We lost our cute tree last night and our apartment is feeling rather empty this morning. The poor fellow had gotten hopelessly dry and it was time to let him go, or else I might have had him up until March. Apparently, other people have come to similar conclusions. Lately, our neighborhood has resembled a wasteland of abandoned Christmas trees: Trees line the streets like guests who have overstayed their welcome and been unceremoniously tossed out on their backsides. I like to think we're better than that. So, we did things a bit differently; we sent ours out with a drink.
Ever since I saw this recipe for Milk Punch on SmittenKitchen, I’d been itching to make it. In truth, I wasn’t ready to let go of the holidays just yet. I needed one more night. So, I mixed up a batch and cued the holiday tunes. After dinner, we carefully removed the glass bulbs, garlands and lights from the branches in between sips of punch and tucked them away downstairs. Made with bourbon, milk punch is a lot like eggnog but without the eggs and served slightly frozen. I still think I prefer the latter with its insanely rich texture and long history in my family, but the former was certainly a pleasant treat (especially on an otherwise bland, post-holiday, Wednesday night!).
It was just what I needed to close out the season and the perfect send-off for our friend. At the end of the night, we escorted him downstairs and left him to catch his ride (sadly, to the recycling heap with the DPW truck this morning). The last I saw of him, he was tipsily leaning against a phone pole and swaying a bit to keep warm. Is it too early to start counting the days until next Christmas? (Apparently not, its 352 to be exact. Thanks, internet!)
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