Soon after Monkey Toes and I began dating, I realized a stark difference between us: I love Egg Nog and he does not. I was raised in a family who boldly proclaims that much of our anticipation of the holidays is due to our favorite creamy and delicious holiday Egg Nog beverage. I tease you not! Growing up, a special place was reserved for Egg Nog. We had a charming, built-in oak hutch in our kitchen. My mom would nestle the crystal punch bowl within greenery and lights. We awaited Christmas Eve until that beautiful bowl would be filled with Egg Nog and dallops of real whipped cream. Once ladled into our cups, we would add just a pinch of nutmeg. Perfection.
The first Christmas I celebrated with Monkey and his family, I asked his mom what I could bring to the celebration. She said I didn't need to bring anything. So I offered, "Then I'll bring the Egg Nog." I remember her saying, "umm (long pause) o.k." I was unsure about this exchange and so I asked Monkey if I had said something wrong. He just replied, "Egg Nog is gross. No one in my family drinks it." Heaven help me!
Here is the scenario in my family. My sister hosts our family Christmas. She now has mom's punch bowl, which sits on a section of granite counter top for our celebration. It has the greenery and lights surrounding it, with the cups and the little nutmeg shaker close by. Then, we gather around it and drink. You'll hear at least a couple of us say (after our second glassful) "I probably shouldn't have anymore." But then again, we remember it's Christmas and we won't have this treat for another 365 days. So we merrily drink our way to the bottom of the bowl with a satisfying whipped cream smile to boot.
Merry Christmas to all of my fellow Egg Noggers!
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