Hot Buttered Rum Nutella Toddy

It's mostly warm out, but the evenings here are still chilly. And the other night I was feeling a bit ... icky. A little congested and crackly, like a cold was trying to catch me.

So I snuggled up with some blankets and a hot drink.

I recently discovered hot buttered rum, and that's what I was going to make. But then I spied the jar of Nutella and decided to mix some into the drink.

Genius idea. It had the buttery rummy flavor, along with nuttiness and chocolate.

Hot Buttered Rum Nutella Toddy

3/4 cup hot water (drinkable temperature)
1/2 teaspoon butter
1 ounce Captain Morgan white rum
Generous spoon full of Nutella (to taste)

Pour the hot water into a mug and add the butter and rum.

Stir the Nutella in briskly.

Serve hot.

Frozen Black Cow with a Kick

One of my favorite cocktails is rum and root beer. I have no idea if that's ever sold in bars, but it's something I make at home once in a while.

Meanwhile, when I was a kid, my favorite addition to root beer is vanilla ice cream, which my dad called a Black Cow.

On my way to pouring a glass of root beer that might have had a bit if rum in it, I started thinking about combining the two ... as an ice cream.

So, it's root beer and rum ice cream, AKA, Frozen Black Cow with a Kick

It tastes like a root beer float ... with a little something extra.

Frozen Black Cow with a Kick

1 3/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup sugar
1 2-ounce bottle root beer extract
1/4 cup Captain Morgan spiced rum
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or a large measuring cup. Stir until the sugar is dissolved completely.

If you're using an ice cream maker with a freezer bowl, chill the mixture completely before churning. If you're using an ice cream maker with a compressor, you can churn right away.

Churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer's directions, then transfer to a storage container and freeze until firm.

If you use this to make a root beer float, I wouldn't object.

Buttered Rum - hot and cold - for the #CaptainsTable

I've always thought that the idea of hot buttered rum was sort of romantic, in a creaky-old-books sort of way. Roaring fireplace, lap robe, warm drink, fuzzy slippers, snow gently falling - something like that.

But at the same time it sounded appealing, it also sounds a little odd - I mean, melted butter in a drink? Isn't that just a teeny bit odd?

Or perhaps not.

The hot buttered rum idea mulled around in my head for a while and eventually emerged as an ice cream to go along with the drink. Or, it would be perfect on its own. Or on top of a slice of apple or pumpkin pie. Or next to cake. Or with a little whipped cream on top, and a spoon. Or even on top of some pancakes or waffles on a really indulgent morning.

For the ice cream, I thought about starting with a browned butter ice cream and then adding the rum, but I've only added butter to custard-style ice creams. This time, I thought something lighter might be better. So I skipped the eggs and the actual butter, and opted for a couple of flavorings to amp up the buttery-dairy flavor.

The result was pretty darned nice.

As for the hot buttered rum, I have to say that I'm a big fan. The butter gives it a creaminess and richness and reminds me of a childhood favorite - butter rum candies. It's a perfect cold-weather drink for a quiet evening after a hectic day.

Butter Rum Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla butter emulsion
1/2 teaspoon vanilla butternut flavoring

Combine all ingredients and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Refrigerate until well-chilled, then churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a storage container and freeze until firm.

Because of the rum in this ice cream, it doesn't freeze rock-hard, so it's easy to scoop.

Hot Buttered Rum

1 teaspoon maple sugar
1 teaspoon butter
1 ounce Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
Hot water, as needed

Put the sugar, butter, and rum into a heat-proof glass or mug. Add the hot water - as hot as you like it. The point is to melt the butter and sugar, but it needn't be boiling hot, or you're going to have to wait a while before you can sip before burning your lips.

Serve warm.

Wouldn't this be nice with a little Christmas cookie on the side, Santa?

Every time you share with #CaptainsTable on social media, Captain Morgan will donate $1 to WhyHunger - so please pin, tweet, or share on Facebook using the #CaptainsTable tag!

This post was sponsored by Captain Morgan. I received rum to work with an a stipend for ingredients.

For more info on Captain Morgan:

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Cran-Raspberry Sauce with Spiced Rum and a Cran-Raspberry Rum Punch

Turkey is the easy answer, of course. But while turkey is the official protein of the day, the official condiment/fruit/relish/bright-colored-accent is the cranberry. Whether it's jellied, or a chutney, or relish, cranberries usually end up on the table somewhere.

I grew up with the canned jellied stuff, but to be honest, I wasn't that crazy about it. I'd like a little taste of it with some of the bone-dry turkey breast, but a little was enough.

When I discovered a cran-raspberry canned jellied product, I switched to that. That was back in the day when I had never even seen a fresh cranberry, and I loved the flavor that the raspberries brought to the usual jiggle-dish.

But then, when I found fresh cranberries, I started having fun.

Instead of treating the cranberry as something that has to be on the table whether you like it or not, now I'm

This relish is an homage to that first cran-raspberry dish that changed my ideas about cranberry sauce, but it starts with fresh cranberries. Since raspberries aren't in season at this time of year, I opted for frozen berries.

And then I used some of the resulting cranberry sauce in a cocktail. Yeah, you heard me.

Since this post is sponsored by Captain Morgan's as part of their Captain's Table challenge, of course there's rum in everything - including the chef.

Cran-Raspberry Sauce with Spiced Rum

12 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
12 ounces frozen raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum
1 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan and cook on medium heat, stirring as needed, until the cranberries have soften and burst, and the sauce has thickened.

Take the sauce off the heat - and here's where you have a choice. You can serve this chunky and seedy, or you can pass it through a fine sieve to get a smooth sauce. I ended up doing both, and had a pint of the chunky sauce and about 1 1/2 cups of the smooth sauce.

Cran-Raspberry Rum Punch

This can be served as a warm or cold drink. Warm, it's a comforting drink for a cold day. Cold, it's bright and refreshing. Either way, the color is bright and inviting. I suggest using the strained sauce for this.

I let my husband sample this, and he really liked it - a lot. That's surprising because he doesn't like cranberries at all. And he doesn't drink mixed drinks. But I had to steal this away from him.

1 1/2 ounces strained cran-raspberry sauce
1 ounce Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum
Hot or cold water, to fill glass

Combine the cran-raspberry sauce, rum, and water in a short, squat glass - if you're serving it cols, you can add ice before you fill with water - your choice.

This post was sponsored by Captain Morgan's as part of their #CaptainsTable challenge. I received rum for use in recipes and a stipend to purchase additional ingredients.

Rum 'n Root Beer Cocktail for the #CaptainsTable

When I posted on Facebook that I was going to be doing some posts for "the Captain" and I asked people to guess who that was, I was a little surprised that 100 percent of the people who guessed said, "Captain Morgan."

Wow. Not one person guessed Captain Kangaroo or The Captain and Tennille.

Hmmm. Maybe my friends know me better than I thought. I never liked Captain Kangaroo or his sidekick, Mr. Green Jeans. And I'm pretty sure that neither the Kangaroo-man or the music man said much about cooking.

On the other hand, Captain Morgan will be a fine companion for the holidays, and I'm planning a few posts that'll include both food and beverage recipes using rum. I'm not entirely sure yet what I'll be making, but I'm guessing there will be some baking.

Because that's how I roll.

Just for a little sampler of the havoc I plan on creating, I decided to start with a little cocktail. Maybe this is too simple, but it's something I've liked for years, and every time I mention it to someone, they look at me like I'm a little crazy. Then they think about it for a second or two - probably thinking about the flavors ... and then it's "hmmmm ... well, yes, I can see how that would work."

Why yes. Yes it does.

And just because I can't leave well enough alone, I added a little bit of a garnish. Just for the fun of it.

Rum 'n Root Beer

1 ounce Captain Morgan's Original Spiced Rum
Root beer, to fill glass
Cinnamon stick

Fill a glass with ice. Add the rum and root beer and garnish with the cinnamon stick. Depending on how that cinnamon stick is rolled, you might be able to use it as a straw. Or, you'll just look silly. But it adds a touch of cinnamon flavor to the drink, and it's a fun stir-stick.

Serve. To me, preferably.

Disclaimer: I was provided with rum for recipes, and a stipend to cover the cost of my ingredients for my posts.