December is a month full of traditions for us.  And with such a rich, diverse European heritage as ours, we have a lot of traditions from which to choose!  Glühwein is a German mulled red wine.  We first had it at Chicago’s Christkindlmarket, an outdoor German American holiday market which runs from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve.  We would go there to start off our Christmas season, buy a few presents for each other, family & friends and eat wonderful stollen and stuffed pretzels and drink glühwein.  The hot glühwein and delicious food always made the cold weather worth it.  And if we found a few items to cross off our shopping lists, so much the better.  My version is adapted from justhungry.com.  What makes it different from many glühwein recipes out there is the lemon in place of orange and the cardamon.

Eric, Kelly, Andrew & I at the Christkindlmarket in Chicago in 2008

Glühwein

• 750ml bottle of inexpensive red wine
• 1/2 cup of agave nectar
• juice and grated peel of one lemon
• 2 teaspoons cardamon
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cinnamon sticks

Wine, a little sweetener, lemon & spices simmered together make this so good!

Put everything into a heavy bottomed pan.  Stir to combine the agave nectar with the wine and spices.  (You can substitute 2/3 cup of white sugar for the agave nectar.) Heat over very low heat for an hour.  Be sure to keep it from boiling, it should just simmer.  Strain into small mugs and serve.  Any leftover wine can be refrigerated and reheated in a microwave to serve.  About 6 small servings.

Enjoy!  ~Linda

Glühwein

• 750ml bottle of inexpensive red wine
• 1/2 cup of agave nectar
• juice and grated peel of one lemon
• 2 teaspoons cardamon
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cinnamon sticks

Put everything into a heavy bottomed pan.  Stir to combine the agave nectar with the wine and spices.  (You can substitute 2/3 cup of white sugar for the agave nectar.) Heat over very low heat for an hour.  Be sure to keep it from boiling, it should just simmer.  Strain into small mugs and serve.  Any leftover wine can be refrigerated and reheated in a microwave to serve.  About 6 small servings.