Homemade Eggnog

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Homemade Eggnog! I partnered with Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs for a holiday recipe and knew I wanted to make eggnog. I’ve been meaning to make it for some time now, I usually buy it in the store this time of year, and honestly it’s been so long since I’ve had homemade I wasn’t sure what to expect but I can tell you right now it is so much better!

When I shop for eggs there’s such a vast range in price, even on the organic end, so I generally buy somewhere in the middle, thinking what could be so different? Well, there really are differences. These eggs are definitely high-quality. They have a nice hard shell that doesn’t crush in your hand when you break it - no bits of shell falling into the bowl or pan, and the yolks are vibrant in color with excellent flavor. They are good to their free-roaming chickens and they are good to the earth too. Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs are free from pesticides, added hormones, antibiotics, and GMOs, and they come from small family farms that are dedicated to humane animal treatment, safety, and environmental sustainability. Most of their farms are on the east coast but their eggs are available here in the Pacific Northwest as well.

As I mentioned before the Eggnog tastes incredible, it’s much lighter and creamier than store-bought. The recipe below is a cooked version which is very similar to making a custard, lots of whisking involved but it comes together very quick. After I added the brandy and bourbon I took a whiff and thought maybe it was too boozy! But it’s fine, after it chills the flavors mellow out and I think it’s a perfect amount. Cheers!

This is a paid partnership with Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs, all opinions are my own.

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Homemade Eggnog

  • 6 whole eggs

  • 1/4 cup of sugar

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 3/4 cup brandy

  • 1/4 cup bourbon

  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

  • 1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground nutmeg

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

  • 2 cups whole milk

  • Cinnamon Sticks to garnish

Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a medium bowl until light and creamy.

In a saucepan whisk the cream, milk, nutmeg and salt, cook over medium-high heat, whisking often until mixture just starts to simmer. Then whisk the milk mixture into the egg mixture a little bit at a time using a ladle or measuring cup, whisk vigorously to temper the eggs, (you don’t want scrambled eggs!) once you’ve incorporated about a half of the milk mixture pour all of it back into your saucepan and return to stove. Over a medium heat whisk the mixture until slightly thickened and it reaches 160°F (about 2-4 minutes). Remove from stove and stir in the vanilla, brandy and bourbon. Pour into pitcher or jar and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (or longer) until well chilled. Serve with some freshly grated nutmeg on top and cinnamon stick. The eggnog will stay fresh refrigerated for one week.

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Cheers! A Cocktail Roundup

Cheers! A Cocktail Roundup

Happy New Year! Well almost. I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite cocktails from the blog so if you’re looking for anything special to make drink-wise you might want to try one of these.

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New Year’s Cherry Bourbon Cocktail

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I was poking around our bookcase the other day and came across the book Imbibe! which I’ve never read, and still haven’t. But it did get me googling the author’s name David Wondrich, which brought me to Imbibe Magazine’s website (what a great site!) There are so many cocktail recipes it’s hard to pick one. I chose “The Dewberry Hotel’s Panic Button” definitely not for it’s name (although it's not hard to imagine a cocktail being named as such in 2017) but that it contained bourbon and two liqueurs that I’ve been wanting to try out for a long time. Amaro Averna, an Italian digestif, and Heering Cherry liqueur. I made the drink exact to the recipe, but it didn’t look like the drink in the article, however it tastes really good. Jeff thought it was sweet, but I didn’t find it too sweet, lots of earthy flavors with a taste of cherry that’s not overwhelming. I recommend using a large ice cube since they melt much slower than traditional ice cubes, here I used Tovolo Sphere ice molds, we have similar size large cube trays but these seemed to work nice for this style glass, plus they look like snow balls. Oh and just about the best maraschino cherries I’ve ever tasted are Bada Bing Cherries. Wishing you all well for the new year! Goodbye 2017, you were a really weird year. Cheers to 2018!

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New Year’s Cherry Bourbon Cocktail

  • 1 1/2 ounce Bourbon
  • 3/4 ounce Amaro Averna
  • 1/2 ounce Campari
  • 1/2 ounce Heering cherry liqueur
  • 1/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
  • Large ice cubes or spheres
  • Maraschino cherries

Shake all the ingredients with ice to chill, then strain into a glass holding a single large ball or cube of ice. Garnish with cherry.

Recipe adapted from Imbibe Magazine

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10 Summer Favorites

It’s summer! I love summer even when it’s scorching hot. I’ve put together ten of my favorite-make-again summer recipes. Below is a mix of salads, desserts and keepin’ kewl iced drinks. Picking berries, shucking corn, drinking bourbon iced tea - oh yeah!

Berry + Cherry Galette

Berry Clafoutis

Margarita Ice Pops

A Summer Salad!

Watermelon with Feta + Basil

Cherry Tomato Galette

Quick Dill Pickles

Cold Brew Iced Coffee

Cucumber Infused Vodka

Bourbon Iced Tea with Mint

Margarita Ice Pops

Margarita Ice Pops

It has been hot in the Pacific Northwest and with no end in sight. Triple-digit temperatures deserve something special so I ordered a popsicle mold. Frozen Margarita on a stick sounded just about right, and it was, these are quite delicious! 

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