Ugly Christmas Sweater PJ Party

Best Party Theme Ever... the Ugly Christmas Sweaters are purely enteraining and hideous while the PJs are comfy, festive and fun!

Most did one or the other, some did neither (party poopers) and the most clever did PJS pants and a sweater wooo!

We decorated the room with lot's of red, green, gold and foil based items. We dimmed the lights and used candles and bar spotlights.

We had a gift table for our gift exchange game and a table for sitting, eating, socializing.

We also had the bar stocked with booze, mixers, and some special features including a pitcher of special eggnog and some spiced apple cider.

We used apple cider, apple juice, apple smirinoff vodka and cinnamon sticks in a large punch bowl. There were no measuremeants for a recipe, I just added what I thought would work.. half bowl cider, quarter apple juice and several cups of apple vodka.

Delicious!

Here are a few pics from the party last night.

This is the sweater I made for my husband, who did not end up wearing it - so my girlfriends boyfriend wore it - - - wooo!

Good Times!

The Best Egg Nog Ever

My most favourite holiday egg nog mix is this:

-Just over Half a glass of Egg Nog (I use store bought)
-quarter glass of 2% milk
-a shot or two of Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum
-dash of nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)

The thing about Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum is that it is the perfect mixture of flavour. I think it's that carmel flavour but who knows. It is absolutely, by far (and I have tried many rums) the BEST rum to mix with egg nog.

Last year I posted some home made egnog recipies and other delicious ways to make egg nogg drinks. Click here to see.

Go - Try it!

Cheers

Egg Nog is Good, Egg Nog is Great...

Part of the Holiday Season for me involves Egg Nog [that and Mandarin Oranges]

My mother makes her own home-made Bailey's Every Year which is always a great addition to Egg Nog... along with Rum... I prefer Spiced Rum and my new fave this year is Sailor Jerry Rum.

It is the perfect blend and mixes so well with Egg Nog. If you like sweet, this you will love.

Other Sweet Egg Nog drinks include:

Butterscotch Schnapps and Eggnog

Coffee Liqueur and Egg Nog

Kaluha and Egg Nog

Brandy, Creme de Cacao and Eggnog

....the list goes on and on and on....

Martini Mandy loves... well.. Martini's... and here is an Egg Nog Martini... [I usually don't like creamy drinks but this one at Christmas is acceptable]

Egg Nog Martini

1 1/2 ounces Dark Rum

1 ounce Captain Morgan’s spiced rum

1/2 ounce Stoli Vanilla vodka

3 ounces Eggnog [ I often do 2 oz Egg Nog and 1 oz Milk ]

1/4 ounce Simple syrup

Prepare Chilled Martini Glass Rim by dipping in honey and then crushed graham Cracker Crumbs. Set Aside. Mix dark rum, spiced rum, Vodka and Eggnog/Milk with a dash of simple syrup with Ice in Shaker. Shake well. Strain into Prepared Martini Glass. Garnish with a cinammon stick.

I've never made my own Egg Nog, I usually do store bought and even dilute mine with about 50% Egg Nog and 50% Milk (but I don't like the thickness of eggnog and grew up with a mother who liked to make things last with 4 kids so she would mix a 4L jig [or gallong] with hald milk and half Egg Nog.... Side Note - don't bake a cake using Egg Nog instead of Milk... it leads to a rubbery substance in the cake... I won't go into details on how I learned THAT lesson....

Anyways, I searched online and found this great post and recipe for Home Made Egg Nog:

This year I finally decided to give homemade eggnog a try. I searched through countless recipes and tried quite a few to limited success. I ruled out anything that involved cooking the eggs, since I already knew that wasn't what I wanted. I did not like the recipes that needed multiple bowls for beating multiple components. Since I never exactly wanted to indulge in eggnog in the first place, I didn't want an overly indulgent recipe, either.

Finally, I came across this recipe, which I liked because I wouldn't have to separate and independently beat the eggs and because there is no cream to make it too rich. After a few tries, a few eggs and a few modifications, I had eggnog. And it wasn't bad!
This eggnog is very easy to make and is relatively low in fat. You can use any kind of milk, though I recommend low fat. The resulting nog is creamy and slightly eggy, without having a trace of store-bought taste. It reminds me of a thin, but enriched, milkshake. The vanilla and nutmeg really compliment eachother. The alcohol is entirely optional and you can substitute bourbon or rum to suit your tastes.

Homemade Eggnog
2 eggs, room temperature
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp nutmeg, plus more for serving
2 cups low fat milk
2 oz. brandy (optional)

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until light in color and sugar is dissolved. Whisk in vanilla, nutmeg, milk and brandy, if using. Strain into a small pitcher and chill.
Pour into glasses and sprinkle with additional nutmeg.
Makes 2 large or 4 small servings.

Personally....

This whole Raw Egg thing makes me uncomfortable... I guess with store-bought I feel assured it's been "taken care of" to be healthier and that I could always sue a ton of people if it made me sick... but home made - well, pretty much it's all up to you....

Personally, I like sticking to store-bought (diluted with milk) and adding a variety of booze to it for kick....

But you do as you wish ;)