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| Christmas morning eggnog made fresh with eggs, heavy cream, and vanilla ice cream. |
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| Chocolate cream pie |
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| Homemade ice cream spooned right from the dasher |
Hopefully I won't be setting a precedent by posting food on this first day of the challenge, but it was so irresistible given the topic. I suppose I could have chosen a few fluffy white snow images, as I do have several beautiful snow scenes in the photo files, but I am already not looking forward to the frozen precipitation which just means I will be perpetually cold for the next five months!
Each image above, of course, comes with a story...
Homemade eggnog on Christmas morning is one of my family's favorite holiday traditions. The recipe was one my mother acquired when she was working at the WOI-TV station at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. For one of their holiday episodes, they did a cooking segment which the dairy industry on campus provided the recipe for the eggnog as well as the fudge that we make every year. The eggnog was a perfect complement to the Christmas Tree Bread, bacon, and fresh squeezed orange juice that made up our Christmas Day brunch. I have to admit eggnog and Christmas Tree Bread are somewhat of an acquired taste, but I did grow to love and look forward to both. So I am carrying on the tradition (at least with the making of the eggnog). The Christmas Tree Bread has been substituted with scones and/or caramel rolls.
The Norske Nook in Hayward, Wisconsin is known for their pies. Winning several awards in National Pie Championships over the years, there is absolutely no reason not to leave room for dessert after a meal if you are in the area and get the chance to stop in. Can't you just imagine that cream on the top of the pie melting in your mouth as the fork slides down through the cloud-like texture for the next bite??!! MMMMMMMmmmm!
What is a dasher?, you may ask. In this case, it certainly is not one of Santa's reindeer! It came as quite a shock to me, that not everyone has eaten homemade ice cream right from the dasher! For me, it was as natural and traditional as blowing out the candles on the birthday cake from the time I was a little girl. The painstaking process of preparing the mixture, having the ice and salt on hand for the ice cream maker, and actually waiting for the mixture to freeze (in the early days, using a hand-crank freezer) the appropriate amount is something of a lost art. However, my grandma made birthdays and other occasions extra special with a dollop of that rich, cool, creamy substance snuggled up next to the cake all my growing up years. And now my Aunt Bev continues to keep the fire burning--or in this case--the freezer turning! The above image, in fact, is just this year for my son's 25th birthday dinner celebration.
