Mulled wine and Eggnog

Knowing that life's unpredictable and that something might come up to prevent me from having enough time to prepare for the party on Friday, I did all of my shopping and cooking the night before.
When preparing a party for close friends, when you are not trying to impress but simply want to fill their bellies with something simple yet good, then it's a good idea to make a pot of chili, stew, soup, and the like the night before and just heat it before the party.

Thursday, before my evening class I made a dash for Hanam Market to get the chili seasoning, then to Home Plus for cans of red kidney beans, meat, peppers, onions, baguettes, wine...
Since I went out with the two D's for some beer and chicken, I didn't start cooking till 10:30. The chili was done by 12:00, and I saved the cleaning for the next morning. What joy was it to wake up to a sink filled with dirty pots and pans, and chili splatters all over the floor and the wall. Luckily, after the coffee, I tried to think of cleaning as my morning workout. After coffee, I attacked the dishes, pretending I was doing my morning exercise, slightly less pleasurable than
a power walk in the park. My hands got a full aqua aerobics workout complete with bubbles floating around. A good example of spot training.

As I predicted, I was busy all day: a meeting with the head of the department with B to discuss our schedule, then preparing the final written exam for my writing class, followed by making a billion of photocopies. The time simply flew by and it was past 5:30 when I ran one last time to the little supermarket (yep, they are little here, aka corner store) to get ingredients for eggnog and mulled wine.

The guests started arriving around 7:30. They brought more desserts, wine, fruit... and we truly had a feast.

Mulled wine -Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups water
4 Tbsp sugar
1 orange (with peel) sliced thinly
1/2 lemon (with peel) sliced thinly
12 cloves
1-2 pods cardamom
1 small piece fresh ginger, sliced (or powdered ginger)
5-6 peppercorns
cinammon and nutmeg (to taste, add later to individual mugs)
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1,5 l inexpensive wine (Carlo Rossi Muscat is perfect)

Combine the ingredients (without wine) and bring to boil. Let simmer for about 10 min. Add wine and heat until it boils. Remove from stove immediately - you don't want all that cheer to evaporate, do you? Serve in mugs and sprinkle with cinammon and nutmeg.

Eggnog recipe

The truly wonderful version you'll find by googling "Martha Stewart's traditional eggnog." It's a good thing - good of course if you're a domestic goddess with an army of lesser gods to do the work for you. If you're a mere busy earthling, you can fake it. If you're a woman, faking it comes easy, ....ehm...

Try this somewhat unorthodox but surprisingly 'real' and good-tasting eggnog. No one needs to know your secret, except that now everyone (all 5 of you who read this) knows mine.

Ingredients:

1 tub vanilla ice cream softened(depending on the size of your crowd, it can be more); you can either thaw it a bit in the microwave or let it soften at room temp, stirring to speed up the process
milk to add until eggnog reaches the consistency you like
2 eggs beaten until pale and frothy
1 cup of rum or whiskey (or both! why not!), or whatever you happen to find - perhaps soju would work?
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Beat the eggs and add to softened icecream. Stir until smooth. Add your alcoholic beverage, constantly and gently stirring. Add milk stirring until you reach the thickness you desire. Chill.

Serve individually in pretty glasses, or paper cups, depending on the level of your domestic divinity. Have cinnammon and nutmeg handy for your guests to add to their hearts content.
Enjoy. It's good. I promise. Actually, Thugjeong couldn't have enough of it.

CAUTION: Since this version contains fresh uncooked eggs, consume immediatley or keep in the fridge for a maximum of 2 days. Unless, you want to experience the joys of salmonella, which I did when I was about 8. All these years later, and I can still remember the sheer agony this beautifully named but deadly parasite created in my intestines.