Excellent Eggnog

Best. Eggnog. Ever.



Since I've been horrible about updating, I figured I'd give you a bonus sneak peak at our new Friday series on cookies. Or at least the format. Last Saturday we made eggnog, cider, and ginger snaps for a party and all turned out excellent. I was happy since there's usually at least one bomb - but in this case all were good!

Gingersnaps will come this Friday, today I'll show you, step by step, how to make the best eggnog you've ever had in your life. So... let's go!

But first a disclaimer- this recipe comes verbatim from nataliesmom's Amazingly Good Eggnog on allrecipes.com.

Eggnog

Ingredients
* 4 cups milk
* 5 whole cloves
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 12 egg yolks
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 4 cups light cream
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Step 1
Combine milk, cloves, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and cinnamon in a saucepan, and heat over lowest setting for 5 minutes. Slowly bring milk mixture to a boil.



I took the "slowly" part perhaps a bit too seriously - it took about 20 minutes for me to get the mixture boiling, largely because I was only turning up the heat by about half a degree every five minutes. Next time I'll try to go a little faster.

Step 2
In a large bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar.



Here's my guy separating out the eggs. He was rather fascinated by the patterns the yolks formed in the bowl.

Whisk together until fluffy.




Whisk hot milk mixture slowly into the eggs. Pour mixture into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes, or until thick. Do not allow mixture to boil. Strain to remove cloves, and let cool for about an hour.



I only removed the cloves I could fish out. So far no one's died from having a clove in their eggnog.

Step 3
Stir in cream, 2 teaspoon vanilla, and nutmeg. Refrigerate overnight before serving.



Here's the completed eggnog right before it goes in the fridge. My serving pitcher is far nicer but non-translucent so this picture works best, I figure.

I have to admit I broke into the eggnog while it was still slightly warm just to see how it tasted. Oh, my. It's amazing. Transcendent. Incredible. Even DH who hates store bought eggnog with a passion loves this stuff. It's rich and creamy like ice cream and just so flavorful. It did require a good amount of work (and a lot of time!) but it's worth it!

In honor of next month which, unless we have a sudden rush of votes for another theme, will be A Month of Cookies on this blog. For each of the four weeks of December I'll try out a new cookie recipe (or resurrect an old favorite gingersnap recipe - trust me, it's unbelievably good) and share them, as much as I can, with you.

Anyway, to kick off the month a little early here's a great little site that lets you decorate one of 6 sugar cookies and then send them as an ecard to a friend. The best part? For every cookie sent Betty Crocker donates 10c to Toys for Tots. As a military brat I'm trilled that she chose this particular charity. Such a great cause! So go, decorate, and give a little this afternoon!

Still alive

The flu symptoms have mostly left but I've been seriously exausted for the past week. Like "sit for a while deciding just how necessary that trip to the bathroom is because it'll use up my energy for the next two hours" exausted. I finally went to the doctor yesterday and he diagnosed me pretty quickly as having a sinus infection. Medication was prescribed and I should be feeling pretty normal in two day. Thank heavens. The people at my church have been very sweet and understanding about my illness but a lot that needed to get done didn't and our children's Sunday morning programs suffered. As has my schoolwork ... I'll probably have to ask for extensions in most of my classes just to get the work done without wearing myself out again. Illnesses are just so annoying. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes, they're working and I really need and appreciate the encouragement!

On a totally different topic, it looks like I'll be doing Christmas Cookies next month (yum!) and I'd love to hear some favorites. I've got three possibles but I'd like more to choose from!

Orange Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Yesterday one of my friends was having a bad day so I made her a plate of these cookies. Though, to be honest, I was looking for an excuse ... I've been having some pretty serious chocolate cravings and these are the perfect cure.
The cookies are pretty basic - they're based on the Nestle ones I grew up making with various modifications which came from looking at my cabinets and wondering what would happen if I added this or that ingredient. Out of all the variations I've tried, this is my favorite - very chocolately with a divine orange richness to it. Enjoy!

Orange Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Makes about 5 dozen (if you don't eat too much of the dough)
First batch ready in about 30 minutes (15 prep, 10 cooking)

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup baking cocoa (powder stuff)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 sticks (1 cup) butter or margarine

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp orange extract

2 large eggs

1 cup (6 oz) white chocolate chips

1 cup (6 oz) milk-chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Unwrap the butter and put the sticks in a large, heat-safe bowl and put the bowl somewhere warm. I put it over the back burner which also serves as the heat exhaust for the oven. The goal is to get the butter about 1/4 melted, give or take some.
3. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
4. Take butter bowl off (or out of) heat and beat in white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla and orange extract. Beat until creamy.
5. Mix in the eggs, one at a time preferably.
6. Gradually beat in flour mixture, a little at a time.
7. Mix in chips.
8. Drop by the spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets
9. Bake for 10 minutes (more for crispier cookies, less for moister ones) and let cool on racks (if you can stand waiting!)