It’s cold out, so you want something to warm you up. How about a nice apple cider, slow-cooker style? Here’s a quick recipe, adapted from Company’s Coming Slow Cooker Recipes:
Apple Cider
4 1/2 cups apple juice
1 T. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 2″ long cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
15 whole cloves
Mandarin Orange Spice tea bag
Combine all ingredients in a 3 1/2 qt. slow cooker, stir and cover. Heat on low at least three hours. Makes 4 cups.
Other drinks that pair well with cloves are: Mulled Wine and Hot Buttered Rum,.
Cloves add warmth and have a sweet flavor. Commonly used in baking, but would also be good with poultry, curries, ham (“stud” whole cloves around the outside of a ham before baking), or added to mashed sweet potatoes with a drizzle of maple syrup.
Medicinally, cloves may be useful for indigestion, nausea and flatulence and as an antiseptic and astringent. If you have a problem with spiders, place a few cloves around the areas where the spiders (or spider webs) have been found and you will not have any more problems (spiders do not like the smell of cloves).
