Wintertime Eggnog Reminiscences

My Grandmother was fond of telling stories and one of her favorites was when she lived in a logging camp in Northern California and a sudden heavy snow storm made it impossible to even get the log train to move. The loggers gamely dug paths from cabin to cabin and out to the outhouses, and made sure that Grandma could get to the cook shack where she reigned as queen for all the unmarried loggers. It was almost Thanksgiving when she realized that she was almost out of eggs and milk and would not be able to prepare the Traditional Eggnog for the crew. These were hard working, hard living men who would do without alot of things, but going without their eggnog was going to make them a tad bit touchy.

Now my father was a young teenager at that time and spent every free moment sking. It was decided that since this was an emergency situation that he would ski into the nearest town and bring back the needed supplies. They outfitted him with a sled and off he went with instructions not to return if he couldn't get the eggs and milk. It took him a full day to ski into town, a distance of over 60 miles and another full day to make it back to camp. It was getting dark and he was cautious with where he was going, the temperature was dropping way below zero and he was having problems pulling the sled through the drifts. He knew if he stopped he would not survive the night. He kept up a slow steady pace that brought him back into the camp after midnight where he found all of the logging crew waiting up for him. They cheered and made a great fuss over his journey making my father proud of what he had done.

When I found an eggnog recipe in a cook book that was published in 1915 I immediately thought of how hard a life our fore fathers lived to bring us to this modern day and what a rich heritage they have left us!

Eggnog Freeze

I was asked why I include low calorie recipes in my blog for eggnog. The remark went something like 'you can always exercise to take care of those calories'. Exercise is an important part of staying healthy. We need to be up and moving to use up calories and to strengthen our bodies. But for those of us who are overweight or have nutritional needs that require us to limit our intake of sugar I find it useful to have access to recipes that still have great taste and limit the sugar intake. The young generation just getting started is mostly overweight and low on movement, I can treat my nieces to an eggnog freeze and not be increasing their sugar intake at the same time. So, yes I agree that we should exercise to take off unwanted weight, but I also think we should all have access to great eggnog recipes that satisfy our taste buds.



My friends usually start bugging me to make some eggnog freezes about the time the weather starts heating up above 70 degrees. The rich taste makes a great way to end a barbecue menu that includes hot dogs and hamburgers. I do make my freezes with the low calorie eggnog so that I can limit the calories for the after dinner treat. With the addition of fresh berries and an occasional banana I have them requesting this healthy sweet instead of heavy pies or candybars.

Enjoy this summer by adding eggnog to your families menu and know that you are adding great nutrition and taste that they will request through out the year!