I drank my first Tom and Jerry yesterday -- well, my first since I sipped my grandma's about 25 years ago -- and I am a believer. I am not sure why I haven't had one before, considering I am a big fan of egg nog, brandy and rum. It's hot, sweet and potent -- the perfect combo to dull the drone of yammering relatives and hookey holiday ditties.
My smitten-ness with this classic holiday cocktail drove me to Wikipedia, where I learned a sports writer named Pierce Egan coined the phrase in a book around 1820. To Egan, "Tom and Jerry" means fighting, drinking and causing trouble. I don't know about you, but that's what I like to toast at Christmastime.
Here's a basic recipe for the Tom and Jerry:
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1/2 oz. simple syrup or 1 tsp powdered sugar
- 1 oz. dark rum
- 1 oz. Cognac or brandy
- hot milk or hot water
- grated nutmeg for garnish
Preparation:
- Separate the egg white from the egg yolk and beat them separately.
- Fold the beaten eggs together and place into an Irish coffee glass -- or any mug.
- Add the sugar or simple syrup, dark rum and brandy.
- Fill with hot milk or hot water.
- Stir well.
- Sprinkle with nutmeg.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
