Mix liquors first in a separate container. Separate egg yolks and egg whites into two large mixing bowls. Beat sugar gradually into yolks for several minutes, until the mixture is light yellow. Add liquor slowly to yolk mixture, continuing to beat until well incorporated. Combine milk and cream first, then add to yolk mix, beating slowly. Set aside.

Wash and dry beaters, then beat egg whites until stiff. Fold slowly into the creamy alcohol mixture. Add nutmeg and cinnamon sticks, stir well, then pour into big jars or other containers that can be sealed well.

Allow eggnog to cure undisturbed for at least 4 days in the coldest part of the refrigerator or outside in a very cold (below 40°) place. The mixture will separate as it cures, so be sure to whisk to combine it before serving it cold, perhaps with cinnamon or more freshly ground nutmeg on top.

EGGNOG

When I learned last fall that George Washington had a favorite eggnog, I couldn’t resist. I’m not an eggnog fan, perhaps because I’ve had too many sips from factory-made eggnog shipped in cartons. Years ago, my family liked an extremely rich eggnog traditional in the family of the security guard for the Detroit Free Press, where I worked. Joe Holloway’s Eggnog, we called it, and we made it for a couple years before Joe died, quite young, of a heart attack.

I’d avoided eggnog since, unable to forget Joe’s early demise. I knew George Washington was dead, too, but he lived to be 77. And, I thought, any recipe that old deserved to be tried. Best, this was one that needed time to reach its prime, just like people. The recipe said to let it sit in a cool place for four days to a week. I poured mine into a big glass jar, acquired free from a nearby restaurant. I sampled it right after I concocted it, then again five days later, and I can attest that time makes a difference, smoothing its edges. I sipped my stock well into January, and it just got better and better.

I jotted a note to myself atop my recipe: “Unbelievably good. Don’t change a thing.”

I read that George made his own rye whiskey at his distillery at Mount Vernon, adding it to his eggnog along with brandy, cream sherry and Jamaican rum, fashionable in those days. That I could use locally made rye, from Grand Traverse Distillery in Traverse City, and eggs from my neighbors’ chickens, and milk and cream from Shetler Family Dairy in Kalkaska, which I buy at my local grocery, made me even happier about this nog. At Suttons Bay Trading Co., I could buy whole nutmegs for just 50 cents apiece, to be grated with my microplane. What a great improvement over ground nutmeg in jars!

But wait—raw eggs? I’ve never had a problem and don’t worry about it, especially getting my eggs from Laura and Thomas’s small flock of well-loved chickens. If you prefer, you might use pasteurized eggs.

This year, remaking the recipe for this magazine, I realized too late that last year I’d cut the recipe in half, and it was plenty adequate. “How long does that stuff last?” my husband demanded, aghast at the two big glass jars, fully six quarts. I didn’t hesitate to offer an answer I sure hope is true: “Forever!”