Making Egg Nog...

I'm having some of the seminarians over, and I'm making egg nog.

I long ago misplaced my mother's recipe, which I kind of remember, but I can't recall exactly. It wasn't complicated. So every time I make this, I find a recipe that is similar, and go with that.

Today I found Martha Stewart's--and despite what you might expect, it's not complicated; it's the same basic recipe, with three notable divergences: first, it called for the liquor to be added after the milk and cream, not before. I distinctly recall mom saying you add the liquor, slowly, to "cook" the eggs (which are raw); and the milk and cream goes in next.

Martha suggested a mixture of rum, cognac and bourbon, whereas I always just used bourbon, so I went with her mixture. It seemed like a lot more than I remember using, but hey! It's from Martha Stewart! She's not Catholic, as far as I know, but more of a Wasp-y type, so surely she wouldn't be too boozy?

The second divergence was that she suggested waiting until just before serving it, before whipping up the egg whites. That's a good idea; because when you whip up and stir in the whites, it all separates while it chills, then you break it up again. This way, it won't have time to separate again.

The third variance was her suggestion of adding a bit of whipped cream as well. I'll try that too.

It's supposed to be enough for 13 people, but I doubt it will go that far. We've got six folks over, and I think it'll disappear rapidly. We'll see.

If you're wondering what else we're eating, one of the seminarians--who likes to cook and can't in the seminary--will be making some pork loin and broccoli and acorn squash soup.

We're going to eat well on the Fourth Day of Christmas!