I love Egg Nog, but..

Apparently I've had my fill of egg nog. I drink mine without the alcohol. My wife bought me a half gallon of the stuff for the holiday and I managed to finish it off, but I noticed something different this year.

It disturbs my stomach now. I love the flavor and texture of the drink, especially without alcohol. I really did give up alcohol twenty years ago for my family and for myself. I will have a sip from time to time if the spirit is worthy, such as Johnnie Walker Blue Label, or it is a special occasion. The day before Thanksgiving my eldest sister and I got together to celebrate the holiday for the first time in well over a decade.

My wife thought ahead and purchased some Bacardi Rum and Egg Nog. We all went to lunch at our favorite restaurant, then came back here to my house to watch a DVD and enjoy a small drink. It had been decades since I prepared a mixed drink, so under the instructions from my sister I poured a rather strong version of 'EGG NOG'.

I had previously been to visit my cousin in California who makes her own Khalua and she taught me how to make it. I brought home two gallons of homemade Khalua and barely touched it. Last year, or the year before, my brother was in town and I sent him home with a quart of the concoction. This left me with a considerable amount of Khalua in my pantry.
So, when my sister was here I suggested we try some. She instructed me to mix two fingers Khalua with one finger of Bacardi Rum and fill the rest of the goblet with Egg Nog.

Her version of egg nog was ...strong. I had created a monster under her tutelage. This was no ordinary egg nog, no indeed it became EGG NOG! It was big and burly and scared me. She had a sip and coughed. She approved, smiled and handed it back to me. I didn't know whether to drink it or pour it out. I sipped, after a long moment of deep reflection. It was smooth and creamy. The coffee and the vanilla bean made for great dance partners on my palate, until the egg nog broke up the pairing and turned what was a cotillion into a rave upon my tongue.

Then the alcohol came out Full Monty! Cough cough! Whew!
We shared the goblet because neither of us wanted to finish it off and become soused. We sat back and watched the film on DVD. After about an hour I made another, but this time with a bit more knowledge of what I was going for. It turned out better than the first and it disappeared quickly. Fifteen minutes later we were feeling comfortably numb and I decided just one more wouldn't hurt. So, between the two of us, we each had one and a half of these goblets of EGG NOG!

She sobered up by the time the DVD was finished, it was three and a half hours long, and she went home. I went to bed and worked on my blog a little, on here. Then about midnight I became very uncomfortable in my stomach and a few minutes passed which saw me racing to the restroom. I thought it may have been something else. I disregarded it. Then the day of Thanksgiving happened and I had some more virgin egg nog and about two hours later I was racing to the restroom once again.

My tummy was in knots. It felt like acid was creeping through my guts. I kept running to the restroom. I thought, "Am I coming down with something?" It cleared up finally and I was doing well until yesterday when I finished off the half gallon in my fridge. A few hours later and the same feeling washed over me. Cramping and acid in the guts. I finally realized that it wasn't me being sick, but my body rejecting the egg nog. I cleaned out my system and spent most of last night running back and forth to the restroom. Now, my stomach has become irritated and I think the culprit is milk.

When I was a young lad, I had similar problems with milk. They called it lactose intolerance. I gave up milk for a very long time until recently within the last two years. I started having my regular coffee with a dash of milk. That never bothered me much, but drinking the full body of egg nog seemed to reawaken that old problem in me. I thought it was just the egg nog, but this morning after my coffee with milk, I felt the same churning.

So now I know that my lactose intolerance has returned with a vengeance and I need to be careful, or have a restroom nearby at hand.
Whcich get me to thinking. My love of flavors has caused more problems with my diet than anything. Maybe I should try food that is not quite so flavorful for a while until my body resets. Maybe salads.

Much love and light to you and yours,
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