By Maggie Conklin
Irish Cream
Recently we had our annual “really bad winter” where we hunkered down and did anything we could to prevent going outside.
This is what us Michiganders prepare for, why we can meals, fill the freezer with food, make sure we have staples in house. Things like rice and dried beans, canned tomatoes, pasta, playing cards, puzzles and toilette paper. Lots of toilette paper.
My dear husband neglected his duties of making sure that we had enough Irish cream in the house for his coffee and my Irish breakfast tea. He gave me a look as if to say, “I dare you to make Irish cream out of thin air like you do with so many other things.”
Challenge met.
Ingredients
2 tsp instant coffee
2 Tbsp hot water
1 14 oz. can condensed milk
2 cups half and half
2 cups medium grade whiskey
2 oz. Kahlua
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Dissolve instant coffee granules in hot water, then add condensed milk and stir really well. Add the rest of the ingredients in order, stirring after each addition.
This will fit into a 1.75-ml bottle or a quart Mason jar. Keep corked or lidded in the refrigerator for up to two months, but it shouldn’t last that long, especially if the weather stays nasty.
I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised that the can of condensed milk wasn’t yet expired, because I couldn’t remember why I bought it in the first place.
Some people like Irish cream in their coffee in the morning, some people like it in their black tea, and some like it plain in a pretty cordial glass.
However you like it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did that chilly stay-at-home winter day. Enjoy!