The Porch, y'all. pull up a seat and kick back.

[CousinFreddie]

The first year we did the Toast To George I had t-shirts printed up with that quote.

Ha, nice touch!

[Mr Tulip]

Why would I want to dilute my Captain Morgan's with egg stuff?

[MikeDeTiger]

I actually admire people that can get through the holidays without booze.

I'm certainly NOT one of those people, as I'm definitely more holly-jolly & generous with a drink in hand.  But if you have that holly-jolly spirit already within you, without needing external chemicals to summon the feeling to surface, that's aweseome!

 

History says that I do some really stupid things when I drink.
The last time I really went at it, I guess I was about 21, and I won't elaborate, but long story short, I had one of those moments where you swear you won't do any of that again, for good reason.  Turns out I faced chemical death at worst and up to 20 years imprisonment if I'd been caught.  Only barely ever touched anything 2 or 3 times after that, so I mostly stuck with it.
Think I might have had a bit to drink at the '07 board meeting....not sure.  Knocked a few back with old friends shortly afterwards at my 10 year reunion.  You might reasonably assume that previous indiscretions could be chalked up more to being young and dumb, but a couple years after that, which is the last time I can remember having anything to drink, I wound up making out with somebody I really shouldn't have, and it was mild drama.  
Plus--and I'm comfortable being in the minority here--I never liked the taste of most alcohol.  I almost exclusively drank for the sole purpose of getting drunk.  Very few things I drank to merely enjoy, so that makes it a lot easier to stay away from.  

[CharleyHorse46]

....Turns out I faced chemical death at worst and up to 20 years imprisonment if I'd been caught...

Jeepers H Chrismas
I don't even want to know what you did.  Just glad you have the good sense to say "no mas."
Always been strange to me how different people have different Achilles heels but most everyone's got one.  It used to chaff me when I was a kid in the '70s because my dad all other members of the man making up establishment, loved absolutes.  Do that and you'll become a drug addict.  Do that and you'll throw yourself off a building.  Do that and you'll go blind.
When you do and you didn't, Mr Man has lost all credibility.  Cause most people who do, don't.  But there's always that one thing for everybody.  That kryptonite.
Might be able to do a hunnert vices and none will enslave you but then along comes vice 101.

[CousinFreddie]

I'm with you Mike - I only like alcohol for the effect not the taste (except for beer and wine, but those are in a different category in my book).

I can't remember the last time I was actually drunk.  I can't even remember the last time I had hard liquor at all.

But back in the day, I made the mistake of mixing motorcycles with mojo (which in the usmc was just pouring koolaid and/or some kind of juice into a bin with whatever hard liquor we had on hand) regularly. 

I remember leaving the NCO club one night after beaucoup shots of 151, celebrating somebody's retirement, on my bike, yelling my goodbyes to all at the top of my lungs (a mildly obnoxious but happy drunk, or at least so they tell me).  Next thing you know someone is shaking my shoulder and saying "Yak are you okay??" (my nickname was yak, everyone in the usmc has a nickname), and I realize I've got dirt in my mouth, laying sideways in a ditch and my bike was still "running" somehow with the back tire up in the air and spinning, but of course this was all a blurrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

And then there were the "races" I had with fellow biking buddies on those NC back woods highways. Lit. It's amazing i lived to be 22. I believe my mother was praying daily for me, and I give her all the credit.

[CousinFreddie]

But there's always that one thing for everybody.  That kryptonite.
Might be able to do a hunnert vices and none will enslave you but then along comes vice 101.

Yep, so true.  You just got figure out how to reach a detente with that kryptonite.  Or find a way to shield yourself from it.  Or go live on another planet!

[utee94]

Mojo, eh?  In college we called it trash can punch.  Primary booze that went in it, was everclear  (actually, "diesel" which was cheaper (not the gasonline, but rather, a 190-proof alcohol)).

[UT-Erin03]

You would think actually getting arrested would curb my alcohol-appetite, but nope!  I'm a stubborn one.   

I love it so much that I found a side-hustle where I get paid to push booze, and get to keep the rest for myself.   Lots of people say "no" when I offer the free booze samples, with some claiming they don't drink at all, and that's fine with me... more left in the bottle for me to consume!     

[Mr Tulip]

I drink almost exclusively hard liquor, and a lot of it.

I'm a reasonably happy, well mannered person. I enjoy the taste of many liquors. I consider myself a "professional drinker" meaning I don't miss work, get sick, abuse the family finances, or put anyone in physical or emotional danger.

Many times, I shut off the drinking for several weeks just to prove to myself that I could if I wanted/needed to.

There are many things that I just "shouldn't", and I've tried to learn those. To all who realize they "shouldn't", and then "don't", I raise my glass!

[CharleyHorse46]

There are many things in this world that I have heartily enjoyed but could actually take or leave.  Alcohol, cocaine, rich foods,  gambling, etc...

But my achilles heel is women.

Throughout my life, whenever I ever allowed one to worm her way into my heart, I almost inevitably allowed her to turn me inside out.

I’ve been a damned fool for love.  

I’ve stood in glass on the highway in my underwear alternately begging the nightmare of my dreams to come back and go F herself.

When I’ve had it good, I’ve messed it up.  And when I’ve had it bad, I’ve made it worse.

I probably take after my mom. Can’t tell you how many times she pulled a butcher knife on my sweet long suffering pop.

I guess I finally failed so many times, I lost my passion and earned enough apathy to me a somewhat tolerable partner, but the chicas still flirt and disaster is always just one bad decision away.

Yep. Women. If anything ever destroys me, it’ll be women.

Probably a 5’ tall brown eyed angel who looks like she wouldn’t hurt a fly.

[BrownCounty]

Buncha drunks up in here.

[utee94]

So anyway, about the egg nog-- I never even considered aging it, until I saw Alton Brown's Good Eats episode about it.  He suggested letting it age for up to a year.  

I was like, wait, WAT???  Raw eggs, heavy whipping cream, sugar, and booze-- sitting and aging for a YEAR?  NO WAI!

But two years ago I accidentally forgot about one mason jar of the stuff I'd put back for a relative, who never came by to pick it up.  It was hidden at the back of the beer fridge.  I discovered it about 6 months after Christmas, and decided to let it go until the following Toast To George party.

So after we'd made our new batch (and by "we" I mean my i s c & a aggie wife), and let it sit in the fridge overnight, I pulled out the aged one and poured a cup, next to a cup of the fresh one, and did a taste test.  And man oh man if Alton Brown wasn't 100% correct.  It had aged really well.  It was more mellow and smoother, not quite as creamy/frothy because it has "relaxed" for a year, but it was pretty tasty.  

So last year I put back a half-gallon of the stuff instead of just a pint.  Now it's at the back of my beer fridge, just taunting me.  That first really cold night a couple days ago, I almost broke down and opened it up.  But I checked myself.  It'll be even better next month.

Mmmmmmmmm rich, creamery nog.

[Shiner]

It can sit for a year and not go bad?  Whodathunk.

[UT-Erin03]

Buncha drunks up in here.

Well most of us ARE Texans, and there's a reputation to uphold here.