Homemade Egg Nog

Let's face it Egg Nog is NOT cheap by any means. Just a quart can run about the same as a gallon of milk some times. YIKES!

A poster on the Lots of Kids board posted their family recipe for Egg Nog which sounded super simple and way cheaper than the store bought stuff.


2 eggs, beaten well *suggestion: blend in a blender, or food processor to get it very well incorporated*
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp nutmeg, ground
2 1/3 cups milk
container of whipping cream (or make whip cream out of as you would normally)

Preparation:
Blend all ingredients together and serve chilled. fold in some whipped cream till the consistancy you like .

Orange Cranberry Sauce

Growing up I never really cared for the gelatinous canned looking mass of supposed "cranberry sauce" that was sitting on the table during Thanksgiving. It did not taste anything like the jello it looked like.

But as I got older I thought I'd try some cranberry sauces, but homemade. My first homemade cranberry sauce was a bitter disaster. Blech. The Food Network recipes weren't completely working for me and I could never get it sweet enough. It seemed like a waste of sugar to me.

So I tossed the idea out the window.

Then a few Thanksgivings back I saw a recipe I think from Paula Dean that used canned whole cranberry sauce. At first I was amazed that canned cranberry sauce could have the berries in them too! LOL

So I tried the recipe and we fell in love with cranberry sauce for the first time ever!

I've tweaked it and modified it to our likings but it really is a great addition to the Thanksgiving table, when it tastes good.

Semi-Homemade Cranberry Sauce

*For best results make one day a head so it can marinate.*

1 can Whole Cranberry Sauce.
1 Large Orange (seedless preferablely)
¼ C finely chopped Walnuts *optional*
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp ground clove


In a bowl empty the can of cranberry sauce. Break up with a fork.

Cut the orange in half. Take one half of the orange and squeeze all of the juice you can from it into the cranberry sauce. Take the other half and cut off all of the rind. Don't peel it because you want to get to all of the juice pouches you can. Once the rind is cut off chop the orange into small pieces and add to the cranberry sauce mix.

Add the finely chopped walnuts, cinnamon, ground cloves, and the pinch of ginger. (You can add more or less of the spices you want to taste)

Mix together well.

Cover and chill for 6-12 hours (18-24 hours is best) so the sauce can marinate and absorbe all of the flavors.

Remove from fridge and either let it reach room temp or serve chilled with your Thanksgiving dinner.

Yummy!

Our Family's Rich Hot Chocolate Mix

Last year I found these wonderful tupperware like bins at Wal-Mart, and while I wish they were twice the size, they do well for most of my bulk foods; like Oatmeal, sugar, flour, rice, and more. This bin holds about 15-20 lbs of sugar or flour and this recipe pretty much fills this bin. But it is worth it in the end

BEST Hot Chocolate Mix
40.7oz/2.54lbs Can of Nesquick - (72 serving can)

58oz/2lbs Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix in a can

22oz/1.6lbs Non Dairy Powdered Creamer

16oz Hershey's Baking Cocoa - Natural Unsweetened

2 - 11.5oz pkg Ghiradelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

Mix together in a large bin (I also have used a 3gal bucket), until well blended and incorporated. You do this by sealing the lid and then rocking the bin back and forth and side to side until you can no longer see the layers. I usually do this in front of the TV for a good 20 minutes or so.










*Yes I know *well* is misspelled as *will*.Deal with it. :D*

We mix this together at the beginning of the season and - YUM! We just love this!

Once mixed
¼ Cup scoop for 8oz. of liquids (hot water or milk)
½ Cup scoop for 16oz of liquids




Okay! So, once you have the mix set this is how you make a mug of Hot Cocoa. In our house we have HUGE mugs and normal mugs. I'll show you how to prepare both.



In either mug, fill 3/4 full of water and microwave on HIGH for a good 3-4 minutes. You want the water as hot as you can get it to help melt the chocolate bits.


*I actually no longer add the Hershey Syrup, it is just optional now.*
In the normal mug add about 1½ scoops of the Hot Cocoa Mix, you of course can add more or less to it.

In the HUGE mug we use between 3-4 scoops depending on the chocolate mood I am in. Normally it's 4 scoops, which is, yes, 1C of the mix. - mind you the mug is 4 times the size of the smaller mug.

Now mix well, making sure the chocolate bits are melted as well as possible.

Then add in some Chocolate Syrup, to taste. It's not measured out so add as much or as little as you'd like. This is to help sweeten the bitterness of the baking cocoa and the bittersweet chocolate bits.



Now add in the milk to top off the mug, and stir again. This adds to the richness, and the creaminess as well as helps to cool it off enough to get to drinking! If you want it warmer then you can always microwave it again for another 30seconds to 1 minute.

I KNOW this is NOT a cheap mixture to make. I certainly wasn't going for cost effectiveness when I set out to make this mix. I was going for a perfectly rich and tantalizing mug of cocoa. It is one of my favorite winter drinks and those childhood packets never did anything for me. It always took at least 2-3 to get the richness I was looking for.

Even still a bin like this can last about 2-3 months, unless it's been really cold out.

Check out how to use this mix for an EXCELLENT Starbucks copycat Double Chocolately Chip Frappe!!