Homemade Eggnog: Possible and Delicious

This is one of my favorite recipes to share at holiday gatherings and special parties. You may or may not be a fan of the eggnog that shows up in grocery stores at Christmas time but love or hate it this is something completely different. I happen to dislike store bought eggnog very much. This, however, tastes light and rich and just plain amazing.



The ingredients are few: eggs, milk, sugar, salt, nutmeg, vanilla and cream.



Whisk together the eggs, salt and sugar.



Stir in one quart of milk.



Heat over low heat until the temperature reaches 160 - 170 degrees. Stir constantly or you will have bits of cooked egg in your nog and that's just plain weird. I have saved it from egg chunks by using my immersion blender to reincorporate the separated egg.



Place in an ice water bath (or snow bath if you live in a place that has piles of snow right outside the front door).



Stir in another quart of milk, nutmeg and vanilla.



The proper thing to do now is to take some heavy whipping cream and whip it until soft peaks form. Us poor bush dwelling folks don't have access to heavy whipping cream unless we special order it. So, our emergency substitution for real whipping cream is Dream Whip. It virtually has an endless shelf life. I recommend buying this for your backup Armageddon supplies. That way if the world around you is crumbling you can still have nice desserts.



I normally put the eggnog a punch bowl, top with the whipped cream and sprinkle nutmeg on top for a pretty effect. For this photo my coffee mug will have to do.

I promise you, even the most skeptical party goer will be crazy for this if you can get them to take just one sip.

Homemade Eggnog

Ingredients:
1 dozen eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 quarts milk (divided)
2 T vanilla
1tsp nutmeg
2 c. heavy whipping cream

Pretty punch bowl  

Directions: In a heavy 4-quart saucepan, whisk together eggs, sugar & salt. Add 1 quart of the milk. Cook and stir over low heat until 160 - 170 degrees. Stir in vanilla, nutmeg and remaining milk. Cool in an ice water bath. If the mixture separates mix it in the blender. It'll fix things right up. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or more. When ready to serve, beat cream until soft peaks form. Whisk gently into cooled milk. Pour in to a chilled punch bowl. Sprinkle with nutmeg. 

~AnnMarie

Homemade Yogurt and Other Musings on Milk

Some of the most difficult food items to get in Bush Alaska are dairy products. Fresh milk, yogurt, ice cream, and most types of cheese are a rarity at the local story. One way we keep our dairy needs met is by making our own yogurt.

At first I tried making it in a cooler, as I had seen it done at the Crockett household. That however turned out to be a massive fail for me. Angie also recently mentioned her attempt at crock pot yogurt, also a fail. A couple years ago, I broke down and bought a yogurt maker. As you will find out in the up coming posts, our family is big on kitchen gadgets. They make many cooking tasks easier.

Milk happens to be the main ingredient in yogurt. So, I wanted to tell you about the most amazing brand of powdered milk. The Rudstroms consume massive amounts of milk in a week. Sadly most powdered milk is, well, just plain disgusting. That is until we discovered Moo Milk recommended by our friend Lyndi, a fellow teacher from the way back machine.

There is another option that tastes good, box milk. Box milk is ultra-pasteurized and can be stored on the shelf. The one downfall is that it is heavy and more expensive to ship than powdered milk. See Angie's post on German Pancakes for a peek at box milk.



Moo Milk is technically a "whey milk alternative". I don't really know what that means but it tastes delicious. We order it in 50 pound bags which lasts us just over a year. It's wonderful to always have milk on hand, not to mention it's economical. A gallon of milk ends up costing less than $2. Beat that lower 48! The company that sells the stuff is in Salt Lake City. Here's a link to their sight if you're interested in buying from them. I have to say, they're not the speediest when it comes to shipping, so order a month or two in advance. It's better to be pleasantly surprised than frustrated when you run out of milk.



Now, after all that build up on the wonders of Moo Milk, I must point out it doesn't work for making yogurt. We have to buy "real milk" powdered milk such as Milkman brand. It's not good for drinking, in my opinion, but perfect for yogurt.

Anyway, on to yogurt making.


Whisk together 2 cups of powdered milk, 5 cups of water and 3 tablespoons of sugar.


Heat over medium to medium high heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes.
This kills off all of the bacteria you don't want so you can replace it with the yogurt culture instead.


Let the mixture cool to room temperature. At this point you can add one of two things. Plain yogurt with an active culture or some freeze-dried yogurt starter. I save one jar to use on the next batch. The directions say you can only reuse your yogurt one time. After that use the powder instead.


We purchased this yogurt maker for about $50 and it's has worked flawlessly for the past couple years.
At this step, I often add some fruit or jam for a little flavor.


The milk and culture must sit for 7 hours to do it's thing. This makes yogurt a weekend activity for me. Cooking overnight would be another option.


Delicious yogurt for your enjoyment.

~AnnMarie