Eggless Egg Nog

Nothing like some good Egg Nog to bring in the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. The younger generation may not get (or like) this , but some of us seasoned folks understand the love for this drink. Egg Nog. along with the smells of winter, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking goods and turkey; all usher in the Season for Merriment and Celebration. 

As I have gotten older, I realized that lactose intolerance can inhibit my drinking of this fine beverage. I also find that raw egg kinda disagrees with me. This recipe is a great alternative! I substitute the whole milk for lactose free milk. 

 

 Am I happy? Yep!!    I think you will be too:)

Ingredients:

 

5 cups 2% or whole milk
1 3.4oz. pkg. Vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp. Rum Extract
1/4 tsp. each of ground nutmeg, allspice, ginger

Directions:

 

Start with cold  milk and put about half of it, along with all other ingredients in blender and blend very well at medium to high speed.  Pour into serving pitcher and add remaining milk and stir well. Refrigerate at least 1-1/2 hours.

Stir before serving

White Hot Chocolate

Just the right amount of spice. Great alternative to regular hot chocolate. This can be topped with whipping cream or marshmallows. Yummedy Yum Yum!!!!

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

3 cups half-and-half cream, divided

2/3 cup vanilla baking chips
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches)
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. almond extract
ground cinnamon optional

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine ¼ cup of cream, vanilla chips, cinnamon stick and nutmeg. Stir over low heat until chips are melted: discard cinnamon. Add remaining cream; stir until heated thoroughly. Remove from the heat; add extracts. Sprinkle each serving with ground cinnamon if desired.

Yields 4 servings

Percolator Punch

This recipe is an older one. Notice the “percolator” method.  Most folks now do not even use percolators. Everybody wants the “get it now” quick methods, but sometimes the slower method allows the flavors to blend better, giving you a fuller flavor.

Delicious drink for the Holiday Season, party time or anytime. Only two ingredient and easy.

Ingredients:

9 cups apple cider
½ cup cinnamon red-hot candies

Directions:

Pour apple cider into percolator: place candies in percolator basket. Cover and begin the perking cycle. When cycle is complete, remove the basket and leave punch in the pot to keep warm.

 

Yields 2 ½ quarts

Spiced Ham in Cider (Slow Cooker)

Great time-saver and convenient. A little bit different....but oh so good! This calls for canned ham, but I think any precooked boneless ham would do. Great to use Turkey ham also.

Ingredients:

1 (3 lb.) canned ham
whole cloves
1 pt. Of sweet apple cider
Dried apricots and dark raisins

Directions:

Preheat slow cooker on high setting.

Stud ham on each side with whole cloves. Place in slow cooker and add cider. Cook for 30 minutes. Add 10 dried apricots and a handful of raisins and cook 50 minutes longer. Remove from the cooker and drain on platter before slicing and serving with the cook fruit.

Recipe from my 1984 collection.

Guacamole (Low Cholesterol)

This dip should not be consumed by anyone on a low-fat diet. Avocados are high in fat, but free of cholesterol. Make sure that the mayonnaise you are using is prepared in polyunsaturated oil or unhydrogenated oil.

 

Can be made as thick and chunky or as smooth as your taste buds require.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup mashed avocado
1 tbs. Mayonnaise
2 tbs. Lemon juice
1 tbs. Finely chopped onion
¼ tsp. hot pepper sauce
1 small tomato chopped

DIRECTIONS:

 

Combine all ingredients. Chill. Makes abt. 1 ¼ cups

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

This recipe can be made ahead of time. Remember to fix twice as many as you think you’ll need. These are guaranteed to be gobbled up quickly!!!!

INGREDIENTS

36 medium mushrooms
½ lb. sausage
4 ounces herb stuffing mix, crumb type
mayonnaise to moisten
1 large onion or 3 green onions (including tops) chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Wash mushrooms. Remove stems and chop. Brown sausage, stems and onions. Drain well. Mix sausage mixture and stuffing with enough mayonnaise to hold together. Place caps in baking dish, fill with sausage mixture. Cover and chill. These can be made a day ahead. At serving time, preheat oven to 450. Bake 10 minutes.

Note: To accompany steak, use 8 very large mushrooms. Bake 15 minutes.

Pink Poodle Pie

This just makes a pretty pie...period. The contrast in the chocolate crust and the pink filling will prepare your taste buds for the Wonderful flavor that is getting ready to be ingested. This recipe is easy, quick and ready to be shared with dinner guest.

I bet this would be great as a baby or bridal shower dish. I bet you could switched up the cherry filling (for a girl) for a blueberry filling (for a boy), to make an eye appealing dish for that baby shower. What do you think?

 

 

2 chocolate pie crust
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (6 oz) can frozen pink lemonade, thawed but not diluted
1 (6 oz) carton Cool Whip
1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling
1 (8oz) can crushed pineapple drained
Optional: Chopped pecans

Mix lemonade with condensed mil. Fold in remaining ingredients. Pour into pie shells. Chill and serve

Jolly Wassail Bowl (English Holiday Punch)

The Wassail bowl was a Christmas must in English homes. Carolers visited door-to-door, exchanging songs for a mug of the steaming brew.

“Wassail” is Anglo-Saxon for “Be of good health” and the word finally cam to mean the drink itself. The toast floating on the surface of the punch gave rise to the expression “to drink a toast”.

There are many versions of the recipe, but most of them are usually a base of mulled wine or cider.

2 qts. apple cider
4 cups orange juice
½ cup honey
2 tbsp. Lemon juice
4 sticks cinnamon
2 tbsp. whole cloves
2 tbsp. Allspice
½ tsp. Grated nutmeg

In a Dutch oven or large kettle combine all ingredients. Cook over medium heat until hot. Simmer for 10 minutes. Strain out spices before serving. Makes about 22 (4 oz) servings.