i want to make homemade apple cider

So I am going to attempt this tonight, unless of course I find in the middle of it I am missing an ingredient. This happens often with me.

I have been slacking a little bit on here, and I found a recipe for homemade apple cider that I am going to try this weekend. I also found a recipe for Hot Mulled Cider Sangria, which sounds even more yummy..but that one isn’t for the kiddies.

Here are the 2 recipes I found on line.

Hot Apple Cider Recipe

Cider, or fermented apple juice, has been around for over 2000 years! On a cold fall or winter day, it makes an excellent treat. The best part—you can feel good about drinking your apple cider. It’s low calorie and full of antioxidants. Try this easy recipe for hot spiced cider.

Ingredients
• 1/2 gallon apple juice or apple cider
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 allspice berries or whole nutmeg
• 1/2 orange peel, cut into strips
• 1/2 lemon peel, cut into strips

Directions
• Pour apple juice/cider into a large stainless steel pot (crock pots or slow cookers are best but not necessary)
• Place spices and peels into a cheesecloth. Drop cheesecloth into apple juice/cider.
• In a regular pot: heat to just short of a boil. In a crock pot: Heat for 2 hours.
• Remove cheesecloth.
• Once you are done, you can keep the stove-top on warm and have people ladle the apple cider straight from the pot.

Hot Mulled Cider Sangria
This next recipe is a crowd-pleaser at parties and family functions. Perfect for a Halloween party or Thanksgiving celebration, be sure to make plenty, it tends to go rather fast, at least in my experience. (You can scale the ingredients up or down as necessary).
In a large soup pot, combine 1 gallon of apple cider, a bottle of dry red wine, 2 cups of orange juice, a 1/4 cup of lemon juice, about 7-8 cinnamon sticks, a tablespoon of ground cloves, and either 1 cup of rum or brandy, if desired. Cook the mixture over a low flame until just simmering. While the mixture is being heated, core and slice 3-4 of your favorite red apples, and add to the pot once the mixture has just begun to simmer. Turn off the heat and serve.