By Nochebuena and Christmas. The two-day feast. The marathon. The reason I have a kitchen this size and hands this strong and a heart this full.
Christmas Eve — Nochebuena — is the Puerto Rican Christmas, the one that matters, the one where the pernil comes out of the oven at midnight and the house is full and the music is loud and nobody sleeps because sleep is what January is for. I started the pernil at 6 AM Tuesday, low and slow, 275 degrees, the oven doing its patient work while I handled everything else: the arroz con gandules, the pasteles pulled from the freezer and boiled in salted water, the tostones fried in batches, the tembleque (coconut pudding) that set in the refrigerator overnight, the coquito — coconut eggnog with rum — that Eduardo mixed with the seriousness of a man performing sacred duty.
By 6 PM the house was full. Miguel Jr. and Jenny and Lucas, who is eighteen months and running — not walking, running — through the house with the energy of a toddler who has discovered that Christmas means extra people and extra people mean extra attention and extra attention is his primary fuel source. Rosa and Carlos. David, who arrived Tuesday and immediately took over one corner of the kitchen to make his tres leches, which is his contribution and his right. Sofía, who was setting the table with the cloth tablecloth — the one Mami embroidered years ago, white with red flowers, the one that only comes out for Christmas and weddings and funerals. Ana from Bridgeport.
Mami arrived at five. Eduardo drove to get her. She came into the house in her wheelchair, wrapped in the blue shawl — not the new one, the old one, because she was saving the new one — and she looked around at the noise and the food and the children and she said, This is too much. She meant: this is everything. She meant: this is what I built. She meant: the kitchen in Bayamón had seven children and two adults and one grandmother and now the kitchen in Hartford has four children and their spouses and a grandchild and a mother in a wheelchair and the noise is the same noise and the food is the same food and the chain is unbroken.
The pernil came out at 11 PM. The skin was crackling. The meat was — I will say this without modesty because modesty about pernil is a sin — perfect. I carved it at the counter and served it at midnight, the way Abuela Consuelo served it, the way Mami served it, the way Christmas is supposed to be: loud and late and abundant and together. Wepa.
Eduardo makes the coquito the way some people pray—quietly, deliberately, like the outcome matters beyond the glass. That image has stayed with me every Christmas since, and it’s why I started keeping this Easy Irish Cream in my back pocket for the nights when not everyone in the room grew up with coconut rum and the sweetness of Abuela’s recipe. It’s the same sacred energy in a different bottle: something rich and creamy and mixed with love, something you pour for the people who showed up and stayed late and made the noise that means everything is right. Make a batch before your people arrive—by midnight, you’ll be glad it’s there.
Easy Irish Cream
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 16 (about 4 cups total)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Irish whiskey
- 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Combine ingredients. Add the Irish whiskey, sweetened condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, eggs, chocolate syrup, instant coffee granules, vanilla extract, and almond extract to a blender.
- Blend until smooth. Blend on medium-high speed for 30 to 45 seconds, until the mixture is fully combined, smooth, and slightly frothy.
- Taste and adjust. Taste the mixture and add a touch more chocolate syrup or vanilla if desired. Blend briefly to incorporate.
- Chill before serving. Transfer to a sealed glass bottle or jar and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. The flavors deepen as it rests.
- Serve. Pour over ice or serve straight in small glasses. Shake or stir the jar gently before each pour. Store refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 198 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 16g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 55mg