Good morning and welcome to a three-day (maybe I’m being overly optimistic there?) holiday workweek.
This is a good time to talk about our holiday schedule, during which “Rise and Shine” will go dark for a well-deserved (or at least much-needed) break to recharge our batteries in anticipation of a jam-packed 2026.
There will be no morning posts from Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, through Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2026. Our inaugural 2026 post will be Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, and then we will promptly retreat for a weekend break, before returning in full force on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026.
Confusing, I know. Don’t blame me, blame the calendar. Also, don’t worry, I’ll remind you of all this again on Thursday.
In honor of the holiday week, we’re going to do a multi-topic post on two traditional seasonal treats: Eggnog and fruitcake, both of which date back many years, centuries even!
Let’s start with eggnog.
First of all, the root word, “nog”, comes from Old English and means a strong, potent ale or beer. Traditionally speaking, eggnog is alcoholic, mixing some kind of booze with eggs, milk or cream, sugar and spices like nutmeg and cinnamon, and then served either warm or cold.
(I have to admit that the idea of warm eggnog makes me gag a little, but I guess it’s not really any different than other dairy-based warm winter drinks like hot cocoa).
There are, of course, a lot of store-bought modern day versions that do not include alcohol. Some of them are also dairy free, but anything that lacks full-fat dairy and/or eggs cannot be called a true nog.
Commercial versions are also pasteurized to kill any bacteria that might result from the presence of raw eggs. If you make it at home, food safety experts suggest cooking the mixture first, bringing it to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit, and the immediately chill it before adding other ingredients.
Eggnog originated from a medieval drink called “posset”, which combined heated milk and ale. Monks were said to be fans of the drink, to which they added honey and eggs. It didn’t really become officially connected with the holidays until colonial Americans, who had chickens and cows aplenty, mixed it with imported rum. None other than George Washington was reportedly a big fan.
Eggnog once sparked a riot at the US Military Academy at West Point in 1826. The story goes that campus staff intervened after cadets – possibly including a young Jefferson Davis – served eggnog spiked with four gallons of smuggled whisky at a holiday fete despite the school’s strict ban on alcohol.
Americans today consume between 130 and 135 million POUNDS (or 15 to 16 million gallons) of eggnog annually, with sales peaking in December and January.
The much-maligned fruitcake, of which I am a big fan, but apparently people have a habit of re-gifting it, dates back to Ancient Rome, where soldiers often consumed a sort of ancient energy bar made of barley, honey, dried fruit, wine, and nuts. The resulting treat was known as a “satura” and was particularly valued for its long shelf life.
Something closer to a modern-day fruitcake was baked in the early Middle Ages. Candied fruits were not introduced until, again, colonial times, thanks to the introduction of the sugar trade, which made fruitcakes more affordable and sweeter, and therefore likely more palatable.
There are a number of different styles of fruitcake.
In Europe, for example, you’re most likely to come across the German stollen – a denser yeast bread that often contains marzipan and/or citrus and raisins, is topped with powdered sugared, and eaten in slices with butter – and the Italian panettone, which his lighter, airier and more like a brioche with a very tall domed shape.
British and American versions, meanwhile, are unyeasted and dense, packed with candied fruits that are sometimes soaked in rum. The Brits have been known to gild the lily with a version that includes a thick layer of marzipan icing.
The combination of sugar and booze helps to give fruitcake its longevity, with one hearty specimen lasting more than a century after having been left behind by members of a 1910 Antarctic expedition. The result was described as “almost edible“, which was likely also due in part to the cold.
For safety’s sake, though, you really should avoid consuming 100-year-old anything.
According to best practices, a fruitcake that is tightly wrapped in plastic or foil can be stored at room temperature for up to two weeks, kept in the fridge for up to six months, and frozen for up to a year. If you want to extend the fruitcake’s life, soak it in booze and wrap it very tightly before storage – remember, though, to check for mold before eating.
It will be partly cloudy with temperatures topping out in the low-to-mid 30s. Sadly, there’s no notable snow accumulation forecast for the coming days, so the prospect of a white Christmas is basically slim to none.
In the headlines…
A new CBS News/YouGov poll found that less than 2 in 10 respondents believe President Donald Trump’s policies are improving their current financial situation.
The poll, released yesterday, found that 18 percent of respondents believe the president’s policies are making them financially better off now, while 27 percent believe his policies will improve their financial straits next year.
The bitter infighting over antisemitism, free speech and bigotry during Turning Point USA’s annual national conference not only exposed fissures in Trump’s movement but also laid bare a challenge for his potential successor, Vice President JD Vance.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he thinks it’s a “big mistake” for the Trump administration to release heavily redacted files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, saying the issue could now “plague them for months.”
The Justice Department came under scrutiny for its handling of the Epstein documents and deletions online of some material. It said it would not remove mentions of Donald Trump from the files as they are released.
The latest tranche of Epstein files photos released by the Justice Department includes disturbing pictures that appear to show the dead pedophile kissing and cozying up to little girls.
A year after a video of a deadly prison beating by corrections officers came to light, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York signed into law on Friday a range of new reforms meant to expand oversight of guards’ behavior and make the prisons safer.
Hochul’s decisions on a raft of final bills from the state’s just-ended legislative session reflect a delicate political balancing act.
In a blow to the Transit Workers Union, Hochul has vetoed a bill that would have required two-person crews on every New York City subway train, including a conductor and a driver.
Hochul on Friday repealed a rule that required utilities across the state to provide free natural-gas hookups to new customers, in a move that could lower energy bills for some residents.
Climate advocates in New York are celebrating some rare positive news after Hochul signed a law that will likely curb the proliferation of new gas hook-ups statewide.
The governor signed legislation on Friday that will establish new state rules governing the safe development of the most-advanced artificial intelligence models.
The revelations last week that a school district near the Canadian border was using wooden “timeout” boxes to confine children, Hochul on Saturday called for the state Education Department to take “swift action to investigate and rectify this situation.”
Democratic Assemblyman Eddie Gibbs has doubled down on his tasteless joke about his mom being aroused by the late US Rep. Charles Rangel, going off in a private social-media post after being sanctioned over it.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is proposing measures to better protect seniors from the grinches out to steal their money through scams this holiday season.
Longtime State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s been accused of ineffectively investing the state’s gargantuan $291 billion common retirement fund, leaving taxpayers on the hook for billions.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, who ran as a moderate but became an “ultra MAGA” Trump acolyte, ultimately found herself undermined by the president and politically adrift.
Trump endorsed Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman in the New York gubernatorial race, a day after Stefanik ended her bid.
“Bruce is MAGA all the way, and has been with me from the very beginning,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Bruce Blakeman is a FANTASTIC guy, will win the big November Election and, without hesitation, has my Complete and Total Endorsement.”
Blakeman said he plans to focus on Hochul’s dismal record including a “green energy scam” because his pro-choice stance negates a key Democratic talking point.
Hochul is dropping the ball on Big Apple subway safety, Blakeman said yesterday, citing a Friday night transit stabbing on the Upper West Side.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s team announced that it will host a block party along Broadway in Downtown Manhattan leading up to City Hall to commemorate the start of Mamdani’s tenure on January 1st.
The ceremony itself will welcome 4,000 ticketed guests, but the block party itself is open to potentially tens of thousands more New Yorkers who register on the transition team’s website, transition2025.com/inauguration.
The block party through the Canyon of Heroes aims to allow as many New Yorkers as possible “to take part in ushering in a new era for New York City,” according to the Mamdani transition team.
Mamdani is turning to a member of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration to steer city housing policy, announcing that Leila Bozorg will serve as his deputy mayor for housing and planning.
Mamdani’s transition team is bringing on an outside firm to support its vetting process, after one of their top-level hires resigned due to past antisemitic tweets coming to light.
Mamdani published a Hanukkah video Dec. 20, featuring Emmy- and Tony-winning actor Mandy Patinkin and his family.
Mamdani officially threw his support behind longtime friend Diana Moreno in her bid to succeed him in the State Assembly.
“I am so excited at the fact that we have in Diana, someone who will not just continue the legacy that I and so many here have built, of a district that fights for every single person who calls it home, but frankly, for someone who can take that work even further,” he said.”
Andrew Kimball, who led major infrastructure and transportation projects in four years under Mayor Adams, plans to leave his economic development role before Mamdani takes office.
The Big Apple “will be a disaster” under Mamdani, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani believes — because the socialist mayor-elect fundamentally misunderstands the homeless problem.
Weeks after Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov trolled Mamdani by inviting Benjamin Netanhayu to NYC on Jan. 1 – the mayor-elect’s inauguration day – the Israeli prime minister assured her that he’d be visiting “soon.”
At the same time she held a full-time job in the Adams administration, Jasmine Ray, the mayor’s ex-girlfriend, was pulling in a $100,000 annual salary from a city-funded daycare center.
Starting on Jan. 1, transit riders will no longer be able to buy a MetroCard, the flimsy fare pass that’s been stuffed in New Yorkers’ pockets and swiped at turnstiles for more than 30 years.
New York environmental officials today will unveil the most expensive watershed protection land purchase in the city’s history to add to the protective buffer around its famously unfiltered drinking water.
With millions of visitors, New York’s largest seasonal markets at Bryant Park, Columbus Circle, Union Square and the new location, Herald Square, bring in a big share of vendors’ yearly revenue. But hours are long and cold, and upfront expenses substantial.
A Queens man was shot and killed by police officers yesterday morning after he charged at them with a box cutter during a domestic dispute, NYPD officials said.
Crime has plummeted 65% in Washington Square Park since the NYPD kicked off a 24/7 crackdown at the Greenwich Village landmark targeting dealers, junkies and scofflaws, new data showed.
The MTA’s new smart subway gates are already giving subway riders a headache as its obnoxious, blaring alarms aimed to stop fare jumpers keep getting set off by accident.
The Bx6 bus that barreled through the Bronx, terrorizing passengers as it slammed into multiple cars along a five-block stretch of Longwood, had a history of brake problems.
Thirteen elderly New Yorkers have died following fires this winter over a deadly six-week span in a continuing trend FDNY officials called, “very, very concerning.”
Lawyers for Luigi Mangione, in a new court filing, argue that AG Pam Bondi should have recused herself from his murder case because she was a partner at a lobbying firm that represents UnitedHealthcare, which employed the man he is accused of killing.
A proposed annexation between Troy and Wynantskill school districts is heading to the state after hundreds of residents signed a petition in support.
Delays over an appointment and confusion over term lengths has left the Village of Ballston Spa’s Ethics Committee with just one member whose term has likely expired.
Capital Region Chamber members and nonmembers attended the organization’s annual economic outlook breakfast, which this year featured a presentation covering the current state of the national and regional economy.
Amid a busy ski season bolstered by what resort operators have described as “ideal conditions,” hurricane-level winds forced the temporary closure of a popular state-owned ski center at Whiteface Mountain.
Though the state comptroller says the town of Edinburg is not under fiscal stress, he is criticizing the town’s former supervisor for not maintaining financial records, which caused accounting records and reports to “be incomplete, inaccurate and outdated.”
Photo credit: George Fazio.
