T'is the season for mulled wine

Winter is finally on it's way! The Christmas markets on Princes Street have opened, Christmas tunes are being blasting out on the bagpipes, people are ice skating and mulled wine is being served. Hurray!
What better way to warm up than to make a big old pot of mulled wine, huddle by the fireplace (or heater) with your friends and play monopoly!


All you need is:


1 bottle of good old Co-operative wine (I'm digging the cab sav at the moment, splurging a wild £3.50)
1 lemon, sliced
1 orange, sliced
2-4 cinnamon sticks (which you can find at real foods)
4 - 6 whole cloves
1/2 - 1 teaspoons of ground nutmeg
And a dash or 2 of brandy


And of course... a pot and a strainer. 


Heat the wine over a medium to low heat (never let it boil), when its warm add in the fruit, spices and brandy, then simmer until it's hot. If you want to add some sugar or water, go right ahead.


And voila! Strain it, pour it, find some friends with monopoly and central heating and you're ready to go.


Now try and tell me that doesn't taste like Christmas.

Big ups to co-ops!

Co - operative supermarkets are amaaaaaazing! They label all their vegetarian and vegan products with a big (probably non certified) 'V'.


Some of them are blatantly obvious, you're probably well aware that a cream doughnut is likely to be vegetarian but not vegan.. but in the case of wine it is incredibly handy.


Unless you know which wines are vegan by experience, it can really hard to know. No wines that I know of specify in the ingredients what they use for the fining process and if they do most people are shocked when they find out what they actually are.

Gelatine - from bones and connective tissues of cows or pigs Isinglass - obtained from fish swim bladders  Chitin - derived from the shells of crabs or lobsters Casein - obtained from milk Albumin - from egg whites Bentonite - a type of clay Ox Blood - banned in Europe due to BSE Bentonite is suitable for vegetarians and vegans because it is not an animal - derived product.. obviously (it's clay). Other vegan finings are kaolin and kieslguhr (clays), plant casein and synthetic polymers. If you're far too sophisticated to drink co - op wine, unlike me, then check out the website below, it has a list of almost every wine imaginable and lists which are vegetarian or vegan. http://www.veggiewines.co.uk Just don't come crying to me if it turns out you're favourite Merlot contains cow tissue!!