Did you have a lovely Thanksgiving? Us too, thanks – and we tried some new recipes which went down really well with our guests, so that was a relief. And now that Thanksgiving is over we are officially in the run up to Christmas! (Although if you are Scottish you might be thinking about St Andrew’s Day, which is November 30, first.)

So here we would like to unveil a seasonal and rather clever use for a coffee machine. Because that’s not coffee in the picture below… oh no. It’s mulled wine. Just make the mulled wine as normal and pour it into the  jug of the machine to keep warm! Two pieces of advice, though. First of all, unlike coffee, don’t actually make the mulled wine in the machine because that’s likely to ruin it. Secondly, and again unlike coffee, it’s probably not a great idea to make a big pot to have on the go all morning.

You can’t do that with one of those fancy capsule-type machines.

So now suitably fortified, it’s time to venture to the back of the cupboard to get out the decorations. It’s only 27 sleeps now, people!