A Yule tradition that can be used to warm up the festivities and brighten spirits all throughout the season!

• 1 bottle red wine, burgundy or Cabernet
• 1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 cup apple brandy
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 red apple, washed
• Cloves
• 1 Orange, washed, sliced into rounds
• 4 cinnamon sticks

Gently combine wine, orange juice, brandy, and sugar in a large saucepan and heat over medium-low heat. Stud the washed apple with cloves and float it in the mulled wine mixture, along with orange slices and cinnamon sticks. Keep at a low simmer for about fifteen minutes. Serve from a warm slow cooker or crock, if you have one, or heatproof serving bowl. Let the merrymaking begin!

Excerpted from Cooking by the Seasons, by Karri Ann Allrich