Cider with a side of Pumpkin Carving

Reason #838,478 why I can't live without my crock-pot:
Mulled Apple Cider

{source}

Love this time of year & how much I can get away with using my heavily-trusted crock-pot. {I feel like I should name it, we're that close.} Who am I kidding?? I use this puppy year-round on a weekly basis, but this is definitely the season where everyone pulls theirs out. Here's the recipe I used this weekend for our night of pumpkin carving.

What You Need:

2 qts. bottled apple cider or juice {not unfiltered}

1/4 C packed light brown sugar

1 sq (8 in) double-thick cheesecloth

8 allspice berries

4 cinnamon sticks, broken into halves

12 whole cloves

1 large orange

Additional cinnamon sticks {optional}

What You Do:

1. Combine cider and sugar in crock-pot

2. Rinse cheesecloth; squeeze out water. Then wrap allspice and cinnamon halves in cheesecloth; tie securely with cotton string or strip of cheesecloth

3. Stick cloves randomly into orange; cut orange into quarters. 

4. Place spice bag and orange quarters into cider mixture

5. Cover; cook on high for 2.5-3 hours

4. Once cooked, crock-pot can be turned to LOW to keep cider warm for up to 3 additional hours.

5. Serve cider with additional cinnamon sticks

Tip: To insert cloves into the orange, pierce orange skin with wooden skewer or ice pick.

{recipe from my awesome Costco find.}


After a yummy dinner, a blazing fire that W built, and some cider with cookies, it was business time. Seems each year we get more skilled and bold with our pumpkin carving. This year we not only upgraded pumpkin sizes, but templates as well. Compared to last year, we were yet again impressed with our-own-bad-selves. ;) Here's our beauties:

I did the owl and Linds did....can anyone guess?! :)
Time to go snack on some roasted seeds!!