Today I had my last photo shoot of 2017. A wild and wonderful year that brought along new clients, amazing partnership, and plenty of challenges. I still have a few loose ends to wrap up, photos to edit, and administrative tasks to check off, but I'm going to go ahead and declare myself officially on holiday. For what it's worth, being a small business owner.

Over the next two weeks, I plan to read books, bake holiday favorites, watch movies, spend time with my family, and sleep as much as possible. We have plans for two performances, a trip to the mountains, and glasses of egg nog ad infinitum.

Egg nog: one of the holiday staples that is as divisive as it is delicious. Some detest it, some adore it. Some take it only with a generous helping of booze or mixed with milk, some insist on maintaining it in its purest form.

Throwing things into even wilder territory is this non-traditional take that I worked on with the amazing Colleen Jeffers, which brings in pistachio milk, aquavit, and egg white. It's iconoclastic, for sure. But also delicious and with just enough milky, nutty smoothness and warm spices to make it a perfect holiday drink. Enjoy!

Pistachio Milk Egg Nog
Serves 1

Ingredients:
1.5 oz aquavit
.5 oz simple syrup
.5 oz fresh squeezed/strained lemon juice
1 tsp ginger liqueur
1.5 oz pistachio milk (recipe follows)
1 egg white
pinch each of salt, cinnamon, and ground cardamom

Shake with ice, serve with freshly grated nutmeg on top.

Pistachio Milk
Ingredients:
1 cup shelled Wonderful pistachios
4 cups hot water (plus more for soaking)

Cover the pistachios with 2 inches of water and soak overnight at room temperature. Drain pistachios and add to a high speed blender. Add hot water and blend on high for 1 minute. Carefully pour blended nuts through a cheesecloth-lined sieve or nut milk bag. Squeeze out remaining liquid (ground pistachios can be reserved for another use, like muffins or smoothies).Cool completely, then transfer to a bottle or container and store in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Note: Leftover pistachio milk can be enjoyed on its own or with a touch of maple syrup, cardamom, and rose water stirred in.

This post was created in partnership with The Wonderful Co. Thanks for reading and cheers!