Saturday, December 5, 2009

This Has Nothing to do with Business BUT, mmmmm!



While it might not sound good, because people say that the ingredients don't seem to go together- like I'd know, but I promise every single one of the people writing about this recipe have been jazzed.

My thought is that I am going to make this on Christmas Eve- and then also, I want to make a relish tray; turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, dinners rolls and a pumpkin pie!
Now, how to make my current ephemeral obsession:

Peppermint Eggnog Punch

Ingredients:

1 quart peppermint ice cream
1 quart eggnog
4 (12 fluid ounce) cans or bottles ginger ale, chilled
1 cup rum (If I put in more, is that going to ruin it? And it is herein that I start thinking, well, if some is good, MORE has got to be better- and then it all goes to hell.)
24 small peppermint candy canes for garnish

Directions:

Set aside for 2 or 3 round scoops of ice cream in the freezer for garnish. Stir remaining ice cream until softened. Gradually stir in eggnog and rum. Transfer to punch bowl (oooh, and I have a new purdy, purdy punch bowl!) and stir in ginger ale. Hang candy canes around the edge of the punchbowl. Float reserved ice cream scoops on tops, and serve immediately.


Come on, Christmas Eve! If any of you guys make this, let me know how you liked it. And if you add more rum, get frisky with your mother in law and get thrown in jail; that's really on you.

26 comments:

  1. The first rule of cooking is you can always add more, but you can't take it out! Add the cup of rum and then do it by 1/4 cup at a time or a shot at a time. You don't want the rum to be overpowering! :)

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  2. An extra dash of rum couldn't hurt, I suppose. I am seriously tempted to try this, but I have to be honest. I detest anything that has peppermint in it (aside from peppermint itself; I can have it plain, but not combined with anything). For example, I believe mint and chocolate is the most morally abhorrent mixture ever concocted.

    But hmmm...with the ginger ale, I'm betting this would be a really fresh and Christmas-y sort of drink. I'll have to mull this one over.

    And darn you for beating me to the punch (no pun intended)! I was going to post a holiday drink recipe here pretty soon...for the benefit of our Blogger audience...

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  3. Anonymous,

    Ah ha! So there are "rules of cooking"? No one has informed me of this.

    May I please have your number on speed dial, (no, I don't need to know you or your name) when I enter the kitchen?

    Honestly, thank you for the advice. Now I see how I really screw things up to the point of no turning back.

    I flunked home economics and got... wait for it- kicked off the cheerleading squad.

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  4. Postman,

    I thought, if I wanted more rum, of simply having a little bit of rum and Coke Zero on the side. Just in case.

    Can you please advise as to what rum to use? I love coconut rum, but, even I know that it'd be really bad, right? You know Malibu coconut rum mixed with Coke Zero? Mmmm.

    And really! Mint and chocolate is not nearly so heretical as chocolate and peanut butter! Reeses peanut butter cups make me ILL. GROSS. Sweet, too sweet, grossness wrapped up like a cupcake. NO!

    Postman, until we actually try something, how do we know if we like it or not? And listen, you can't pull much on me because you already put it out there that you eat live, squirming baby octopus. You did that. I did not do that. Therefore, if Entrepreneur Chick suggests a simple holiday punch, I believe your baby octopus eating self should at least try it before you decide you do not like it. What do ya say? Hmmm? :) I was just helping you mull it over.

    Sorry about doing this (drink recipe) first. BUT, you are the professional here- I'm just a wanna be.

    Please see previous comment.

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  5. I'm planning to do Hot Buttered Rum at my holiday party, but this sounds good too. I'd leave the rum amount like the recipe says, but maybe keep the bottle nearby if you want to add more to your own drink.

    I love eggnog, but with brandy. (Or Penn. Dutch, of course.) I make an eggnog cheesecake garnished with sugared rosemary and cranberries that is so incredibly good. I once got a marriage proposal because of it.

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  6. Oh-ho, you think I'm a professional? I'm flattered. All I do is mix drinks. None of them come out right. Every drink I've ever mixed for my friend Virginia has been a flop. But thank you for lending me an aura of credibility anyway.

    Point well taken. If I can eat raw, live mollusks, I can certainly go for peppermint-whatever. Okay, I'll try it.

    Does your recipe specify whether you're supposed to use "light rum" (the clear stuff) or "dark rum" (the golden, more flavorful stuff)? It depends on how much rum flavor you want. If you simply want to know there's rum in the drink and taste it, Bacardi is fine. If you want to have some real rum flavor in there, I'd suggest shooting a little higher. Mount Gay is my absolute favorite dark rum ever. It might be hard to find but it's worth the price.

    Never tried Malibu, but I know of it. [Sigh]...guess I'll have to try Malibu/Coke Zero now too...

    Chocolate and peanut butter?! That's gorgeous! What planet are you from, anyway??

    That's right, I heard you got kicked off the cheerleading squad. Well, Pollinatrix was dismissed from her work in singing telegrams and I got fired from my job as an editorial assistant at the Daily Press...the hell with it.

    Congratulations on sticking it to your home ec professors by being a successful entrepreneur.

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  7. Polly,

    I did tell you were are looking for a wife? You don't have to take out the trash or anything!

    "I make an eggnog cheesecake garnished with sugared rosemary and cranberries that is so incredibly good."

    Who would not want to marry you, girl? Mmmmm. Oh, yeah. Gimme more.

    Your party sounds lovely. Hot buttered rum. Now, see, that sounds like way too much liability for me. You've got hot butter. I'd be drinking with hot butter? Nope. Better not.

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  8. Postman,

    On the bright side, Coke Zero and coconut Malibu rum are so easy to slap together. Virginia will love it! But give me my props, k? You tell her this is from E.C. Put a cherry in there too, and tell her that's also from me.
    Wouldn't it be also adorable to put in a little exotic animal stirrer? Maybe a monkey or something? Yes. That would be adorable. Tell her that's also from me. I'll find out if you don't.

    Eww, if we have Halloween together, you can have all the Reeses out of my loot bag from our trick or treating. Deal?

    The people were talking about dark rum, now that you mention it.

    Yeah, that's right! Hey ECONOMICS TEACHER? Yeah, YOU. Well, I'm still in therapy from the scars of rejection, the Xanax is helping- yet with time, my therapist thinks I can pretty much rely on St. John's Wort and Mad Dog 20/20. So see, you didn't totally ruin my life after all.

    But at every costume party since junior high, I've dressed up as a cheerleader. What are you going to do about THAT, huh?

    GO FREAKIN' TEAM!

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  9. A Public Service Announcement to Everyone Who's Concerned about This Recipe:

    I've been talking to some of my people. As in my people Amy and my people Allison- Allison is that chick on the right of my side bar over there listed as: 'My Best Friend'.

    Amy said, after I explained how this is made, and I quote: "Oh." Not exactly the voice of enthusiasm.

    Allison used a little larger and pointed syllable: "YUCK."

    And honestly, a fourth grader can hold a cup a rum! It's just one cup.

    And, where do you get peppermint ice cream? I don't like ice cream so don't pay attention, but I'm pretty sure I've not seen it in the grocery store.

    Maybe Baskin Robbins? I can Google-

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  10. Braum's always has peppermint ice cream. :)

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  11. Ha! Good deal. Alrightie, I'll let you know how it goes...

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  12. Sure EC, I'll marry you. But I'm not, under any circumstances, moving to Dallas. You'll just have to come here. We have a wonderful Chamber of Commerce. Speaking of which, I met with the director and he was very helpful both with GreenSuds and Illuminated Manuscripts. He said he hears of the need for a good editor/writer often, so he'll "keep his ears open." He also gave me a list of contacts for financing GreenSuds.

    I need some advice from you and Postman (and whoever else wants to jump in). This holiday party I'm planning - since the dates of both Christmas and New Year's fall on the weekend, I'm having a hard time picking a date. I was going to do it on the 19th, but the church I live next door to is having a live nativity that day, and parking will be scarce.

    So the question is - do you think it would be stupid to have a New Year's Day party, like in the afternoon? My daughter thinks people will be too hungover to come, but to me, New Year's Day is so boring, I think a party would give people something to do. And it would be mellow, which is good, cuz I always worry about parties getting out of hand when I host them.

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  13. Oh, I almost forgot - I love all your new sidebar pics, but, ahem, where is the one of you in the little black dress???

    I bet you thought I'd forgotten.

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  14. Polly,

    Well I was going to surprise you with this pic on our wedding night, but because you brought it up...

    We purchased the picture from the photographer that evening, but it has not arrived yet.

    I just might have to take another shot- actually from behind, because what really made the dress, was da back view. ;)

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  15. One more for Polly,

    Postman and I in business? Well, you ask him because he might say 'no' to me.

    Anyway, I asked Tony about your party idea and he came up with this kind of neat theme.

    For New Year's Day- you know how it's always turning midnight somewhere in the world? Tony says it'd be cool if you have an "International New Year's Party" in the different time zones. So when it turns midnight in, I don't know, Asia, you drink and make a lot of noise- and so on and so forth.

    Personally, I like the party idea on New Year's Day. I'm usually a little bored, just like you said. The highlight of my day is taking down the Christmas decorations and doing B 52 shot simultaneously. It's my new tradition.

    Oh, and we eat black eyed peas.

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  16. Ah, yes, the back view. Have I mentioned that I have a butt fetish? I'm rather a connoisseur. I have to regularly restrain myself from slapping random people's derrieres.

    Wow - what a great party idea! That's absolutely fabulous. Tell Tony thanks. I'm definitely going to do that.

    I can't stand black-eyed peas. The fact that you're supposed to eat them just adds to the depression that always hits me on New Year's. In fact, I don't like New Year's Eve, even. I love Christmas so much, that when it's over I just get kind of morose for a while.

    By the way, I wanted to tell you (and Postman, since he doesn't like peppermint) about another thing I make at Christmas: Peppermint Cookie Balls. I don't like peppermint much either, Postman, but these are totally to die for! Shortbread dough with a cream cheese/smashed candy cane filling, all rolled in icing sugar. Mmmm! They're delicious, and go extremely fast, especially compared to the amount of time it takes to make them.

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  17. Polly,

    Peppermint Cookie Balls?! Can we move the wedding date up?!

    Do you think, if they are not too advanced, and contain ingredients I would not understand {example: I looked in the dairy section once for "cream of tartar") that I could make them?

    If so, do you mind sending the recipe via email? Mmmmmm.

    Oh, wouldn't they go GREAT with my Peppermint Egg Nog, or is that too much peppermint?

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  18. Hmm. That might be too much peppermint, it depends how pepperminty the egg nog tastes. The cookies are actually pretty mild. They're easy as far as ingredients, but hard in other ways. For one thing, the dough is hard to get to stay together - it's just butter and flour. You have to crush candy canes, which is easy if you have a food processor, although somewhat loud and violent. I don't have a food processor. I've done it in a blender, but it's hard to get all the chunks. I've even done it with a hammer. Don't ask. It's also a total pain in the ass to get the little bitty bit of filling into the center of the cookie ball, and then close up the dough without any leaking out.

    Do you still want the recipe?

    And by the way, I totally agree with you about chocolate and peanut butter - gross!

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  19. Polly,

    In business, I never say I can't figure something out or do something.

    In the kitchen? I'm absolutely terrified.

    Yes, the recipe is too advanced and the new name of the cookies can be, should I ever be so foolish to attempt them:

    "Peppermint Sorta Cookie Fall to Crap Balls"

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  20. Yeah, or we could just call them "A Kick in the (Peppermint) Balls."

    We don't even make them every year (although we always plan to) because of the amount of time and the kind of mood you have to be in to make them.

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  21. EC: Holy crap, would I say "NO" to being in business with Entrepreneur Chick? She of the...what is it now? Four businesses? Can't argue with that kind of track record. And she knows how to sock it to people. I have no effing idea how to sock it to people. I need a business partner who could sock it to people. Enough said.

    Polly: "A Kick in the (Peppermint) Balls" is a splendid name. I heartily endorse it. They sound luscious, even without that humdinger of a name. I wouldn't be averse to trying them on your recommendation. Heck, I'm not much for cream cheese (except on bagels) but my mother makes this amazing cream cheese frosting that she puts on her famous pumpkin bars every Halloween. Yummy, yummy.

    My suggestion for the party date would be December 21st (or whenever the solstice is, Yule). Nice time for a Christmas party, and still a few days before the Big One. Or, a New Year's party is dandy too. Still leaves people time to get home and stay up until midnight for the big huzzah.

    Congratulations on your wedding announcement, EC and Polly. Always hoped you two kids would get together...I s'pose I'll have to start up a private jet service between Dallas and Taos (you do have an airport, right, Polly?) so EC can conduct her affairs while cohabitating with the Pollinatrix...

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  22. EC, I think we should ask Postman to be our maid of honor.

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  23. Polly,

    Well, what do you think of this idea?

    We could sure use a pilot around the house AND he knows how to make drinks.

    That's a no-brainer.

    Let's ask him to marry us!

    That way, the wedding pictures will look more balanced in that, Postman will be in the middle and we could be on either side. Nice.

    And besides, I have to confess, I really wanted to wear a wedding gown too, so this way, we both can!

    What do you say?

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  24. I think you'd carry off a tux pretty well, EC. But I understand if you've got your heart set on a gown.

    Fine, I accept! This way I get peppermint cookies and business advice for free. Plus I have a steady couple of regulars to try mixed drinks out on. Let's get married!

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  25. Ok, but Postman, your dad has to cater with his reubens. Can you turn reubens into finger sandwiches?

    I know an English professor who's also a stand-up comedian who can perform the ceremony.

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  26. Man, this wedding just keeps getting better all the time. Reuben sandwiches and an English professor-cum-comedian. (I'm sure my dad can whip up the finger variety.)

    What's next? Think I could get the Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels to overfly the reception?

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