Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas Food!

Have a drink... courtesy of our English Café Christmas Party!

In the spirit of our English Café Christmas Party we hosted on Saturday, Dec. 21, I am posting several of the drinks and foods we prepared.  I don't have many pictures from the preparation process, since I was pretty busy trying to make a lot of food for the party.  So I tried to find some pictures on the internet to show you approximately what I did.  Hopefully everything will make sense for you.  And I hope you are able to enjoy some of them over these holidays!

Egg Nog

Egg nog is a favorite of many Americans over the Christmas holidays.  There are, of course, many recipes and varieties of Egg nog.  Some use alcohol, some do not.  This recipe does not use alcohol, since I don't care for the taste and the burning sensation as it goes down my throat.  This recipe should yield 6-8 cups of egg nog, depending on how much you consider a "cup".  ;-)

Ingredients:
6 Eggs
1 L Cold milk
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/3 cup Heavy cream (сливка 20%)
1 packet (3 g) Vanilla (ванилин)
1 pinch Nutmeg
1 pinch Salt

Put it all in a 2L blender and mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds.  I poured two batches of this recipe into a large glass bowl and used a ladle to serve it to guests.  It is best served cold, which is against Russian tradition of drinking warm or hot liquids.  Some like it with a cinnamon stick in the glass.  Some like it with whipped cream on top.  Experiment to see what you like, and enjoy!  :o)

Hot Apple Cider (Rebecca's recipe)

Based on the fact that this was drunk as fast as the egg nog says it was a popular drink at the Christmas party as well!  It's also a very popular drink in America during the winter months.  Since Fall comes later where we live, apple harvest also comes later than in Russia.  And since there are so many apples available early in winter, they are generally used in many recipes during the holidays.  Apple pies, applesauce, apple cider, caramel apples, and apple butter are all traditional apple-based foods.  Since this one is a hot drink, it's not a secret why our Russian friends seemed to enjoy it so much.  :-)


Ingredients:
2 L  Apple Juice
2L  Water
Cinammon Sticks (корица) - the more you use, the stronger the cinnamon flavor
Cloves (гвоздики) - again, the more you use, the stronger clove flavor


Simply put it all in a big pot and heat!  The longer it simmers on the stove, the better your apartment smells... its a wonderful, natural air freshener!  :-)