How to Make a Classic Holiday Egg Nog Recipe 

[ad#co-1]

Egg Nog Recipe Ingredients:

4 cups of Milk
2 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
5 Whole Cloves
1 teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon
12 Egg Yolks
1 1/2 cups of Sugar
4 cups of Light Cream
2 1/2 cups of Light Rum
1/2 teaspoon of Ground Nutmeg

Homemade Eggnog Recipe Directions:

1. Heat the milk, cloves and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract in a saucepan over a low heat for approximately 5 minutes. After the time has passed remove the saucepan from the heat.
2. Take a large bowl, and whisk the egg yolks and sugar until the combination becomes fluffy. Then begin to whisk the hot milk mixture slowly with the mixture of fluffy eggs.  After the two mixtures have been combined, pour them into the saucepan. Cook them over a medium heat, being sure to constantly stir it for 3 minutes or until it becomes thick.
3. After mixture has become thick, strain it to pull out all of the cloves.  Then let it cool for about an hour.  Then stir in the rum, cream, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and nutmeg.
4. Refrigerate the mixture over night before serving and then ENJOY!!!!

Looking for more holiday drinks?

Take a look at our 26 holiday cocktails – perfect from Thanksgiving through New years!

For more delicious drink recipes on Stagetecture, visit our drinks archives.

After all the preparation, noise and parties, it is for sure time to get some relaxation. There is nothing better to relax than waking up late in the morning and have a nice, hot cup of a delicious white chocolate latte recipe. Here is a recipe from All Recipes that will for sure meet your expectations.

Warm Winter Drink – White Chocolate Latte

Image via: Amelia

[ad#co-1]

Warm Winter Drinks – White Chocolate Latte

Ingredients for two cups

• 1 ½ cups milk
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• ½ cup brewed espresso, hot
• ¼ cup white chocolate chips, chopped

Image via: Pinterest

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine the milk and the cream and stir over high heat until the mixture gets hot and kind of frothy.
2. Remove from heat. Whisk in the sugar and the vanilla.
3. In a cup, combine the espresso and the chocolate chips and stir until you get a smooth mixture.
4. Pour half of the mixture into the second cup.
5. Top with the milk and stir slightly.

This drink is ideal to take a breath after all the festive activities of the past few weeks. Together with some left over cookies or desserts will make it even more perfect.

If you want, you can add flavors to the latte, like caramel, almond or peppermint. Just use one or two teaspoons of your favorite extract to jazz it up. Another option is to spice your drink up, using wintery, cozy spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and even gingerbread spice mix. One more ingredient you can use for an afternoon or evening hot drink is a little Irish cream liquor or something similar. For decoration, use cinnamon sticks, a little cinnamon or cocoa powder or flakes of white chocolate. And of course you can always top the latte with more whipped cream!

For more drinks and cocktails on Stagetecture, click here.

Warm Holiday Orange Mulled Wine

[ad#co-1]

Ingredients

1 large orange
Seeds from 8 cardamom pods
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
3 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
8 to 9 tbsp. sugar, divided
2 bottles (750 ml. each) dry red wine
1/4 cup orange-flavored liqueur (optional)
Thin orange slices (optional)

Procedure

1. With a vegetable peeler, pare 8 thin strips zest (4 in. by 1/2 in.) from orange. Juice orange and reserve juice.
2. Wrap cardamom and coriander seeds and ginger in a piece of cheesecloth and tie with kitchen twine.
3. In a nonreactive saucepan, crush orange zest and 7 tbsp. sugar with a wooden spoon to release oils from zest. Add reserved orange juice, wine, and spice packet. Cover and bring to a simmer over high heat, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand covered, 30 minutes. Discard spice packet and orange zest.
4. To serve, heat wine, covered, over medium heat just until steaming. If you like, stir in liqueur and more sugar to taste. Ladle into heatproof glasses. Garnish with thin orange slices if you like.

The whole ingredients should give you at least 9 heartwarming Autumn Orange Mulled Wine. So, enjoy the scenic view of your patio with your loved ones this holiday season. Make it more romantic by lighting up a candle on your table with sumptuous menu to complete the setting. Don’t worry about the cold breeze, the Holiday Orange Mulled Wine Recipe will keep you warm.

For more drink recipes on Stagetecture, click here.

 Toasty Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

Image via: Eat Live Run   

[ad#co-1]

Prep. Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1-4 hours

Serves: 9 Mugs

Ingredients

1 cup of Powder Chocolate Milk Mix or Powder Cocoa Mix
8 cups of Hot Water
3/4 cups of Chocolate Syrup
1/4 cups of Peanut Butter
1 1/2 teaspoons of Vanilla

Image via: Texanerin

Directions

1. Pour the Cocoa Mix in a 3-4 quart slow cooker.  Next, you want to carefully stir in the hot water.
2. After you have added the hot water, stir in the chocolate syrup.  Cover the mixture and let it cook on a low heat for 3-4 hours or on high for 90 minutes to 2 hours.
3. When the time is up whisk in the peanut butter and vanilla until they have been smoothed in.
4. Ladle the cocoa into mugs and enjoy!

For more recipes on Stagetecture, click here.

This is essentially the nightmare scenario of the sofa world, you have just bought a new sofa and settled it into your home and somehow you have managed to get a stain on it. Fear not there a few ways in which you can rectify the issue and flop back into your sofas in the height of relaxation.

Common Sofa Stain Culprits:

To be honest a stain on your new sofa is only a matter of time, so rather than worry about your sofa getting stained just make sure you are careful with the following usual suspects:

Hot drinks like coffee and tea

Ballpoint pen or biro

Food stains like troublesome Bolognese sauce

Fruit juice drinks, usually spilt by the kids in the household

Red wine

Image via: Be Interior Decorator

There are a few actions you should take when a stain does appear on your living room sofa:

Treat the stain immediately

Don’t leave wet stains to dry and tackle them immediately with a cleaning agent or a damp cloth this will ensure that the offending stain doesn’t get time to soak into the material of your sofa and will be broken down by the cleaning agent as soon as possible.

Never scrub the stain

Scrubbing the stain will damage the fabric of your sofa so should be avoided at all costs. It is better to wipe down the stained area and remove an excess and then work in your cleaning agent.

Check supplier recommendations

Usually sofa manufacturers will supply you with detailed cleaning instructions so be sure to check them first to see if it is possible wash your sofa covers in the washing machine. If possible this will remove most stains and can be a lot easier than working out a stain by hand.

Use vinegar solutions

Vinegar solutions of three parts water to one part vinegar can be used for removing juice stains and watering the stain down will help to disperse the offending juice. When juice is involved it is important to tackle the stain as soon as possible to avoid the juice soaking into the material.

Image via: Home Design Decorating

Don’t use bleach

Never use bleach on sofa covers as most materials will discolour badly and only make the stains worse

Removing blood stains

Blood stains need to be tackled with a salt and water solution. You should dissolve small amounts of salt into large amount of water and use this to tackle the stain.

Removing an ink stain from a sofa

Ink stains can be removed with hairspray and a good amount of washing. This is due to the alcohol content in the hairspray which works to break up the stain. This process of stain removing will require a number of applications and will gradually work its magic against the stain over time rather than removing the biro in one go.

Most sofas will come with washing guideline tags which will let you know what course of action to take for tackling a stain.

W – spot clean the stain with a water solution or mild detergent

S – spot clean with solvent only in a well ventilated room

S W – spot clean with either water based or solvent cleaning agent

X – vacuum only

If you have a large of particularly stubborn stain then it can be a good idea to buy new covers to get rid of the stain or use a dry cleaning service to tackle the stain. This may seem a little drastic but sometimes it is worth spending a bit more money rather than constantly being annoyed at having a stain on your sofa.

Jonathan is a freelance writer who enjoys finding new methods for avoiding home nightmares like a stained sofa.

For more home ideas on Stagetecture, click here.