Aged Eggnog And Plum Gin For The Holidays. Make Them Now. Everything Else Is Superfluous.

Thanksgiving.  A holiday I am so obsessed with that I begin preparing in August.  After you read this post, you will too. 

I cook for a solid week to prepare Thanksgiving dinner.  Everything is made from scratch.  Yeast rolls rise three days, pumpkins are picked and roasted for pie, cranberries acquired from the first organic cranberry farm in WA State.  I'll write more about it this fall.  Suffice to say, a lot of good stuff goes into the meal.  Yet . . .

When I call with Thanksgiving dinner invitations I have barely begun when I’m interrupted.  “Did you make eggnog?”  “I hope there will be eggnog.”  “Will you save me some eggnog if I can only make it over for dessert?”

I don’t know why I bother with the food.

If you want to be the most sought-after host or hostess this holiday season, you’ll take advantage of two things in abundance right now: fresh plums, and farm-fresh eggs, and make aged eggnog and plum gin.  Everything else is superfluous. 

Aged Eggnog 
After two or more months in the refrigerator, this elixir emerges silky smooth, rich, flecked with vanilla bean, and lethal from copious amounts of bourbon, rum, and cognac.  Meant to be drunk in portions measuring a couple of ounces, and unlike anything you have ever tasted. Make a double batch for your Thanksgiving guests, for the holiday hostess gift everyone really wants, and to enjoy again on Christmas night.

12 large very fresh organic eggs (get them from a local farm)
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 quart whole milk
1 liter bourbon, such as Maker's Mark, Jack Daniels, or Trader Joe's
1/2 cup dark rum
1 cup Cognac or other brandy
1 vanilla bean
Pinch sea salt

Separate egg yolks and whites. (Reserve the whites for another use.) Combine yolks and sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk until well blended and creamy.

Add cream, milk, bourbon, rum, Cognac, and salt, then whisk to combine. Split vanilla bean lengthwise.  Scrape seeds into mixture and whisk.  Ladle eggnog into glass containers (such carboys or empty liquor bottles). Snip vanilla bean into as many pieces as you have filled containers and drop a piece in each one.  Seal containers and refrigerate at least 4 weeks, and up to a year, shaking the bottles every week or so.

 

*Note: Doubling this recipe nets two full carboys, and a quart size mason jar.  I use the mason jar as a tester every few weeks to see how the eggnog is aging.

Plum Gin 
Imbibe Magazine 

The loveliest of holiday craft cocktails. The color of summer from peak of season plums macerated for a month in gin, with lemon and a teensy hint of cinnamon stick.  Drink straight up, on the rocks with a twist, or as we do in The Saint, a heavenly cocktail.

 

1 lb ripe plums, washed
1 750 ml bottle gin
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 lemon, washed
1 cinnamon stick

Spread plums on a cookie sheet and freeze for 12 hours, or overnight.

Place frozen plums and 1 cinnamon stick in a large jar with a tight lid.  Add sugar, top with gin.  Use a vegetable peeler to remove zest from 1 washed lemon, avoiding the white pith.  Add lemon zest to jar, stir with a spoon.  It's OK if the sugar doesn't dissolve.  Seal jar with lid.

After 24 hours, remove the cinnamon stick and stir mixture.  Cover again and place in cool, dark spot for 1 month, shaking the jar every few days.

After 1 month, remove and discard plums and lemon.  Fine strain the liquid through multiple layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter while funneling into a clean glass bottle.

Cap or cork and store at room temperature for up to 6 months. 

The Saint Cocktail 
3 ounces plum gin
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
Lemon twist for garnish

Combine all drink ingredients in a cocktail shaker.  Add ice.  Shake until cold.  Strain into chilled coupe glass.  Garnish with lemon twist. 

Happy Ho, Ho, Boozy Ho, To You!