Making Steve's Nog....

Made that on FACEinHOLE a few years ago.
Seems appropriate for this post....
It's that time of year again.
And so here I write the tale of Steve's Nog.
Years ago we were experimenting with holiday drinks.  The first was wassail.  Inspired by the tradition, and the California Raisins Christmas special, one year we decided to go wassailing.  Since no one we knew would have wassail we had to supply it.
And it was good.
After reading several different recipes we set out to concoct our own, that suited both tradition and what we could get to make it.  After a couple of tries we settled on a mix of hard apple cider, oranges, juiced and sliced, and spices that simmered on the stove for hours and filled the house with a wonderful Christmassy smell.
But after a while the wassailing tradition lost it's shine.  The idea was to pile in the car with gifts and deliver them to the various recipients along with a holiday toast.  But, especially at that time, we were all much younger then, nobody was home.  Often the driving was bad.  It was just a big pain.
So one year we decided to stay home.
And the tradition of our house being the last stop for a few friends was born.  Steve and I would get up early and do the shopping on Christmas eve.  We'd do all the shopping in one day, often at
Soulard, mostly local, small shops.  Christmas was a personal thing with us.  We wanted something special in a gift.  You don't really find that at Walmart.  A favorite stop on our Christmas eve runs was a small oriental medicine shop on Chippewa.  We bought a lot of gifts there.
I think it's gone now...
But our tradition became: Get up, get coffee, run to Soulard, hit the video store, this was back in the day man, and then finish where ever we needed to go.  Sometimes it was a run to a book store.  then we'd hit the grocery store and head home for clean and prep.  We'd spend Christmas eve at home with good munchies, wassail on the stove, and good movies.  Wrap what ever we where wrapping and relax.  We told everybody that we were home after 5 or 6 pm and they were welcome to stop by if they wanted.  After the first year we became the last call of the night and we had a lot of fun.
It was the second of those years when Steve came to me and said he wanted to try eggnog.
And I was like
What?
For me eggnog was the funny tasting stuff that came in a carton from the dairy aisles.  Sometimes mixed with some sort of alcohol, usually rum.
I was not impressed with the idea.  But Steve was on a quest...
The first couple of tries were not bad, but not much to write home about.
And I still had a thing about drinking raw eggs...
And then came Steve's Nog.
And everything changed.
He cobbled this together from 3 different recipes and what he read in my old bar tenders book.
And it was good.
And it still is good.
So tonight I made a batch of Steve's Nog and I'm going to share the secret with the world.
Hold onto yer hats and gear up form some alcoholic icream...
Just a caution.  This is a stealth drink, cuz you really don't taste the booze...

Steve's Nog

 Ingredients:

18 eggs
2 cups powdered sugar
1 pint (2 cups) peach schnapps
1/2 Pint (1 cup) Alize (the Alize gives it a smoother, fruitier taste.)*
2 quarts 1/2 & 1/2
1 quart heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla**

*The very first batch of this that he made, he used apricot brandy.  It was good, but had a bit of a bite.  The note he added for the Alize is quite true.
**Steve used a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla, I use a whole teaspoon.  Take your pick.

In a VERY LARGE BOWL,
We bought a bowl just for making the eggnog.  It comes in handy for other things, but it is mandatory for the Nog.  You're going to be pouring 3 full quarts of liquid into this bowl and then trying to mix things.  The first year out for this recipe we didn't have a big enough bowl.  Trying to mix it all in multiple bowls is not the strategy to follow.  If yer thinking of trying this recipe I suggest buying a large enough bowl.  You'll use it for other things.
In its normal life my Nog bowl holds all the snack chips.  Till I need it for meatloaf or cookies of something.

In a very large bowl beat the eggs till frothy.

Yep just crack those suckers into the bowl and beat.  18 eggs is a kinda daunting idea...

Gradually beat in the powdered sugar.
Low speed mix in the schnapps and Alize.
Add 1/2 & 1/2
Beat on high and set aside.
Whip heavy cream till frothy.
Add heavy cream to big bowl, stir till mixed.
Pour into large container.  Refrigerate.

What you have now is raw eggnog.  It's good as is.  But you really should mix this at least a day ahead and allow it to sit and mingle.  This is one of those things that gets better with age.
And for those who are still turning up their noses.  You really should try it.  It's not yer daddy's eggnog.
I don't like eggnog, but I like this.

Over the years, since Steve's passing, I've most always been poor at Christmas, and this is kinda pricy to make.  But I'd still want to make a batch at Christmas.  So over time the tradition has shifted.  Since I didn't have the money to make it for Christmas, I make it after Christmas.  So this has become a New Years drink for me.
And from the Nog the Nosh and Puzzle was born.
Back in the day, we celebrated New Years at his parents house, building a puzzle.
And we ain't talking no easy, little puzzle.  We're talking at the least 1000 pieces.  We're talking puzzles from Hell itself...

This was 2009.  It's never been finished...

2012

2013

When they moved, Steve and I moved that tradition into our house.
I keep that tradition.  It's spread to a couple of friends and we added the Nosh.

Last year we had the Nog, Nosh, & Puzzle at their house.  This year, we're having a Nog, Nosh, & Puzzle at Happydale.
Today I did most of the shopping.
Tomorrow I've gotta work but I'm gonna try to get done early.  I'll finish the shopping on the way home, and then work on getting the munchies ready.
But the eggs are nogging as we speak.
Tomorrow night we'll pick the puzzle, and then the first annual Happydale Nog, Nosh, and Puzzle will kick off the new year.
Let's hope it's a good one.

Decorations....

Was gonna put this in the last post but I got side tracked....

We didn't do a lot of decorating this year.  For the first while all the tree had on it was a cowboy hat, lights, rubber ducks, Airplanes, and ninjas, a Pepsi can and a Stag can.

Yeah, we were stylin....

When we originally decorated the tree, my decorations were in the shed at Granite.  I don't remember moving them out there, but that's where they were...

The ninjas and rubber ducks and stuff were things that I had left over from treat bags.

On Christmas eve I further decorated the tree.

I found a place for the snowmen to sit...  

  

Max and the Grinch found a safe place...

Holy Cow.....

I got one!
L's mom made me a Holy Cow for Christmas.
Isn't it nifty?  I saw one when I was over there on Thanksgiving and thought is was the coolest thing.
And now I have one.  It's on the Christmas Tree right now, but it isn't going to get packed away with the Christmas decorations.  I'm gonna find it a permanent home.
So far the holiday season has been good.  Not perfect, but good.

This is turning into a long rambling thing.  I'm warning ya now.  This is developing ear marks of running through the last whole bit of the year.
Started this on Thursday, and now it's Sunday morning.  It's a grey day here at Happydale.  Friday & Saturday were warm sunny days.  We even got to turn the heaters off for a while.  Ruth & Rusty were very active the last couple of mornings.  I got a set of binoculars for Christmas.  

 

So now I can rear window the squirrels.  I was gonna say that they were absent this morning, But Ruth just came home from a forage in the corn fields with a big fat half ear.  The hawk has been about.  No I haven't gotten a good look at him yet.  I need to do some rearranging of the desk to get more window real estate.

And I need to remember to take the little pair out with me.  He's been out there a couple times when I've gone out with the dogs.  But he's not there very long.  So I still haven't gotten a good look at him.

Back track, consider this beeping noise...

I got a pair of binoculars for Christmas last Sunday.  Haven't had much of a chance to mess with them yet.  I got a lot of stuff to do and I'm lazy.

And I waste time messing with this blog...

Our little family unit had Christmas last week.  K's son was here for the weekend but he was going back to his Dad's early Christmas Day.  We had our celebration early so he had time to play with the train set and BB gun he got for Christmas.

D, K's son was sick.  I think a weak germ from him has been working through the house.  K came home from work Thursday went to bed at 4pm and slept till the next morning.  I've had something sitting in my colon like a brick....

I worked Monday.  So that day was shot.  Tuesday I was gonna do some baking, but I was feeling funky and couldn't get motivated.  L & D went to L's sister's house for his family celebration.  I took a pass for various reasons.

Being a natural born hermit, social situations are taxing and getting out for them takes some work.  It's not that I don't enjoy them, but I have to work up to them.

It was better with Steve.  We were both hermits.  But if one of us was really motivated it was easier to sustain that than it is to work up the motivation.

When L picked me up to head down to K's parents in Granite, he informed me that I was required to show up at his mom's on Christmas.  So I've been forcefully adapted.  Which is really cool.

So Christmas eve we went to K's parents for the family gathering, without K.

K had to work both Christmas eve and Christmas day.  Which really sucks.  Nobody should have to work both days.  Everybody should get at least one of the days with their families.  Unless they choose otherwise.  Which many people do.

We're really gonna go off a side trail here.  Cuz I gotta say, it sucks to be poor at Christmas.  My Last check was just a little over $100 bucks.

And since I'm scrambling to pay bills, Christmas shopping didn't get done earlier.  I'm doing Christmas, the baking and every thing, next week and hope that I get the hours to offset the splurge in January.

Since one of my co-workers is going out to start Chemotherapy next week; there will be a few more hours hanging around.  Let's all think a good thought for S, and keep our fingers crossed that he'll be a cancer success story.

He said that his wife found an insurance policy for the both of them, that was better and cheaper than the one she had for just herself, on the exchange.

And the trail is taking a serious turn here.  Cuz on Christmas eve. K's dad got serious and asked what I thought about the ACA.

I'm the token radical in these circles.

And I don't like the Affordable Care Act.

But not for the reasons you think.

I'm a single payer fan.  For several reasons. 1 it saves money.  It creates a bigger bargaining block.  Evens out the cost of things.  2 it takes the middle man out.  Cuz that's all the insurance companies really are.  The idea is for a large group of people to pool their money and get a better rate on the product cuz yer buying in bulk.  But in our present system the bulk is all pork that the insurance companies are siphoning off....

3 it stream lines the process.  The prices are set across the board and things would be standard.  Easier to understand.  Everybody would receive the same level of care.

But of course, we can't have that.  Everybody would receive the same level of care??  What kind of socialist crap is that?  Why that smacks of equality!!  We can't have that in the USofA!

We can't have something that would eliminate the insurance companies.  Insurance is one of the most profitable industries in the country.  Who cares if it's a scam most of the time?  People are making big money there.  Who cares if people are dying?

And the sheep believe in death panels... 

Does no one remember the Clintons taking a run at health care?

And the disastrous trip into the Russian front of our political system that turned into?

That's where this policy came from.  It's a ripoff of a rejected repub plan.  Striped down and retooled for the new century.

So we get the watered down crap system that we have.

Which is really just another way for the insurance and medical industries to suck even more pork from more people.

At least more people will have access to health care.

And that is a good thing.

Well that little loop through the thicket has returned to the stream of conscious...

I got a beautiful, warm sweater.  I got a nifty heating pad that came in handy Christmas eve and some really cool lounge pants, they've got smiley faces on them, and a neck massaging pillow.  Had some good times and conversations and good food, got to watch Red Skelton and 'Meet me in Saint Louis' and 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'.

Watched some Peter O'Toole movies.  He's always been one of my favorite actors.  But I'll do a seperate post on that, eventually....

Thursday I woke up feeling like I had a brick in my colon.  Thursday I really hurt.

I hurt every morning now.  Really can't remember a morning when I didn't.  Most mornings it's easy to ignore and works out after I get moving.  Thursday it didn't work out.  Things have been moving, but it still hasn't worked out.  Those of you who know the trial of IBS will understand...

So I've been moving kinda slow the last few days.

I worked Friday.

Yesterday I got to hang with R for awhile.

And today is Sunday.

I don't work again till Tuesday and tomorrow I get paid.

I've got a new bread recipe to try...

I found a recipe that I think will result in the peanut butter candy that they used to serve at school back in the day...

I need to get the desk moved around and the window taped up and cleaned.  I really wanna scrub the carpet...

I need to make cookies and fudge...

I need to go shopping...

I want to put bird feeders up...

Thinking about making a couple of things....

Wow, this isn't going to slop over into the rest of the week.

Cuz I'm done for now.

Hope everybody is having a happy holiday season.

Cuz it ain't over yet.

Happydale looks good in white....

 

K listed us over on  http://www.hobbyfarms.com/ as Happydale Homestead, established 2013.  So we are officially Happydale!

Last night we got some real snow.

 

We're misty this morning...

Again, I was up at 4am for no good reason.
Since my intentions...

Yeah, remember?  I don't make plans.  Plans never work for me.  I think my own, personal trickster god sees plans as bowling pins.

Instead of plans I have intentions and ideas.  They work out much better than plans.

Since my intentions for the day involved the vacuum and hammers and nails,
Oh my.
I haven't been too proactive about the day yet.
So far I've gotten the animals fed and watered, outed the dogs a couple of times, dumped the ash bucket, and wondered around outside taking pictures of the mist.
And waited.

I'm getting tired of waiting for Maxwell.  I spend a lot of time waiting for Maxwell.
But I am grateful that I have Maxwell, long may he live.  Cuz I can't afford to replace him...

I have put the time of waiting to some good use.  I found my little screwdriver and replaced Icy's batteries...

I really like my little IPet.  I got him several years ago for Christmas and he sits on my desk.  When I have music playing he's on and rocking out, if he has batteries.
And here I must say, poor product design Hasbro.

Really?
A little tiny, weeny, screw?
A.  How many people have a tiny, weeny screwdriver?
B.  This is a toy, given to kids.  How long do you think that tiny, weeny screw is going to survive?
A simple, little tab was too much to ask?  Other things have simple, little tabs and everything is fine...

As I said I like Icy, I enjoy having him rocking out on the desk.  But, he's been sitting silent for over a year cuz I HATE changing the batteries.  Changing Icy's batteries is a trial.  Again, I was tempted to give him a Duck Tape butt flap.  Right now it would be rainbow colored....
But I persevered and got his butt screwed back on.

So far it's been an exciting morning.

But I do have intentions for the day.  Some are productive and some aren't.
Gonna do pork loin for dinner tonight.  At $2.99 a pound it was the best deal at Shop N' Save yesterday.  So it's what's for dinner tonight.
I'm gonna work some on the living room today, decor wise.

I've got a lot of wall space to fill and a closet to empty out.  Emptying out the closet is the ultimate goal.  Filling wall space is the carrot.
And even though it's drippy I'm gonna bring in wood today.  The weather the next couple of days is supposed to go cold and crappy.  I'm gonna want a fire.
But first, I'm gonna spend an exciting, fun filled morning cleaning litter boxes and vacuuming....

Reflections & echos....

Ah yeah, how's that greed thing working out for y'all?
We've been perfecting the greed thing for about a century now.  Greed is the foundation of the modern capitalist state.  Greed has had a free run since the 80s.
So, ya still think that greed is good?
Just wondering....

that's a reflection of the week.

And I believe The Doctor.  Time really is 'a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.'
I like the way the Kodak programs arrange the pictures, all in dated folders.  Having them there makes it easier for me to remember things.  Like, Dusty just turned 4.  I got her in Jan. 2010 so she was born in the fall of 2009.  I know that because of the pictures.
And as with so many other things it seems like just yesterday and forever all at the same time.
You put your head down and plow through the days, drowning in the little things, and suddenly another year passes, and it's a surprise, cuz you didn't see it go.
A memory can pull you sharply back to a moment long gone.
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey...

Oh for a good pair of binoculars!
Oh for a computer where the things that happen in the background, really are in the background!
Are echos for more than a week.
We do have a small population of busy wildlife around here, but it's difficult to get close to it.  Rusty and Ruth, the squirrels, and Harvey...

Oh, BTW I was wrong the other day.  I called our barn bunny Bob, cuz the alliteration was too much to resist... 
But, in fact the bunny was already named Harvey.  I totally spaced that whole conversation till I was reminded that the bunny is Harvey.

And the hawk are all, rightly, skittish.  It's impossible to get near enough to them for a good long look.  We've got a flock of something big and white out in the fields but you can't get close to them either.  I would really, really like to have a pair of binoculars.
And while we're at it I'll wish for a camera with a good zoom and telephoto lens.
and if wishes were horses...
I'd also have a new computer.  One where the things in the background didn't slow everything to a crawl.
Ah well.
It's not perfect, it's cute.

I had a nice week off.  I got a few things done.  I had some fun.  I ate really good food.
And you can't knock that.
We had our Thanksgiving a week ago, Saturday, and we rode high on the leftovers for a few days.  Thanksgiving K, L, & I, that's I me, went to both of their families for lunch and dinner.
I'm an orphan.  At least now I am.  My family had disintegrated by the time I turned 20.  Steve's family adopted me, but since he passed I don't see much of them.  I should keep in touch, but they don't call me all that often and I try not to bother people who don't call me.
After Steve passed I got used to the lack of family.  On the Holidays I'd pack in some snacky stuff, pull up the draw bridge, watch movies, and sleep when I felt like it.  K's family kinda took me in after the fire, when I stayed with K.  I've spent quite a few good holidays at her mom and dad's house.
This year with the altered situation and the additions, L's family was gracious enough to invite me for lunch.  So we piled into the car and spent the day visiting.  It was a good day.
Friday and Saturday passed in the same muddle as the rest of the week.  Side tracks and lost pursuits.
And still things got done.

This week we road tested the fireplaces.
Yes, I know that we really should have someone out to check them.
But, it's $160.00 just to have one cleaned and inspected.  We've got 4 fireplaces.  That's not encouraging math.
Besides, if I were stumbling through a post apocalyptic scenario and found a place like this, I'd do what we did, look at the chimneys, make sure they weren't blocked or too cruddy, light a fire and then deal with it from there.  The chimneys look clean and the smoke draws really well.  So it's been a qualified success.  We need a screen for the fireplace in the pink room.  We need to get tools.  We need to cut wood.  The fireplaces will help us keep warm this winter.  It's just gonna take some work.

My fireplace:

 Is kinda small.

And getting large logs in there is tricky business.  But I think if we split some of the logs in half it'll work fairly well.
I tried building the fire from the top down and that gave me a good, hot, long burning fire.  Once we get some more gas for the chainsaw we'll get some more of the wood cut down.  Splitting the logs in half will make them burn a little faster, but I think it will be a good trade off.  

 The kitchen has curtains now.

They don't match.
We're worried about having enough money to stay warm for the next few months, so you take what you can get.  These are helping to cut the draft in the kitchen a bit, so it's all good.

 I tried something I read on FB:

It's an idea for adding heat to a room.

 

I used a glass bread pan, 2 votive candles (these are scavenged PartyLite votives, black cherry) and a clay pot.

  

Put the candles in the pan.  Light 'em and cover with the pot.
It did work, a little.  Would work better in a smaller room.  But it does take a little of the chill off in the kitchen.
It's not something I would leave unattended for any length of time.
Especially around here.
But it is an interesting way to get a little more milage out of your candles.  An added bonus to the smelly candles.  If we loose power this winter it'll come in handy.


We, officially have a 3rd resident.  L, K's significant other, has decided to take the plunge.
He's unemployed right now.  So, not helping the financial side too much.  But he's a good guy and the more the merrier.  Things will get better in time.

It's not official, but I think the general consensus is in favor of Happy Dale for the homestead!  It fits, I know I could be committed.  Just need Dr Einstein to sign the papers...

It's official.  Jethro is an undercover kitty.  The past several nights, shortly after I settle in I get a nose in the face, a plaintive meow, and Jethro wanting me to lift the covers so he can crawl in and snuggle down.  He's still there in the mornings when I wake up.
Now if I could just get him to snuggle up around my feet... 

 

Our animals have it rough...

Oz has taken to closet gandering.  I'm wondering if I have a mouse.

Dixie found a new place to perch.

Well it's late enough to make this a Monday post, and I need to get some sleep.  So for this week I give you Poi Dog Pondering to, hopefully, perk things up.