"Drink up thy Zyder"

We love the smell of simmering mulled cider - a traditional British and American drink - during the Christmas holidays, and offer guests hot mulled cider throughout the cold winter months.


Cider making in Somerset - video at link
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2010/dec/06/cider-making-somerset

UKCider - the real cider website and directory anyone can edit
http://www.cideruk.com/
http://www.ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Mulled Cider
Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson from Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, 2007

Prep Time:30 minInactive Prep Time:--Cook Time:30 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
6 servings

Ingredients
1 pint (16 fluid ounces) cider
2 fluid ounces dark rum
9 fluid ounces apple and ginger tea, from herbal teabag
1 1/2 ounces soft dark brown sugar
2 clementines
4 cloves
2 sticks cinnamon
2 fresh bay leaves
2 cardamom pods
Directions
Pour the cider, rum and herbal tea into a wide saucepan. Add the sugar and place the saucepan over a low heat. Slice the clementines in half and stick a clove into each half. Add the clementines to the pan. Break the cinnamon sticks in half. Add the cinnamon, bay leaves and cardamom pods to the saucepan. Heat the saucepan until the mixture is almost boiling. Turn down the heat once the pan is near to boiling.

To serve, ladle the mulled cider into heatproof glasses with handles.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/mulled-cider-recipe/index.html




From Jamie Oliver -
Incredible mulled cider
drinks | serves 15
It wouldn’t be Christmas without mulled something, whether I make wine or cider, its just one of those things that tells me I’m home and it’s Christmas. I know there are loads of packaged mulled wine and cider flavourings in the shops these days but honestly, it’s not hard to make this from scratch so please don’t cheat! Just pick up a few bottles of decent Scrumpy and give this a try. You’ll be simmering away most of the alcohol so if the kids want a taste, it’s ok to give them a little glass.

Ingredients
• 2 litres good cider, such as Scrumpy
• 6 cloves
• 3 or 4 star anise
• ¼ nutmeg, finely grated into the pan
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 vanilla pod, halved
• juice of 1 orange
• juice of 2 clementines
• juice and seeds from 1 pomegranate
• 4 or 5 tablespoons of caster sugar, to taste

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fruit-recipes/incredible-mulled-cider

National Trust: The Lyme Caxton Missal

"The Lyme Caxton Missal

Turn the pages of history at Lyme Park, with our interactive display which lets you view the pages of the Lyme Caxton Missal.

The Missal was printed by William Caxton, England's first printer, in the 15th century. It is a rare copy of an early printed prayer book, famed in its time of print for being one of the first books to be printed in two colours, red and black.

For a sneak-peek of the unique Missal, watch our short film and discover more about its captivating history."

Link

A fascinating combination of old and new...

Britain's Ten Best Country Houses to Lease

Bradley House

"The house managed the neat trick of being grand without being in the least formal. I realised that this was how a manor house would be if I owned one myself: full of books and comfy sofas and log fires. There were piano duets in the music room, chess games half-finished in the library, a great gaggle of muddy wellies inside the back door and a kitchen that was the warm heart of the house.
Every morning while the others slept, I went about the house opening the heavy curtains and the tall wooden shutters, a ritual that took a good quarter of an hour. As light flooded into the rooms, the view was revealed piece by piece – the curving drive encircling the fountain, the flat croquet lawn, the mature trees of a Wiltshire parkland, the decorative sheep on the far side of the ha-ha and the distant pastures rising to the heights of Brimstone Hill. Every evening, we had drinks in the Drawing Room in front of a roaring fire before we repaired to boisterous candlelit meals at the long dining table."
Read more here.