Never Too Late for Eggnog!

One of my biggest Peruvian pet peeves, by no fault of their own, was the lack of Eggnog at Christmas. I mean, how can there not be eggnog?  It is part of what makes Christmas, Christmas.  ONe of my favorite traditions at home is my stepdad breaking out the eggnog and pouring it much too strong!  I was quite shocked about there not being any here, mainly because in Peru, there are eggs in or on EVERYTHING.  A large amount of traditional peruvian dishes have either egg mixed in, or just a big ol' fried egg right on top.  Club Sandwiches always have egg on them here, a version of the BLT called a Triple without the bacon, but with an egg, most dishes that come with rice have an egg on top of the rice....  It is pretty insane.
So, For the first time ever, I decided I would try to make some on my own.  I was pretty apprehensive.... I guess because I knew what I wanted, and expected my eggnog to taste like, and I was scared a homemade version would not come close.  I scoured Pinterest for recipes, and after weeding out ones that had raw uncooked eggs (no pasteurized eggs here and raw eggs gross me out) and ones that required a mixer (I just don't have a mixer and no use buying one we can't take home)  I decided on one from a great website called Picture Perfect Meals.  I didn't experiment much, and pretty much did the recipe exactly as written.  Make sure to strain it after you cook it!  I definitely had some scrambled egg chunks floating around!  Make sure to garnish with nutmeg and a cinnamon stick as well.  Just for fun!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 6 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch of kosher salt
• 2 cups whole milk (I used 1% milk for a tiny calories reduction)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Spiced rum (I added a shot to each glass of eggnog but its up to your taste)

Here’s how:

In a heavy-bottomed pot, thoroughly whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt and milk until homogenous. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the liquid registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from the heat; stir in the spices and vanilla. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Cool to room temperature. Add the cream and refrigerate until very cold.

Stir in the spiced  rum, if using (or you can serve it on the side). Ladle into cups and serve with a fresh grating of nutmeg and long cinnamon sticks for stirring.