25 days of christmas: day 6-eggnog

$20 says I'm not the only one who's ever said "what's up with eggnog?" Well here's what's up. Yet again I got this from a web site:

The word itself does not have much appeal, the guttural sound and the thought of drinking egg doesn’t sound very appetizing to most. There are differing opinions as to the origin of the name for this famous drink. One version says that nog derives from an Old English word for strong beer, hence “noggin”. Another version attributes the name to Colonial America where colonists referred to thick drinks as “grog” and eggnog as “egg-and-grog”. Either way, we know it today as Eggnog.

Europe:

It is believed that the eggnog tradition began in Europe as an adaptation of the various milk and wine punches often served at social gatherings. In the 17th century, eggnog was used as a toast to one’s health and was consumed by the well-to-do of society as milk and eggs were scarce commodities in Europe.

The New World:

When the brew was brought to the “New World,” colonists added a new twist, rum. The rum Americans could get from the Caribbean was considerably less expensive than the other liquors shipped from England. And so, along with the readily available supply of milk and eggs in the colonies, the rum version quickly became a popular drink for people of all classes.

Variations:

As a rich, spicy and (oh yes) alcoholic drink, eggnog soon became a familiar item during the holiday season across the growing nation. Each region would adapt the drink to their personal tastes. Even George Washington devised his own version of the brew which only the most courageous would partake using rye whiskey, rum and sherry.

In the south, Southern taste replaced rum with bourbon. And when the brew reached Latin America even more adaptations were made; in Puerto Rico coconut juice or milk was added, in Mexico eggnog became a harder liqueur to be sipped with the addition of Mexican cinnamon and rum or grain alcohol, and in Peru it was made with the Peruvian pomace brandy called pisco.

Noggin' Now:

The basic recipe for eggnog has not changed over the years (eggs beaten with sugar, milk, cream and some kind of spirit) and remains a favorite for holiday parties. Whatever the variation of the popular holiday drink, it is sure to be a winner with most of your holiday guests. However, for those who wish to go “nogless,” there are other warm spirited drinks that are sure to be a hit as well and lift everyone’s holiday spirits.

25 days of christmas: day 5-christmas plants

I couldn't think of a more attractive title other than 'christmas plants' because the word 'foliage' is just kinda weird. So here's a list of the origins of mistletoe and holly, poinsettias, and the christmas tree. By the way I got this from a site, it isn't my own wording.

Mistletoe and Holly
Two hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Druids used mistletoe to celebrate the coming of winter. They would gather this evergreen plant that is parasitic upon other trees and used it to decorate their homes. They believed the plant had special healing powers for everything from female infertility to poison ingestion. Scandinavians also thought of mistletoe as a plant of peace and harmony. They associated mistletoe with their goddess of love, Frigga. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe probably derived from this belief. The early church banned the use of mistletoe in Christmas celebrations because of its pagan origins. Instead, church fathers suggested the use of holly as an appropriate substitute for Christmas greenery.

Poinsettias
Poinsettias are native to Mexico. They were named after America's first ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett. He brought the plants to America in 1828. The Mexicans in the eighteenth century thought the plants were symbolic of the Star of Bethlehem. Thus the Poinsettia became associated with the Christmas season. The actual flower of the poinsettia is small and yellow. But surrounding the flower are large, bright red leaves, often mistaken for petals.

The Christmas Tree
The Christmas Tree originated in Germany in the 16th century. It was common for the Germanic people to decorate fir trees, both inside and out, with roses, apples, and colored paper. It is believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, was the first to light a Christmas tree with candles. While coming home one dark winter's night near Christmas, he was struck with the beauty of the starlight shining through the branches of a small fir tree outside his home. He duplicated the starlight by using candles attached to the branches of his indoor Christmas tree. The Christmas tree was not widely used in Britain until the 19th century. It was brought to America by the Pennsylvania Germans in the 1820's.

25 days of christmas: day 4-the magic tree

in columbia we have a thing called the magic tree. I'm pretty sure I already posted on it so if you don't know what it is you can probably find it if you type it into the search bar.

Some friends and I went last night and it was so pretty. Unfortunately they moved it so now it's on a smaller tree, but still awesome. Fletcher is the last name of the guy who puts up the lights, so even though I'm not related to him it still makes me somewhat proud.

Forgive me for the blurriness of all the pictures because at the moment I don't have a real camera so I've got to use my phone.

And for future reference the rest of the posts are probably going to be about christmas historically or christmas traditions of different cities not just my own christmas stuff.

25 days of christmas: day 3-12 days of christmas by straight no chaser

this hilarious rendition of the 12 days of christmas by 'straight no chaser.' They start out perfectly normal and then break off into multiple other songs some of which are deck the halls, rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, and dreidel dreidel. Worth a watch

25 days of christmas: day 2-the house

My favorite thing to do all year is put up the christmas lights. This year's lights were all LED. And given that they are all LED there's not that many because they are fairly expensive. So, it's kind of a sad display, but it took about a million years to put up. Next year I hope to add more colors and get more of the roof and second story. But, for now this is what it looks like. Plus, all LED saves a lot of energy so you don't have to unplug the lights when you use the treadmill (yes that's a true story)

25 days of christmas: day 1

as of yesterday I decided I wanted to do a 25 days of christmas thing. Yes, I know it's cliche but oh well. Being that it's December 4th I'm just going to post 4 things. This counts as the first. So happy december.