany

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A traditional drink at Christmas is, of course Mulled Wine.  There are numerous versions, but this is the one I prefer:

Into a large saucepan pour two bottles of red wine, half a glass of brandy, 4 oz sugar, 3 sliced oranges and 2 sliced lemons.  Add 10 cloves and a cinnamon stick. For a little extra 'fire' add half-a-teaspoon of ground ginger.  Heat the mixture and then leave for a few minutes to let the spices infuse.  Serve very warm. You can add hot water to 'lighten' it a little - if you really want to.

Another delicious and interesting drink is one called Goodnight Grog.

For this you will need one-and-a-half pints of tea (strained if you are using leaf tea) and put it into a saucepan with half-a-pint of whisky (or dark rum is nice too) two tablespoons of sugar (or you can use honey; the clear, runny kind) then add a cinnamon stick and some mixed spice. Heat it all up, don't let it boil, then remove from the heat and leave to let the cinnamon infuse.   

Well, I couldn't let a page about wine, at Christmas, go without a rendition of Mistletoe and Wine. so, for your delight and delectation, here's Cliff:

For more drink recipes, fun facts and Christmas recipes, please click here

Advent 19 - Poetry, fabulous drinks with Bing Crosby and David Bowie

December 19th

Photograph by Rachael Mott - thanks Rachael

 Luke 2:17-20

When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

 

Click on the arrow to hear Bing and David sing Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth

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The Velveteen Viking (who knows a lot about drummer boys) and I run creative writing and poetry workshops and one of them resulted in a fabulous charity calendar being produced with local photographs (well, mostly) each accompanied by a poem written by someone in the workshop, that calendar is now available, from Amazon, as a perpetual diary

The photograph above (the one under the date, not Bing and David) heads the December page and here is the poem which accompanies it - written by Alison Mott:

“Season’s Greetings!” Mr Bungle beamed,

doffing his hat at the Christmas elf,

who stared disdainfully from the shelf,

offended at the cheek of it.

“Looks like snow,” Mr Bungle said,

turning to talk to the fairy instead,

who scowled and tossed her gold-curled head,

too cross to agree the truth of it.

“I love Christmas, don’t you?”

he asked of a robin clipped

to the tree, who

rather wisely

never said a word. 

There will be more poems later in the week and just to keep you going and warm the cockles, you might like to try this little recipe called A Heartwarmer:

This powerful punch serves about 12 people, depending on how big your glasses are:

You will need:

200 ml (about 7-8 fluid ounces) red grape juice

8 oz (225 gm) sugar

2 bottles of white wine (I like it to be quite dry)

1 bottle of red wine
350 ml (12 fluid ounces) dark rum

Put the grape juice and sugar into a large saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Add the rum.  Warm to wine in a separate saucepan (don't boil).

Mix the two together and serve hot.

Fantastic on a cold night.


More recipes and fun facts in the Advent Recipe Book, also available from Amazon, just click here to see them