Hot Cinnamon Apple Cider

I have developed a taste for cinnamon since I was a young girl. Our family used to live in Tam Ky, Quang Tin, a small town in Vietnam. My neighbor has a couple of young girls who are the same age as my sister, Mai, and I. Their parents had a cinnamon export business. Despite a warning from their parents, our friends always invited us to their attic where their parents stored the cinnamon. We tip toed in the attic to play hide and seek around the big rolls of cinnamon bark. I remember our little hands breaking the cinnamon and eating them. The spicy, sweet after taste of the cinnamon that we chewed and the thrill of getting away with breaking the rules are still fresh in my memory. Nothing is better than a cup of hot cinnamon apple cider on a chilly winter evening.

Ingredients:
4 cups apple cider
2 cinnamon sticks about 3 inches
3 cloves
1 tangerine sliced or 1/2 of 1 orange
1/2 lemon sliced
2 tbs sugar

Equipment:
small stock pot
strainer
cheesecloth

Directions:
Place the stock pot on the stove over medium heat. Add the apple cider, the tangerine or orange, lemon, cinnamon stick and cloves. Bring to a boil. Stir in sugar, allow to boil for 5 minutes, then lower the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.
Pour the liquid through the strainer lined with cheesecloth to catch any fruit or spices.
Pour the apple cider into a mug. Put the cinnamon stick inside the mug to stir. Serve warm.