drinking on the job

Today is the departmental Christmas party. Last year (and perhaps previous years; I don't know) Stefan made gluehwein for everyone. This year, since he's gone, we volunteered to make the gluehwein. So, a huge pot has been sitting on a hot plate in our office all day, and we keep tasting it, adding more things, and enjoying the wonderful smell its creating. Not a bad day on the job today at all.

warm, fuzzy feelings

And, no, it's not just the gluehwein.

Every year the Faculty of Science gives gifts to all the staff and Ph.D. students in all their departments. Last year we got large shoe box size boxes filled with tea, a little bottle of rum, tisaniere glasses, fudge, chocolate, and rock candy - which we both thought was a delightful treat. It's fun to get a box which you have no idea of the contents of, and to open it up and find all sorts of goodies. The tea especially was good and we horded it for nearly six months.

This year, our boxes were nearly twice the size and quite a bit heavier. The theme was Italian - pasta, tomato sauce, melba toast, bruchetta spread, pesto, breadsticks, a little wire holder with three cruets of oil, vinegar, and flavored oil, a bottle of wine (750 ml!), paprika flavored specialty potato chips, chocolate biscotti, and paper napkins. :) The best part is, we each get one, so we have twice the goodies! We'll be able to get some really sumptuous meals out of this. It's really, really nice being a part of a department and a faculty which isn't trying to cut monetary corners wherever it can. It really makes you feel valued (especially me, who gets a box even though I'm not technically an employee).

The gluehwein was a big hit. We could've made twice as much, I think, if we had had a container large enough, and it still would all have been drunk. Here's what we did:

Gluehwein a la Stefan Bold

All measurements (except the wine) are approximate.

5 liters cheap red wine (we used €2.99/bottle, but that probably translates, in terms of quality to around $7.00-$8.00/bottle in America)
two oranges
one lemon
~ 20 cinnamon sticks
~1-2 T whole cloves
~1 T whole allspice
some ground allspice
ground cardamom
fresh ground black pepper
~1.5 cups sugar

Zest the oranges and slice. Zest the lemon, but do not include the actual lemon. We used the small zester for the orange and the large zester for the lemon, to get different size peels. Mix all the ingrediates and heat (don't boil, and don't even really simmer) for a couple of hours. Adjust seasonings to taste. It's hard to get too much of anything, except perhaps the sugar so don't add too much without tasting regularly. The spices don't have to be added all at once, you can add them as it goes depending on what you think it needs.

Pleases a large roomful of people. :)

(no subject)

I've listened to this song many times, but never close enough to catch all of the lyrics, until today when I went and looked the lyrics up.

( The Rebel Jesus )

I always liked the song before and I like it more now that I know all of what it says. (I never knew before that it was an original recording for the album).