Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Toys in every store!

Traditions.

My family has never been one for traditions. We didn't have a church we went to regularly, didn't do Easter Egg hunts each year and never did pancakes on a Sunday morning. But, every year since I was a little girl on the 1st of December, we dusted off the Christmas decorations, drank eggnog and devoured rumballs. I remember the last family Eggnog Night we had, thankfully, was a very typical one; Mum and I decorated the tree with precision and gold-only decorations, while Dad and Ash sat drinking brandy-infused Eggnog, watching on and offering up an opinion, when asked!

To this day I still love the 1st of December. I love it. I have three favourite days of the year, Pete's birthday, our wedding anniversary and December 1. Pete and I have started our own traditions over the years, but Eggnog Night on the 1st of December has stayed firmly in its place as one of my most favourite evenings.

The theme for each Christmas has to be thought about well in advance so that on the 1st of December, all the decorations for this year's theme are ready to adorn the tree and house. This year my theme is forrest green and pearl! I like to keep things simple with lots of fairy lights. So last night, when Pete got home, Christmas carols welcomed him in the door, followed by a cold glass of Eggnog (now that we live somewhere that is cold over Christmas, we may need to think of warm Eggnog!). We decorated the tree with the new themed decorations and a few sentimental ornaments, and hung the bunting and fairy lights, carol-ing all the way!

I thought I might share my family recipe for Eggnog, although I know there are a lot of variations out there. I know a few people who can't eat egg, so I have even experimented and created an egg-free-Eggnog, which I will share later in the month!

Ingredients:

1 litre milk

4 eggs

1/3 cup of brown sugar

dash of salt

1 teaspoon of vanilla

dash of nutmeg

Method:

1. Heat the milk over low direct heat until scalding hot, but not bubbling. 

2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add all remaining ingredients. 

3. Blend 1/2 cup of hot milk at a time gradually into the egg mixture, until half of the milk is added in. 

4. Using the electric beaters, beat the blended egg and milk mix into the remaining hot milk. 

5. Pour into a jug and leave to cool for a few hours. Strain the milk to make sure you get the little skin bits that develop when hot milk cools. 

6. Pour cold milk into glasses and top with a little nutmeg. 

If you want some brandy, add a dash to each glass. 

Enjoy the taste of Christmas. 

Do you have any Christmas traditions?