Snaps and Glogg, Anyone?

This really has nothing to do with anything, except that a customer came in the store this morning and told us about a Swedish Christmas party she was going to later today where they would be serving a Swedish beverage called "Glogg." It sounded so wonderful and fantastical (it's pronounced "glug," after all) that we just had to know more.

According to that Resource of Resources, the Internet, glogg is a Scandanavian version of mulled wine, but with a little more...er...punch. The wine is spiked with "snaps," or aquavit - though apparently you can just dispense with the wine part and knock the snaps back by itself if that's the way the evening goes.

I'd say this is a good drink to have with a good book beside a good fire, but I have a feeling that the words would be swimming before your eyes before too long. No, this is a socializing drink, to be sure. Maybe we need to do an R&M holiday party just to justify some glogg consuption.

Here's one of the recipes we found, courtesy of Scandanavian Travel and About.com (we love that "inexpensive" is one of the criteria for the liquor):

Glogg

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bottle of red wine

0.5 Liter inexpensive brandy or vodka

10 cardamom pods

1 cinnamon stick (broken down0

1/2 orange peel (dried or fresh)

1/2 lbs sugar (regular or lumps)

Optional additions: 5 cloves, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup almonds, 5 dried figs

Preparation:

Heat the wine and brandy, spices, fruit, and nuts in a pot (and any optional additions you might like.)

Be careful not to boil the mixture. Just let it simmer for approximately 45 minutes. Then, strain through a cloth to remove all additions.

Serve your Glogg hot over lumped sugar (or with regular sugar)

Optional: You can also serve the Glogg with raisons or almonds. If you'd like the drink to be stronger, use more brandy.

This Glogg recipe makes approximately 1.5 liter (close to 1/2 gallon)

Thank goodness for the internet, eh?