Egg Nog

This is the season of egg nog. My son considers the holiday season officially begun when he sees the first container of egg nog available in the stores. I must confess that I was never a fan. I’m not a big milk
drinker, so thick, spicy milk didn’t really appeal to me.

That all changed two years ago. I made some cookies that called for an egg nog glaze. It was really simple—a cup of powdered sugar, a few drops of vanilla, and enough egg nog to make it the right consistency. The
glaze was really good, and I decided to use it on some of the other baked goods
I made that year—cinnamon rolls, homemade donuts, etc.

Still, since I was only using a few tablespoons of egg nog at a time I had a lot of egg nog left over. I was complaining a bit to my son that I wished I could buy smaller containers of egg nog, when he said, “Why
aren’t you using it in your coffee?” Well, that changed everything. I now look
forward to that first container of egg nog (Southern Comfort brand is my
favorite) because it really is good in my coffee.

This year I started really experimenting with it. Here are some of the things I’ve tried, and they’ve all been great successes.

Egg Nog French Toast—use egg nog with the beaten egg and a little vanilla or orange extract for dipping your thick-sliced bread. You might not even need syrup on this.

Hot Cocoa Nog—use ½ milk, ½ egg nog when you make your cocoa. This works for homemade or instant. Please don’t use water when you make instant cocoa. Milk makes it so much
creamier and richer. Substituting egg nog for half of the milk makes it thick,
rich, and slightly spicy.

Pumpkin Nog Pie—use egg nog in place of whatever milk you use in your pumpkin pie. Seriously, it’s great.

Egg nog is only available for a few months. Take advantage of it while it lasts.

Rae Bates is an Independent Consultant and Team Leader with The Pampered Chef. She welcomes questions about food, nutrition, and entertaining, as well as suggestions for future blogs.