Tidbits of Christmas: Hot Spiced Cider

This is a favorite winter drink in my family. In fact, I currently have a mug of Spiced cider sitting next to me.

Hot Spiced Cider

You will need:

- A Crockpot/Slow Cooker

- 8-10 inches of Cheesecloth

- A ladle

Ingredients:

- Apple Cider (A gallon of store bought apple cider pretty well fills our mid to large sized Crockpot)

- 3 Cinnamon Sticks

- 2 tsp Whole Cloves

- 2 tsp Whole Allspice

Directions:

Lay out the cheesecloth on your counter. Measure out the Cloves and Allspice into the center of the cheesecloth. Break the sticks of cinnamon into smaller pieces. I generally break them into three pieces each and place them in the center of the cheesecloth. To tie the cheesecloth, I generally wrap the cheesecloth around the spices to create a long tube and tie the ends of the tube together. That generally forms a nice sized packet of spices that won't come undone.

Pour the cider into the Crockpot and place the packet of spices in. Cover and turn the Crockpot on high. Once the cider is heated all the way through you can turn the Crockpot down to low and ladle the cider into mugs to serve.

Optional:

For an adult twist you can splash a bit of brandy into your mug of hot spiced cider.