ARTS

Recipe for a chilly fall day

by Mary Capriotti

Ah yes, the leaves on the trees are now changing colors and will soon fall to the ground. The weather is getting chilly and you find yourself in northern Ohio. What are you going to do to keep warm amid the autumnal chill? Drink warm, spiced beverages and eat homey, comfort foods.

Here are a few wonderful fall recipes to keep you toasty the two weeks before finals. They will help you wind down after that midterm, keep you going through that late night cram session and just make you happy and warm all over.

Glühwein (Mulled Wine)

This is a favorite German recipe for spiced, or mulled, wine. It is out of a German cookbook (Unser Kochbuch. Published by Gräfe und Unzer. 1996. Munich) that a friend bought overseas for me.


1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine
4 tsp sugar
1/2 lemon
1 stick cinnamon
A few drops of Curacao (optional)

Pour the wine in a medium saucepan. Add the sugar, cinnamon stick and the zest of the lemon (make sure to wash it well before grating it off, and you only want to use the outermost layer of the rind, just where the brightest yellow color is). Let these warm up over very low heat for a long time. You do not want the alcohol to burn off, so do not let it boil. When a film has built on top of the wine, remove the pot from the heat. Remove and discard the film with a spoon. Add the few drops of Curacao, stir briefly and allow it to rest for a few minutes. Pour the Glühwein through a strainer and serve.

Hot Spiced Cider

This is a recipe you cannot give specific proportions for. Have fun with it.


Apple cider or juice (the kind that is not clear)
Cinnamon: sticks, crushed or ground
Whole Cloves
Nutmeg, crushed
Allspice Berries, crushed
Honey or sugar, if needed
Orange juice or zest (see the above recipe for zest directions)
Black Peppercorns, crushed (optional)

Pour the cider in a pot large enough to hold the quantity you're making (anywhere from one serving in a mug, in the microwave or a couple of gallons in a huge pot). Add what spices you like. Conceivably, you can use all of those listed here, or just your favorites. Heat this liquid until it is just at a low simmer. Let it cook for awhile to extract all the flavor from the spices. Strain all the solid stuff out of the cider before serving. Serve hot.

Cookie Monster Cookies

I have been making this recipe for as long as memory serves me. Mom had a nursery school, which I was a part of, and this was one of our favorite activities and treats. These cookies will never fail you and are absolutely addictive out of the oven. Feel free to decorate them as you would any sugar cookie, and they will go very well with any of the drinks here, as well as with the wine sauce from last week. The recipe originates from a Sesame Street Activity Book, which has been lost for years - the only remains is the page of this recipe.


3/4 cup butter (1.5 sticks)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and baking powder in 4-5 portions, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Feel free to start using your hands at any time. Form this dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap (or just put a top over it in the bowl) and refrigerate for at least one hour. Roll out about 1/3 of the dough on a floured surface about 1/4" thick. Cut out with cookie cutters, overturned glasses, or into random shapes with a sharp knife. If you plan on decorating them with colored sugars or other things, do so now. Transfer these cookies to an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let them cool on a rack until just cool enough to handle. Put 10 or so on a plate, and scarf like cookie monster - the perfect exam stress reliever -believe you me! Or wait until they are completely cool and store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

The dough can be refrigerated for up to two weeks, or frozen for months, so make large batches of dough at one time for easier access to them later.

Bittersweet Hot Chocolate

One of my all-time favorite recipes. This is very heavy and rich, so believe the recipe when it tells you that only 6 ounces (2/3 of a cup) is a serving. Taken from one of the books by Nick Malgieri, director of the Pastry and Baking Department of Peter Kump's Cooking School in New York. (Chocolate. Published by Harper Collins, 1998. New York.)


1/2 cup water
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1/4" pieces
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring the water to a boil in a small pan. Immediately remove from heat and pour over the chocolate in a small bowl. Shake the bowl to make sure that all the chocolate is covered by water. Set this aside for five minutes to allow chocolate to thoroughly melt. In another saucepan, bring the milk barely to a simmer. Whisk the chocolate and water until smooth, then whisk it into the milk. Continue to heat until very hot, but not at a full boil (this is what will give it a skin when it begins to cool), whisking to make the chocolate frothy. Remove from the heat, whisk in the vanilla, an serve immediately.

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Copyright © 1999, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 128, Number 6, October 8, 1999

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