Mulled Wine

I LOVE LOVE mulled wine. It is spicy and hot and delish. My friend, Melody and I bought a bag of mulled wine spice from Whole Foods. We were both unsuccessful in our attempts to recreate this delicious Christmas concoction. Thanks to the fab Jamie Oliver, I have mastered the art of mulled wine. The key is this mulled wine syrup....Just be careful. This wine will put hair on your chest!

Mulled Wine Syrup

1/2 cup of fine sugar per bottle of wine (use cup of wine for 2 bottles)
2 clementines or oranges cut in half (mash them into the sugar) per bottle
Two handfuls of mulled wine spice (includes cinnamon, orange zest, cloves, star anise) per bottle
1 bottle of red Wine
Brandy (like 1/2 cup or so per bottle of wine)

In a saucepan, pour sugar, oranges, and spices (feel free to make your own concoction of spices). Pour just enough red wine to cover the sugar (like 1/2 cup or so). You are going to make a simple syrup that you will then use later with the actual wine. I did this so as to not burn all of the alcohol off the wine because the mixture needs to boil to make it rich and thick (I am a really good Southerner when it comes to booze). Boil the mixture until a really thick syrup is formed...like 4 or 5 minutes. When you are ready to drink your mulled wine, pour in the brandy and a bottle of wine. You want to heat only what you want to drink. If it is two of you, then use half of the bottle of wine and half of the sugar mixture. Heat the wine with the sugar and brandy until heated through. Maybe like 4 minutes. Then strain and pour into mugs. YUMMY!!!!