By New Year's. Black-eyed peas. Collards. Cornbread. The trinity. Two thousand twenty-four becomes two thousand twenty-five. The year Amber had Nadia. The year Clay met Sarah. The year the dressing was right for the third time. The year I learned to make tetrazzini and accepted honey-jalapeno cornbread and ate suya at my Christmas table and the world expanded and I expanded with it.
Connie clinked glasses at midnight. She said we're going to be fine. Fourth year. The annual tradition. I said I know. She said no, Craig, I mean all of us. The kids. The grandkids. We're all going to be fine. I said I believe you. She said good. She picked up her glass. I picked up mine. We drank to fine. We drank to the family. We drank to Betty in Evarts and Earl in the ground and the babies in their beds and the future that is coming whether we're ready or not, and we are ready because we have peas for luck and greens for money and cornbread for gold and each other for everything else.
We drank to fine. That’s what Connie said, and that’s what we toasted — not to perfection, just to fine, which turns out to be more than enough. After the collards and the cornbread and the black-eyed peas and midnight, what you want in your hand is something warm and sweet and a little bit serious, something that feels like the moment deserves it. This Hot Buttered Rum Mix is what we’ve been stirring into mugs at the end of December for years now — it keeps in the freezer, it scales up for a crowd, and when you hand someone a cup of it at midnight, it says exactly what you mean to say.
Hot Buttered Rum Mix
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 24 servings (mix keeps in freezer)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- To serve (per mug): 1 1/2 oz dark rum, 3/4 cup boiling water, 2 tablespoons mix
Instructions
- Cream the butter. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the sugars. Mix in the powdered sugar and brown sugar gradually, beating until fully combined and smooth.
- Fold in the ice cream. Add the softened vanilla ice cream and mix on low until incorporated — the mixture will be creamy and slightly loose.
- Season the mix. Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and salt until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Freeze. Transfer the mix to a freezer-safe container or zip-top bag. Freeze for at least 4 hours. It will keep frozen for up to 3 months.
- Serve. For each mug, scoop 2 tablespoons of frozen mix into a warm mug. Add 1 1/2 oz dark rum, then pour in 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir until the mix is fully melted and combined. Serve immediately with an optional cinnamon stick garnish.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 185 | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 24g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 55mg