The winter holidays are here at last. That means delicious holiday foods and beverages are here too. Right now you can get my favorite holiday beverage — eggnog — at any grocery store. Instead of spending your money on mediocre commercial eggnog, try this easy recipe.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of sugar

4 pasteurized eggs

1 cup heavy cream

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon nutmug

1/3 cup rum (if over 21)

1 Separate the egg yolks and whites. Over a small bowl, crack an egg without opening it. Hold it upright and remove the shell’s top half, keeping the yolk in the bottom half. Dump the yolk into your hand, allowing any white to fall into the bowl. Pass the yolk from hand to hand over the bowl so that the white will fall in. Put the yolk in a large bowl and repeat.

2 Beat the yolks until their color lightens to the color of pineapple juice. Add one-third cup sugar. Beat until the sugar dissolves; if the mixture is grainy, keep beating.

3 Add the milk, cream, nutmeg, and alcohol if you are over 21 (I prefer spiced rum). Stir to combine.

4 In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. This means that if you pull your beater out, the egg whites will rise up, and then round back down or fold over. Add the tablespoon of sugar and beat the whites to stiff peaks. This means that the egg whites will form a stiff peak when you pull the beater out.

5 Whisk the two mixtures together. Chill, serve, enjoy.

Using pasteurized eggs significantly reduces your risk of illness. I get some foam with this recipe. If this happens to you, you can either mix the foam back into the liquid or you can use it as a dip for sugar cookies.