Big Dave's Holiday Eggnog

I have no idea if this recipe is from anyone or anywhere else as it was how my father, David A. Lindberg, started making our family's eggnog as long ago as I can remember.

My dad passed away December 21, 1989 at the age of 74, obviously a few days before Christmas Day.

Christmas was my dad's favorite time of the year and he literally was Christmas to all of us in the family. The holiday season is usually the favorite time of the year for most people, but my dad sort of went crazy during the holidays. There are family stories about him even before I was born, such as dad dressing up as Santa in the late 1940's and early 1950's and going from door to door to surprise the neighbors. The problem with this, that made my mother angry, was that every house gave him a shot of whiskey and a beer, so by the time he came home, his nose was as red as Rudolph's. My dad was a source of joy and laughter for so many, even beyond our family and nothing lit him up, literally, more than the Christmas season.

The stories go on and on about my dad's antics, but the best memory all of us have is his eggnog. We still have friends ask us every year, "how do you make Big Dave's Eggnog?" Now, this recipe is in no way to be considered a healthy food item, unless you still are of the mindset of pre-cholesterol counting days of the 1950's.

A disclaimer also needs to be made, as I know that I will receive some comments about fat content, etc., so buyer beware! It is, as it is. All I can say is our family and friends have made this only once a year, during the holidays, and we are all still living and have not had any issues with the ingredients, of which there are only five.

Start with a really large mixing bowl..as I said, it's large as life, as my dad was!

Ingredients:

1 gal. milk (use whatever type you prefer, we use 2% milk)

2 cups of sugar (can be less if you like, perhaps start with one cup and add to taste later)

12 eggs (whole raw eggs, if anyone has issues with using raw eggs, then don't make this recipe)

2 tbsp. vanilla extract

1/2 gal. french vanilla ice cream

Simple huh?

With that large mixing bowl, put in your sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and mix with an electric mixer, gradually adding the milk while continuing to mix. Here is where you can taste and see if you would like more sugar or vanilla extract.

When all ingredients are well blended, we usually pour into a typical holiday punch bowl. If you make this ahead of time for a party, you can store in the empty milk container and keep in the refrigerator.

Pour into your punch bowl and place one half of the ice cream in and allow to float in the eggnog. Allow some time for the ice cream to melt and it will slowly blend into the eggnog. The entire amount of eggnog this makes will most likely not fit into a typical punch bowl. That's why you save the other half of the ice cream. As you guests consume the nog, you can add more to the bowl and place the remaining ice cream in.

No one in our family likes to add alcohol to eggnog. That's entirely up to you, but the point of Big Dave's Eggnog is to have it taste basically like a milkshake. You will likely find that most of your guests, even those who say they hate eggnog, will love and empty out that bowl before they leave. You may also want to time putting out the eggnog in relation to any food or dinner, as it will fill everyone up to the point where they won't eat very much food!

This eggnog is much more to my family than just it's wonderful taste! It is bringing the spirit of our father back into each of our memories, every year. We usually raise the first glass as a toast to dad, for all the laughter and joy he gave to each of us all of our lives, but especially at Christmas.