O Tannenbaum: Egg Nog

Happy Chanukah everyone! We celebrated the first night last night and it was a success.  Candles,  dreidels, sufganiyot and presents.  But you'll notice there are very few community Chanukah activities.

So instead I'm commemorating the festival ood lights with a different kind of lighting - tree lighting! We've been to three separate tree lightings.  The first was way back in November.

Every year the Old Globe puts on a production of The Grinch every year.  And every year the casts lights the tree at the theater.  I've always wanted to go, but I further it's early and by the time I remember tickets are long gone.

This year I was on top of it, and early November found us gathered around a tree that was already beautiful, even before being lit.

 We stayed toward the back, so we could sit in the grass and munch our complimentary popcorn. When the show started,  we hosted the boys on our shoulders so they could see.

 The cast puts on a little show before the lighting which involves the Grinch proclaiming his hatred of Christmas, only to be won over by Cindy Lou Who and the other Whoville children. We were not in the best position for picture taking, so you'll have to settle for this snap I got of the green guy.

 And then the Grinch lifted Cindy Lou to the switch to turn on the lights.  And "snow" feel all around.  It was pretty magical.

Thatboy complained about how early in the season the tree lighting occurred,  grumbling that it might have well been July.

Personally, we wait for tree - related celebrating until after Thanksgiving. The weekend after we stuffed ourselves with turkey we headed to pick out our Christmas tree.

The boys quickly fell in love with various trees at the farm.

Finally we found one that Thatboy approved of and while they tied it to the roof of our car, the boys kept themselves buddy.

And then all that was left was decorating and lighting it!

With our tree up,  it officially feels like holiday time. We've traded in apple cider for hot cocoa and egg nog. Lots of egg nog. We quickly ran into a problem, finding that the containers of egg nog sold at our local stores are finished in a day.

The only solution is to make it yourself. Trust me,  it sounds more intimidating than it is. The recipe itself is easy, but it does need time to sit, so plan in advance.  Also,  this is the kind of eggnog you don't share with your kids!

Egg Nog (from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

12 Eggs yolks

12 Egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 quart heavy cream
1 quart milk
1 quart bourbon whisky
1 cup rum

1. Beat egg yolks with 1 cup of sugar and salt until very light.  
2. Beat egg whites until stiff
3. Beat in remaining 1/2 cup sugar.  
4. Combine yolks and whites and beat until thoroughly blended.  
5. Beat in cream
6. Beat in milk.  
7. Stir in whisky, beat well.
8. Add rum.  Pour into a gallon jug and refrigerate for one week.
9. Shake thoroughly before serving.