It’s Christmas Eve, can you believe it? I know me neither. The weeks of planning, quietly executing and subversive measures will all culminate in a few hours and then Christmas 2013 will become just another memory. Sure the gifts (the ones not returned anyway), credit card bills and expanded waistlines will still be there to remind us of the big day, but all the real Santa fun will be over in the blink of an eye. Sigh. But back to Christmas Eve…

Christmas Eve would never be considered complete at our house without several things happening first: Marshmallows must be roasted in the fireplace. Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce must be one of the appetizers. Crack and carrots must be left for Santa and the reindeer. And finally egg nog must be the final cocktail of the evening.

In the past I’ve served store-bought egg nog that I boozed and spiced up to my liking, but this year I thought I’d try to make it from scratch instead. When I started researching recipes I couldn’t get over the calorie stats I was reading. I’m all for enjoying the holiday but come on… 375+ calories in one cup seems like a bit much even to me! So I decided to look for a lower fat (yet still delicious) recipe and Cooking Light magazine was my first stop. Their recipe looked like just the jumping off point I needed to create a classic Jan Greco tweaked up low-fat eggnog recipe. And so I did just that, I tweaked and taste tested and I came up with an eggnog recipe I can really feel good about (or that really makes me feel good, or perhaps a little of both) and now I’m ready to pass it along to my lovely and loyal readers. Think of it as my gift to you.

From my kitchen to yours, happy holidays!

Guilt-free Eggnog
This is a rich, creamy egg nog that doesn’t taste remotely like something “light”. If you would like yours a little less boozy feel free to cut back or even omit the brandy and bourbon.

3 1/2 cups 1% milk
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. salt
2 large egg yolks, beaten
3 tbsp.- 1/4 cup bourbon
3 tbsp – 1/4 cup brandy
2 tsp. vanilla extract
additional ground nutmeg, for garnish

1. Whisk together the first 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently.
2. Place the beaten egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk half of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks and continue whisking until fully combined. Add the milk/yolk mixture back to the pan with the remaining hot milk and cook over medium heat 2 minutes or until slightly thickened, whisking continuously.
3. Pour the bourbon, brandy, and vanilla into a large pitcher and set aside. Allow the egg nog to cool for 5 minutes in the pan then add to the pitcher, whisking to blend.
4. Refrigerate the egg nog at least 4 hours, until fully chilled. Before serving give a final stir then pour into glasses and garnish with additional nutmeg. Bottoms up!

*adapted from cooking light