446793 Tue Oct 02 04:55:23 -0700 2007 3 36 Spirits 0 2995323 What is your favorite specialty drink for the season? Tue Oct 02 04:55:24 -0700 2007 19281 2top 1 2995675 I haven't made it in a while, sadly, but one of my favorite autumn/wintry drinks is egg nog--the stronger and richer, the better. I prefer it made with bourbon, but rum is also a good standby. Here's a recipe for around 8 servings 4 eggs (separated) 1/2 cup sugar 1 to 1 1/2 cup milk 1 to 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (balance it with the milk to total 2 cups; I prefer it richer) 2 cups bourbon (or rum, or a mix) ground nutmeg (fresh! if you have it) (I use the above recipe more or less, but am usually only making it for two or four people; I just use one or two eggs and divide the remaining ingredients as needed. I rarely measure either but it always turns out great. I like that this recipe goes fairly easy on the sugar as well.) * Beat egg-yolks with 1/4 cup of the sugar in larger bowl * In a different bowl, whip egg-whites until stiff and add other 1/4 cup of sugar. Mix this carefully together with the yolk mixture. * Add half of the booze and stir together carefully * Add milk and stir together carefully * Add remaining booze, stir etc. * In a different bowl, whip the cream until not quite stiff, then stir/fold in the rest of the egg nog mixture Ladle into glasses and grind some nutmeg over the top. Okay, that's the official party version: since I make this in smaller, less formal batches (like for two people), I just separate a single egg, mix the yolk with a teaspoon of sugar, whip the white with a little less sugar and fold together. Add milk (~1 oz) and bourbon (~4oz) to the egg mixture, stirring carefully. Whip cream (3oz) and fold in. Serve in a couple of glasses with ground nutmeg on top. Tue Oct 02 07:36:42 -0700 2007 2995323 66916 TimeMachine 1 2995695 Cranberry cosmopolitan using Absolut vodka I infuse with cranberry juice and fresh lime juice. YUM! A Thanksgiving tradition at chez Diane. Tue Oct 02 07:40:05 -0700 2007 2995323 15139 Diane in Bexley 1 2996420 Unpasteurized apple cider (sweet, not hard) and bourbon, rye, or amber rum on ice, a fall tradition I've been observing for years. Autumn is my favorite season here in New England, and this highball is one of the reasons. Thanks to an e. Coli scare a few years back -- some idiot used fallen apples (a big no-no for the risk of contact with manure), making tainted cider that killed several people in CT -- the only place to get unpasteurized cider in New England now is at the orchards that produce it. But it's really worth the extra effort to get the real stuff: pasteurization kills a lot of fresh-apple flavor, resulting in a product that tastes more like bottled shelf-stable apple juice. Tue Oct 02 10:16:39 -0700 2007 2995323 10143 MC Slim JB