No Gifts?

Your Christmas actually sounds kind of peaceful to me, Claudia, very adult and civilized. It is my theory that we should enjoy these moments while we can, as the pause between generations is brief. Just as we get adjusted to nice quiet evenings with a little seasonal music in the background, the unsettled cries of babies and toddlers who haven't yet grasped the joys of Christmas begin to ring out from the next room. Gather ye eggnog while you may.

And speaking of eggnog - does anyone make it from scratch any more, or is it too scary? I have been contemplating eggnog, but somehow, in the interval between when my dad used to make it with many eggs and clouds of whipped egg white on top, and the current moment when it all seems to come pasteurized and homogenized out of cardboard containers in the dairy section, I've lost or forgotten the recipe. Are we still allowed to eat raw eggs?

The holidays just get more complicated all the time.