Yay, I've got a brand new wireless optical mouse. Wheee look at it zoom around the screen! Okay, maybe not that exciting to all of you, but to me it is a joy.

Advent continues throughout Sweden. The weather is very wet, chilly, icy and unpleasant, so the glögg is very welcome when you come in the door in the evening.

Samuel Johnson once wrote that "Claret is the drink for boys, port for men, but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy."

By that definition Swedish Julglögg, will make us superhuman. What is glögg, do I hear you ask? Okay, so you didn’t ask, but I’m going to tell you anyway. Glögg, (pronounced glerrg), is a high octane, hot mulled wine made with a potpourri of spices and all three of the above: red wine, port, and brandy. It is the perfect cold weather drink, warming the body and soul from the inside out.

The origins of glögg go at least as far back as the coronation of the Swedish King Gustav Vasa in 1523, when 210 jugs of the stuff were reportedly consumed. That must have been one hell of a party, because glögg is the Swedish version of backwater moonshine.

There are as many recipes for this old traditional winter beverage as there are people in Sweden. Instead of brandy, the Swedish recipe calls for aquavit, a distilled vodka frequently flavoured with caraway seeds. The spices and flavourings change just as frequently, with most recipes calling for cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, orange peel, raisins, almonds, and sugar. Some brew it and drink it on the spot, and others age it. One thing is certain: the aroma in the kitchen of mulling glögg is heavenly, and when it is served steaming hot after a hard day of skiing or shovelling the footpath, the body offers thanks.

My recipe, you ask? Well, just pretend you asked, okay...

Marie’s Authentic, Easy Swedish Glögg Recipe

Ingredients:

1 car
1 set car keys
1 purse
money
1 wine shop

Method:

1. Place money in purse
2. Grab car keys and hop into car
3. Drive car to nearest wine shop
4. Stop car, hop out and take purse with you into wine shop
5. Take a queue number.
5. Ask shop assistant for a bottle of glögg (actually you’d better say �Jag skulle vilja ha en flaska Blossa starkvinsglögg (Med cognac)�)
6. Open purse and hand over money (69kr)
7. Take glögg home and enjoy.

The pictures below show glögg, heated and ready to skål.. no, I mean sip! The other picture shows some traditional and decorative copper pots used to heat the wine. We have one like type 3.



Glögg is an acquired taste: sweet, hot, spicy and very boozy, not to everyone's liking. But as an Australian guest of mine once commented, "This isn't a drink, it's an event."