Christmas Cheer

What is it about working in the kitchen that makes it feel so much more like Christmas? It's probably because my mom always cooked everything from scratch when I was growing up, so cooking just seems like a natural part of Christmas. You know, the more I think back to how much my mom cooked and how rarely we opted for premade meals, the more impressed I am with the talent, patience, and ingenuity that she displayed in preparing meals for us every day for roughly 23 1/2 years. And she's still going strong! Granted, we kids help a lot more often with food  ideas and preparation these days (well, when I'm home, which is hardly ever), but still.

Anyway, I recently watched Julie & Julia, which is the true-life story of Julie Powell, a young insurance clerk who decides to spice up her hum-drum life by making every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in the space of a year. Paralleling her story in the movie is the account of how Julia Child became Julia Child.

All the food made me hungry, but that aside, I really liked the idea of learning to cook that way. I don't think I could ever be that ambitious (not to mention I don't have the money), but the story, combined with recent events that have made me really appreciate the dedication my mother has shown as far as feeding us, helped me realize that I really want to cook, and cook well. I've been to homes where the family rarely cooks homemade meals and I don't want to raise my family that way. There's an extra fondness and attachment that comes from knowing that you and your family created a culinary masterpiece from scratch.

Plus, I really do like cooking. I don't have the time or the money to create elegant, delicious meals all the time. Not to mention, it's very hard to cook most recipes for just a single person. But I still enjoy cooking from time to time. I have a couple of delicious spice combinations for tilapia (even Savannah thinks it smells heavenly, even though she hates fish). My mom's Missionary Meatloaf is legendary (and I make it taste just as good). I found an awesome cheese-stuffed shells recipe. I wish I had more time to cook, but right now, I don't. It's very sad. :(

Disclaimer: most pictures of food that
I include aren't taken by me.
I'm not that talented.

However, today, I tried my hand at eggnog! My brother has a really good recipe that he's made for the last several Thanksgivings and Christmases. I swiped it from him last time he made it, quizzed him about the different ways to substitute ingredients in and out, and found the combination I liked best. Since my work's Christmas party is coming up on Friday, I decided to make a gallon of it to share with my coworkers. It tastes awesome. Once it's fully chilled, I'll have to compare it to Brian's. Either way, it blows store-bought eggnog out of the water (or, well, milk...sorry, bad pun). I think I'll always make homemade eggnog for Christmas from now on.

Adding to my feeling of Christmas cheer is the new pine-y, Christmas-y scented candle I bought, which smells delightful. It's taken long enough, but it's beginning to feel a lot more like Christmas to me now. I'm guessing the Christmas feeling will skyrocket as soon I get home, too. There's just something about being home that makes Christmas feel the way it should.

Fun Fact: Eggnog is one word. I've been spelling it wrong my entire life. The things you learn when you type a word into google to find a picture of something...