I have a favorite cooking blog I’d love to share with you, and it’s mostly because of her talents as a stylist and photographer. (I’m usually all about the food.) Her name is Eva Kosmas Flores, and her blog is Adventures in Cooking. Prepare to be gobsmacked. Her cookbook is First We Eat, published in 2022.

If you follow her blog you’ll get a free, gorgeous e-book of seasonal recipes. Following are some of her photos from the e-book. I had to crop some because they’re screen shots, but you get the idea! Incredible photography.

I’m typically overwhelmed looking at styled food photos, because to me they represent so much patience, and that’s just not me. This young woman is exceptionally talented, yet I never feel like she’s overdoing it, like so many in my opinion. Her work is natural.

Eva has online courses and workshops, and there’s even more to see on her blog than recipes. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, so there’s that… She will even help you with building your business empire. I don’t even have ads on my blog, so that doesn’t interest me, but I have taken an online photography course and she’s really helpful and so creative. What I would need, in an ideal world, is a studio with great lighting, a tripod I can actually figure out, and cameras hanging from the ceiling. That’s not going to happen.

Ms. Flores has hundreds of fabulous recipes on her blog, but I decided to choose one to make from her e-book – Hazelnut Maple Eggnog. No, it’s not Christmas time, but why can’t you have eggnog in the winter?! Plus, it’s nice and warming, with some added hazelnut liqueur. If you’ve never combined hazelnut and maple flavors, run to your kitchen and do so!

A friend of mine from way back, who actually follows my blog (thanks Elena!) had a baby shower for a mutual girlfriend about 37 years ago. She made eggnog from scratch, served in a beautiful punch bowl, and I’ll never forget how delicious it was. And, of course, it tastes nothing like what’s in the carton! So having never made eggnog myself, I wanted to make Eva’s recipe. Below, Candy on the left, I’m in the middle, Elena on the right. Finally I’m not the pregnant one!

Hazelnut Maple Eggnog
Printable recipe below

4 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
16 ounces whole milk
8 ounces heavy cream
3 ounces cognac
2 ounces hazelnut liqueur
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg plus more for garnish
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch of cocoa powder, optional for garnish

Beat the egg whites for one minute, then add them to the blender with the milk, cream, cognac, hazelnut liqueur, and nutmeg.

Beat the yolks and maple syrup at high speed with a whisk attachment until the mixture is very pale and fluffy and thick and a steady ribbon of the mixture flows down from the whisk when it’s lifted from the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Empty the egg yolk mixture into a blender, then blend for 30 seconds.

Garnish with a few pinches of nutmeg and cocoa powder.

Can be served immediately or chilled. I served it at room temperature.

Will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Rest in peace dear, sweet, funny Candy.