Christmas Apple Cider Recipes

One of the things I love about Christmas is Apple Cider.  It's warm, its cinnamany, it's applely, and just plain delicious.  Now when it comes to cider I don't go all out with the recipe.  I just use a couple of ingredients and it makes a really good cider.  So here's how I make my apple cider and a few more fancy recipes if you want fancy cider for the holidays.

Lori's Easy Apple Cider

A big jar of apple juice

1 bag of red hots

Big stew pot.

Pour the apple juice into the pot, then add the red hots, cook on medium heat until the red hots are dissolved, stirring every few minutes so that they don't stick to the bottom of the pan an burn.

Once dissolved remove from heat and let cool a bit.  Enjoy.

I personally let it cool off just a tad, then I use a funnel to pour it back into the jar.  Put the metal cap back on and it reseals, so if you were thinking about making it as a gift you are giving them a sealed bottle of Apple Cider.  This only works with the glass bottled apple juice with the metal cap.

Made from Scratch Apple Cider

For a little extra spice in your apple cider

Spiked Apple Cider

1 apple cut into thin slices
1 orange cut into thin slices peel on
1 piece of ginger 1 1/2 long thinly sliced
Bottle of Apple Cider or about 7-8 cups
4 cinnamon sticks
2 1/2 cups of your favorite dark rum (get even more spicy with the spiced dark rum)

Pour contents (except the rum) into a large stock pot and bring to a boil on high, once it comes to a boil lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat add rum and stir then serve.  Garnish with cinnamon sticks or fruit slices.

Enjoy but please drink responsibly.