Photo courtesy of annosvixitI know this is kind of insane, but I actually avoided using whole nutmeg because I thought you had to have a little, teeny grater to use it. I guess I knew you didn't have to have one, but I didn't bother to look for any alternatives that already existed in our home and kept using pre-ground nutmeg.
One day, I was making eggnog. I like to make eggnog to round out a lunch that I haven't made enough of an effort on. It is quick, healthy, a kid-favourite and guilt-banishing. Anyway, we were out of nutmeg. I remembered that my Mother-in-law had given me a couple of whole nutmegs (nutmeg cloves? nutmeg seeds? nutmeg pods?) several years ago. I hauled them out and thought about how I could grate them. Well...the grater, of course! I have one of those four sided cheese graters and I really only use one side. The side with the small bumps worked very nicely and the nutmeg was delicious in our eggnog. I knew I would never be buying ground nutmeg again!
The next time I made eggnog, I realized that my stainless steel rasp (which I use to grate lemon zest and other things) would probably do a great job on the nutmeg. I gave it a try and it was even better than the cheese grater!
If you aren't using whole nutmeg, I really encourage you to try using it. It made a huge difference in the flavour of our food and really wasn't very expensive at all (seeing as nutmeg does not take up much of our food budget)!
Oh, here is our eggnog recipe, in case you spend too much time reading blogs today and need to add something to your lunch of cheese, crackers and cucumber slices:
(We have a Vita-Mix, which holds 8 cups and this recipe fills it pretty well after 'fluffing'. Adjust quantities if your blender is smaller.)
Eggnog
Place in a large blender:
- 3 farm-fresh eggs
- 1/3 c. sucanat or unrefined sugar (okay...or just regular sugar!)
- a splash of vanilla extract
- some freshly grated nutmeg
Then, add milk to about the 5 1/2 c. level and blend slowly until well-combined. If you zing it around on high, you will regret it as it will make a lot of foam which will fall out of the top when you open the lid. You can grate a little extra nutmeg on the top of each glass if you like. Mmmmm! I almost want to go make some right now!
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Have you tried real vanilla beans?
ReplyDeleteYour life will never be the same.
Can't wait to try the Egg Nog. E has told me about it and is quite jealous that it's actually considered a healthy food in your home. Maybe I'll surprise her at lunch since the cupboards are pretty bare.
Sandy
Hi there Christine~
ReplyDeleteSorry it has been a while since I've been over! I love fresh nutneg! I use it in my rocotta cheese mixture for lasana. I want a vita mix really bad! Do you use it often? I want to be able to use make wheat flour from wheat berries!
Merry Christmas,
Georgiann
PS I really like your post on Charlotte Mason. Your post have been getting me excited about homeschooling next school year! Thanks!
((((HUGS))))))
Sandy, I recently bought a good bunch of vanilla beans. How do you use them? Do you substitute in some way for vanilla extract?
ReplyDeleteGeorgiann - interesting about using fresh nutmeg in your lasagna! I will have to try that. In fact, I really should make some lasagna one of these days. :) I'm glad you are enjoying my posts about CM. We have been homeschooling for 10 years and I still love it. I think a lot of that is because Charlotte's methods are so terrific.