In our house, the holiday season begins as soon as the first snow flurries fall. Our children are awakened to the sounds of Christmas carols (even if it's October), the Hood Golden Eggnog is purchased, and the annual family traditions begin.
Christmas came a little earlier this year when our daughter came home from college for a visit in mid-October filled with holiday cheer. The carols were blaring from the Bluetooth speaker as she danced around the house and she even convinced her dad to watch one of her holiday movie favorites with her (that was too much for me just yet).
The only thing missing was the eggnog and snow, but not to worry. The following week the holiday spirit still remained (this time my son was feeling a little festive) and decorations began to appear around the house. And though Hood Eggnog is only available for a limited time, we were lucky to find that October fell within that window. So our purchase of Hood Golden Eggnog was made. Two days later our first snow of the season appeared, so it was Holiday Game On at the McIlquham house.
Now I'm always determined to pack in every bit of Christmas cheer into the days that our college children are home. And almost every tradition at our house begins with Hood Golden Eggnog and a dash of nutmeg. It's rich, creamy, and delicious and is a holiday tradition in and of itself. So as the kids return home periodically from college as we prepare for the holiday season with our annual traditions, they already know that some of our favorite activities paired with Hood Eggnog will be on the agenda.
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Find some of them below:
1. Decorating the Christmas Tree or shall I say, decorating for the season in general — Phones tuned to a selection of Christmas hits? Check. ✅ Has dad prepared the Hood Eggnog with just the right amount of nutmeg sprinkled on top? Check. ✅ Decorations down from the attic? Check. ✅ Has someone prepared a few appetizers like dad's marinated water chestnuts wrapped in bacon? Double Check. ✅ ✅. Well, then we're ready to go. (Yes, my friends, not only does decorating pair well will eggnog, but water chestnuts wrapped in bacon do too. Yummy!)
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2. A Night of Christmas Carols — My husband insists that at least one evening is solely dedicated to listening and singing along to Christmas carols where family bonding is a must. So once again he breaks out the Hood Eggnog after dinner and we listen to carols, chat, and indulge with a glass of eggnog and dessert. This year we checked out some of the eggnog-infused recipes on the Hood site and found the Chocolate Filled Eggnog Cupcakes were a definite WIN. But for this year's night of Christmas carol night, I think I'm going to try my hand at the Pumpkin Spice Eggnog Cheesecake and I'm going to trade in my traditional glass of eggnog and take a stab at the Eggnog Latte recipe on the site.
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3. Holiday Movie Night — Is it really Christmas without our yearly dose of holiday favorites? Not at our house. We watch the same movies every year (sometimes twice) with a few new ones thrown in for good measure. This year, the Boston Ballet will be streaming "The Nutcracker: At Home for the Holidays" on TV, so we might give that a try this year.
You can tune in:
- 11/28 at 7 pm for the premiere on NBC Boston
- 11/29 at 7 pm on NECN
- 12/5 at 11 am on Telemundo
Oh, and guess what? Hood Eggnog pairs perfectly with a big bowl of popcorn.
Looking for more ways to incorporate Hood Eggnog into your family's holiday traditions? Stay tuned ... my 8-year-old nephew tried eggnog for the first time recently and he's hooked, this resulted in a couple of new traditions for our family.
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* I received complimentary Hood Golden Eggnog and compensation for the purpose of this article, but all opinions are my own.
