KatieLoeb

Mulled cider with rum or brandy. As I discovered recently thanks to Jaymes, this is also good with Tuaca or Licor 43 (Hot Apple Pie). Mulled wine with some brandy, sugar, orange zest and spices in it. I like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and star anise. Spanish coffee - Strong hot coffee with Torres Orange liqueur and dark Godiva chocolate liqueur in it. Hot cocoa with Starbucks coffee liqueur in it. The very best mocha drink ever.

This Bourbon glass looks suspiciously like the Riedel Gourmet Glass that I've always liked for all purpose use.

I'll have to try the Tuaca if I have any lying around the house, but I generally do the same thing that you do except with the rum- it's a match made in heaven. My spices are green cardomom pods, cinnamon and cloves. If I'm doing wine then I add some citrus but I keep it simple with the cider. The ciders that I buy are also better with the tiniest amount of salt added to give it a bit of focus. ← Cardamom! That's one that I skipped in the list of good mulling spices! When I mull cider I'll generally get a long strip of orange zest and poke the cloves into it. No fresh fruit in cider (some folks do like it though), but definitely some zest. How about a Hot Buttered Apple Pie, with spiced rum, tuaca and a pat of butter on the mulled cider? Yummmm....I might have to go get all the ingredients for this and test it out this weekend when it turns cold again.

I gave a set of two Riedel scotch glasses and a nice bottle of Eagle Rare bourbon to a friend on his 40th birthday. He still tells me it's one of his favorite gifts ever. I like the idea of using the "O" glasses for spirits. They make the wine get warm in your hand so like JAZ, I don't really like them for wine either, but this sounds like a very good use for them.

James: You won't screw it up. I have every faith in your adventurous spirit and well honed kitchen skills. Stick with Rhone but try something white maybe next time. A Cotes du Rhone Blanc or a Chateauneuf-de-Pape Blanc would be lovely, not overwhelm the delicate flavor of the sweetbreads, have enough acidity to compete with the high fat content and compliment the hazelnut flavor in the breading. Vintage Champagne would be lovely too.

For bulk sausage, I'd go with Canulli's, Esposito's or Fiorella's. Formed sausages are different. Sonny D'Angelo always has the best IMO. Any of the above have formed sausages too, but I'm almost always crumbling it up and buying it in bulk saves me the step where I have to slit and empty the casings. I'm lazy like that.

I'll happily bring over some some wine to accompany...

You might want to check THIS out too. Good advice from an expert.

Yeah Jaymes - that does sound pretty good! Do you think it would work OK with Licor 43 instead of Tuaca? It's also vanilla based liqueur so I think that the flavor would translate. Tuaca is 70 proof, the Licor 43 is a bit lighter at 62 proof. I still think either would be better with a shot of brandy or spiced rum in addition!

Of course traditionally you would serve sour cream and/or applesauce with your latkes. I just made potato pancakes the other night for dinner and put some chive sour cream and leftover gravlax on top. That was an excellent combination that could easily be replicated with store bought smoked salmon.

Personally I think boiling the wine gives it an unpleasant, well, BOILED, taste. Heating gently also gets more flavor out of the spices and doesn't turn them bitter. Hasn't anyone added the spices to a soup or stew too early and had them turn nasty from overheating? Same principle to me. I could just be being overcautious, and perhaps it's all in my head. After all, I'm supposed to have a good palate. Perhaps it's self-delusion, but I stick by my original theory. Also some brief Googling for mulled wine recipes reveals more recipes than not recommend NOT boiling, but heating gently so FWIW, others agree with me.

For the sake of being a true eGulleteer I should probably try a Cel-Ray just once to see if it's palatable. I'm just freaked at the idea of CELERY soda! I mean, Broccoli soda doesn't sound appealing. Neither does cabbage. Why?? Now that I think it through it isn't even the flavor that frightens me. It's the concept.

trader joe's carries an italian grapefruit soda which is great. ← Hello! Is no one paying attention?!? Fresca is grapefruit soda! Available at virtually any market that carries Coca-Cola products. BJ's also carries a very tasty pink grapefruit soda. Don't know the brand name though.

Very nice!! That turkey is one that anyone would be proud to serve. Nice tan on the bird too. Considering how many turkeys are sacrificed each Thanksgiving to the God of Newbie Turkey Chefs, you should be very proud.

My 8 year old "nephew" being thankful for his house, his family, his friends, the food and his dogs and cats.

Hi Maggie! While I would never dissuade one from making large vats of limoncello for gift giving and personal consumption, your plethora of Asian Pears makes me think you need to look HERE. My local orchard and pushers of the very best Asian pears, North Star Farms, has a recipe page for all of their lovely fruit that includes an entire page of Asian pear recipes. They mght not necessarily be good gift suggestions (I like the idea of canning some Asain Pear butter!) but should help you work through your abundant supply. Know anyone with a press? Asian Pear cider is just about the tastiest beverage known to man. I've been known to make a mean Asian Pear margarita with some of that cider. Pretty tasty stuff.

Ohmigosh! Soooo jealous! How wonderful to have such a learned and generous instructor and such a lovely lunch to celebrate the fruits of your labor. Wow! Awesome. Note to self - buy Squid fish sauce.

Thanks Jason. I'll check it out on my next beverage run and report back. I think the Boylan's flavors sound really good! And yes - we have many beer/soda distributors here. Because of the state store system, you can only buy beer (by the case or keg at least) from a beer distributor. You can still buy six packs or individual bottles from a bar or a deli.

A good friend of mine's dad has the Melitta unit and was proudly showing it off to me last time I was at their home. He seems pretty pleased with it and I thought it was very good for an extremely quick and convenient cup of coffee with minimal fuss. FWIW, I just saw a decent selection of pods available at my local Superfresh market. I'd never noticed them before at any other market but then again, I buy my beans at Superfresh and they were right next to the fresh beans. Maybe they are at all supermarkets, but I've definitely never noticed them before. I think they had either Kona or Jamican Blue Mountain pods because I distinctly remember thinking what a nice thing that was that they had single varietal pods for those single serve machines.

OK - now I have to start looking, because I've surely never seen them in my local market. I'd definitely have bought them if I did. I love diet cream soda! Maybe I'll have better luck at the local beer/soda distributor.

But the Diet Cream is really good. Since I can't drink fully sugared soda (they make my teeth scream), the choices for diet cream soda are limited, at best. Dr. Brown's tastes pretty good to me when there are no alternatives. Oddly, I have lived in fear of the Cel-Ray flavor (sugared or not) my entire life. I have yet to taste one.

Oooooh Erik! That cocktail sounds positively dreamy. I took the cheater's route on Thanksgiving and brought along a bottle of Pom Wonderful to make Pomegranate Mimosas at my host's house. Everyone liked those. I have a bag of frozen cranberries in my freezer. I think I'm going to try make cranberry liqueur out of it.

It's a chain. There's one here in Philadelphia too. Great place for a pint of Guiness. BAD place for food.

Nicely said Charles. I hasten to add though, that while you might be able to get "Buffalo Wings" outside of Buffalo, you can't get a real cheesesteak outside of Philadelphia, unless there are Philadelphians running the joint, like at the Tony Lukes outpost in Manhattan. And even there, it isn't quite the same as getting one from under the fluorescent lights in South Philly, served up with appropriate atty-tood.

Ah yes. 'Tis the season indeed. There's nothing nicer than some warming spiced cider or wine to get the blood flowing again on a cold winter's day. The history of mulled wine goes back to medieval times. Given the lack of central heating and the fact that the drinking water wasn't <ahem> quite so sanitary, this was probably quite the healthful alternative. Mulled wine is particularly popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I have fond memories of sipping Glühwein that is sold at stands all over Vienna in the winter time. The hot spiced wine is sold in the same mugs all over the city, so you can return your mug to the next stand after walking away with it from where you purchased it. It's a brilliant system really, and I think things would be so much more pleasant here in the US if we sold hot wine in to-go mugs on the street, don't you? There are only a few hard and fast rules for making mulled wine: 1) Buy something red and fruity, but not too expensive. Use good fresh lemons and oranges (two of each fruit sliced per bottle). 2) "If it's boiled it's spoiled." DO NOT BOIL THE WINE. Heat slowly over a low flame until heated through. Boiling ruins the wine and turns the spices bitter. Microwaving by the mug full is a good alternative. 3) Sugar is optional (about 1/2-3/4 cup per bottle of wine) but usually gives the wine a pleasant flavor (in moderation) and softens the tannins a bit. Some folks like to dilute the mulled wine with a bit of herbal or regular tea, fruit juice or water to the same effect. 4) An ounce or two of brandy or Cognac to each 750 ml bottle of wine is optional but adds a great deal to the end result. Same could be said for Cointreau or Grand Marnier if you like orange flavor. 5) The spice mix is up to you, but cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves are almost always in the mix. Star anise is nice as well. Tie the spices in a cheesecloth bag, or use a large mesh tea ball (my preferred method). Or you could float the spices and strain the mulled wine into your serving mugs. 2-3 crushed cinnamon sticks, a fresh grating of nutmeg, a teaspoon of cloves, and a few star anise would nicely flavor one bottle of wine. A shortcut to all this is to buy Glühfix bags that are like pre-made teabags with all of the mulling spices inside. These are great for single serving microwaved mugs of wine or cider too. If you do make the above with cider instead of wine, you can add a shot of your favorite winter warmer like dark rum, brandy or whiskey.