Spiced Apple Cider with Blood Oranges

As fall colors fade and the last Thanksgiving leftovers vanish, we turn our focus toward the celebration of Christmas. Twinkling lights appear in shop windows, holiday activities fill our calendars, and families come together for gift giving and memory making. Amidst all the busyness of the season, one of our favorite holiday treats is delightfully simple to prepare.

Bethany’s cider recipe will have your whole home smelling like Christmas in no time! Simple yet scrumptious, this classic drink appeals to all your senses. Its comforting warmth is the perfect antidote to winter’s chill, and bright slices of aromatic oranges make this cider a treat to look at, as well. Provide guests a stick of cinnamon for stirring, and you’ll have holiday luxury in a mug!

This week, we hope our recipe inspires you to pull away from the holiday bustle long enough to wrap your hands around a steaming mug of cider and savor all the goodness of this season! 

Spiced Apple Cider with Blood Oranges

Ingredients

2 quarts apple cider

2 cups orange juice

1 T whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

1 blood orange, sliced

Instructions

Combine apple cider and orange juice in a large pan. Place cloves in a spice ball and add, along with the cinnamon sticks and orange  slices, to the cider. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat to keep warm while serving.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

It turns out that life changes a lot when you bring a new person into the world and that's exactly what has kept me busy since my last post in January! My son, Greyson, was born in August and now that things are settling back down into a new normal I'm really excited to get back into both cooking and blogging about it. My friend Sarah has been a big influence on this decision to finally start posting again and today we have a brand new collaborative post for you. I'm thrilled that Sarah introduced me to this amazing Pumpkin Pie recipe just in time for Thanksgiving and is sharing it with everyone here on the blog today!  - Bethany

Nothing quite says Thanksgiving like a generous slice of this staple, topped with whipped cream and chased with steaming mugs of coffee. You can practically taste the holiday itself in the pie’s spiced filling and buttery crust.

This recipe was given to me by a dear friend, and it quickly topped my list of Thanksgiving favorites! I especially like that it doesn’t require any bake time, leaving my oven free for turkey.

As an additional bonus, this pie also has miracle working powers. For example, when several of my extended family members announced last year that they didn’t like pumpkin pie, one bite of this version made converts of them all. “I once was blind, but now I see,” as the saying goes.

Happy Thanksgiving, and happy baking!

 

Mrs. Pine’s Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Ingredients:

One 9” baked pie shell

Three eggs, divided into yolks and whites

One C. sugar, divided into two half-cup portions

One can pumpkin

½ C. milk

½ Tsp. salt

½ Tsp. ginger

½ Tsp. nutmeg

½ Tsp. cinnamon

One T. (or one envelope) unflavored gelatin

¼ C. cold water

Instructions:

In a saucepan, beat egg yolks with ½ C. sugar. Add pumpkin, milk, salt, and spices, then cook over medium-low heat until thick. Dissolve gelatin in cold water and stir into the pumpkin mixture. Separately, beat egg whites with ½ C. sugar until stiff and combine with pumpkin mixture. Pour into baked pie shell and chill. Top with whipped cream.