This past weekend I had one of those magical Christmassy Sundays, where the streets are bustling but not overcrowded, the weather’s cold but not bitterly so, and the time period left until Christmas still makes gift buying exciting, not stressful. To perfect the scene, a mulled wine stand right in the middle of Covent Garden was serving Big Gulp-sized portions. After several sips, I was certainly feeling the warmth of Christmas cheer (and the inspiration to write up a blog post!). And though I came to the end of the day having successfully purchased only one gift, I still felt a great sense of accomplishment.

I have found as I’ve grown older that it’s not the number of presents that make my loved ones and me happy during the holiday season. In Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the title character cannot understand why the Whos down in Whoville still have a joyful Christmas even when he has stolen their various whimsical toys and gifts. For them, and for me, it’s more about sitting down, holding hands, enjoying a nice meal (perhaps with wintry blintzes for dessert), singing carols, and simply being together.

And as Cindy Lou Who so famously said, “Christmas Day will always be, just as long as we have we.” (Though some mulled wine and holiday blintzes certainly wouldn’t hurt.)

Use The Book Cook’s crepe recipe.

Filling:

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup sultanas

1 cup mulled wine

1 tablespoon orange zest

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

Instruction:

1. Make crepes using The Book Cook’s crepe recipe. Blintzes should be paper thin (even thinner than crepes!), so will need less time to cook in the pan.

2. Put sultanas and mulled wine in a saucepan. Bring to boil, then remove from heat. Allow sultanas to steep for 10 minutes, then drain (*but save the liquid!).

3. Mix ricotta cheese, sultanas, orange zest, sugar, and half of orange juice in a bowl. Transfer to piping bag. Pipe filling into each crepe and fold into a roll.

4. Sift a bit of icing sugar over each blintz. Add other half of orange juice to mulled wine liquid and reduce down to a syrupy consistency and drizzle as desired.

Enjoy winter blintzes with Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and check in at http://warandpeach.com for future recipes and book reviews!