Cocktail Recipes with Beer and More!

Did you miss tonight's live broadcast? No worries, it lives here! Click the link above and spend Saturday evening with us!

Alcohol: It's Still Legal!

Careful followers of the news may have seen recently that YouTube has been classifying many videos as "restricted," and therefore not available in restricted mode, which can chosen as an option by individual users. That's all well and good and I'd never dream of telling another person what they should be allowing their kids to watch. However, they're lumping drugs and alcohol in together as a taboo category and that bugs me. It's not that I want underage kids watching our content (and I'd argue that underage kids have zero interest in us), but I get so tired of a martini after a long day being equated with a heroin binge. For one thing, alcohol is legal and has been since 1933. Possibly you can stop by the heroin or crack store on the way home, but I would have no idea how. Addiction is addiction and that obviously isn't good. But illegal drugs and alcohol, while both potentially addictive, just aren't the same. One is LEGAL and the other is not. You know, it's possible to become addicted to food, gambling and shopping, too, but those aren't restricted.

Okay, rant over. Let's have some fun with this, courtesy of 1950's Bar Guide, Published by TRUE, The Men's Magazine. One may or may not approve, but this cocktail doesn't care!

We firmly believe that drinking at home, in moderation, is the best way to stay out of trouble (and, if you plan to drink away from home, I have one word: UBER). However, if you're wondering whether or not you might be blotto (hint: you are), Bar Guide has some guidelines for determining your status:

Drink in moderation, don't drive and make sure you have restricted mode turned off, so you don't miss any of our episodes! :D

Blue Cocktails! So Pretty and So Blue!

Blue cocktails don't have to taste like they were made in a garbage can at a fraternity party! Cocktail snobs may balk, but most people secretly love a blue cocktail if it's made well. Blue cocktails get their pretty hue from blue curaçao, a liqueur made from soaking the skins of a fruit known as the laraha, the trees of which were the unintended result of planting Valencia orange trees in Curaçao. The oranges were far too bitter to eat, but the mutant fruit they produced proved perfect for liqueur! Used with a light touch (and you only need a little blue curaçao to make your cocktail extremely blue), it can add a lovely note to a drink! I've created a playlist on our YouTube channel with fun blue cocktails for all occasions. Here's to libations that are both delicious and lovely!

When Your Home Is Also Your Set

We took a production design class at the YouTube Space here in New York the other night, which was really great, since I've been thinking that we need to refresh our "set" for the show for a while now. However, our set also happens to be our living room (and occasionally our dining room or kitchen)! I'd love to create a fantasy bar space, with fabulous mid-century bar stools and whatnot, but 1) we still need to live in our living room and 2) our living room is approximately the size of a cracker box. However, sitting in that class, it came to me - exactly what I want to do with our space! Because the changes I want to make are so big, it also involves redoing at least one other room, but that's okay. We'll be keeping our bar (my favorite piece of furniture), but pretty much every other piece of furniture is going to shift into another room. This will take both money and time, so it won't all happen at once, but I'm inspired! Here are some gratuitous shots of seating that I would love to add, along with a fabulous mid-century bar to keep me inspired.

I would love to pick up one of the fabulous MCM sectionals on the market, but they wouldn't even fit into our room!

Wish me luck! I'm going to be busy!

Alco-Haul and Happy Hour Announcement!

I picked up some new bottles for the liquor larder last night and am looking forward to sharing the cocktails we're creating with them in future episodes! I'm really pleased with all of them! The Azteca Azul tequila was just under $20 and was recommended as a great bargain, which I agree that it was. And, yes, I made sure it's 100% agave, which all unadulterated tequilas are. The Clear Creek Distillery cranberry liqueur is lovely. I tried it in a margarita in place of orange and loved it! And the St. George spiced pear liqueur is heavenly. It is wonderful by itself, but you know I need to make cocktails! It will be fabulous with bourbon, brandy and more!

And I have an announcement! Our happy hour episodes, which we've been uploading every Friday morning, are moving to Thursday evening! This will give anyone planning weekend cocktails more time to prepare and shop. You don't want to rush happy hour! So look for this week's happy hour episode tomorrow evening!

Our latest alco-haul

Cocktails for Subscribers!

We offered to make custom cocktails for folks who subscribe to our YouTube channel and here are the first couple that we've come up with, in order of when people replied to our post. More coming soon! And, if you haven't subscribed to our channel yet, what are you waiting for? Another fabulous episode is going online tomorrow!

Low Tide

Low Tide (created for Lei Patrick)

1 oz vodka

1 oz Art in the Age sage liqueur

1/2 oz Grand Marnier

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

1/2 oz strong black tea

1 dash of Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Pink & Naughty

Pink & Naughty (created for Jenn Marie)

2 oz silver tequila

1/2 oz Benedictine

1/2 oz Ancho Reyes ancho chile liqueur

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

A dash of cayenne pepper IF you like it hot (you can omit this step)

Pink cherries for garnish

Shake all ingredients except the cherries with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the cherries.

More subscriber cocktails coming soon, with our thanks! 

Pink Drink for Sunday

Here's a lovely libation we created for the lovely Loni, a generous donor to our Feeding America fundraising campaign! It's perfect for Sunday brunch (or any other day of the week!)

Sweet Pink Bubbles

Sweet Pink Bubbles (created for Loni)

3/4 oz strawberry liqueur (Click here for the recipe we used to make our own!)

2 dashes cherry bitters

Chilled pink sparkling wine

A pink cherry (red is okay, too)

Combine all ingredients in a champagne flute and stir gently.

Thank you so much, Loni!

In other news, our first attempt at doing a live video on YouTube fell apart when we realized that we had to use the webcam in our computer. No bar shots? No mixing drinks? No thank you! We did our video on Facebook instead and it was a lot of fun. I especially enjoyed the comment that said that we're "destroying tiki" and that young people don't care about this stuff. Where would anyone get the idea that we're trying to appeal to young people?! :D We make drinks, so that lets out anyone under 21, plus I'm pretty sure anyone under the age of 35 has their own shows to watch, starring people young enough to be our children. But I'm glad he watched - thanks for the view!

More live video coming soon and, if you have an idea for a live broadcast, let us know!

Coming Soon: More Live Video!

I hope the first week of the year has treated you right! Whether it has or it hasn't, we have a cocktail to help start the weekend on a lovely note - click here to watch today's new episode!

While you're there, be sure to subscribe to our channel, if you haven't already, because we're planning to start doing more live videos, on both YouTube and Facebook! Facebook is great, but YouTube is where we really need to grow for sponsorships and such (that liquor doesn't buy itself!). We asked for and got some hilarious ideas for live videos and we're excited to try those out. Plus, you never know what live video will bring, which often leads to unintentional hilarity, such as New Year's Eve, when a bottle of prosecco spewed forth over our bar like Old Faithful. So we hope to see you on both Facebook and YouTube. I have no doubt that a great deal of unintended hilarity is in our future!

New Year's Eve, live from the Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2017! I know many of you are happy to have 2016 in the rear view mirror. While there were events in 2016 I could have done without (and that's putting it mildly), it wasn't a bad year for me personally. We took many trips on behalf of the show, signed with a multi-channel network and had some amazing experiences. However, I'm ready for a clean slate! I'm not one for resolutions per se, but I do like to set goals at the beginning of the year. One of mine is incredibly ambitious, which is to get our YouTube channel to 10,000 subscribers this year, without paying for them. If you're reading this, could you please do us a personal favor and subscribe to our channel if you haven't already? And please ask your booze-loving friends - word of mouth is everything with a show like this. You have no idea how much we appreciate it. In fact, to let you know how much we DO appreciate it, feel free to let us know that you subscribed and we'll create a cocktail for you! If many of you do this (which I hope you will), it may take a few weeks, but we'll make sure everyone is served a lovely libation of their choice! Thank you!! Here's the link to our channel - look for the red "subscribe" button: Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en on YouTube

In other news, 45 of our 47 Christmas trees have been put away for the next 10 1/2 months or so, but the Elvis tree will stay up through his January 8 birthday and our "classic TV" tree has been converted into a Valentine's Day tree through February 14. We need something to brighten these gray January days!

Happy 2017!

How long does it take to create an episode?

We're often asked how long it takes to create a "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en" episode from start to finish. Sometimes people are surprised to learn that it's not just three or so minutes, since that's what you see on the screen! The answer is, it varies tremendously. On the short end it might be a couple of days. Currently, we have one in process that we've been working on since summer (and I'm determined to finish it this year)! Most fall somewhere in between.

Every episode starts with an idea. I'm not ashamed to say that some of those ideas are pretty mediocre and get tossed! Once we have a good idea, the recipe testing begins. Depending on how quickly we need to get that particular episode online, this could take from a day or two to a month or more. Once we have the recipes, I write the episode (which typically takes an hour or so), then a day or so later I shoot the food shots and our green screen backgrounds, if we're using them.

Floating cheese doodles. I was proud of my makeshift doodle mobile!

Green screen background for our Nightmare Before Christmas episode. You should have seen my "tripod!" :D

If there are any special costumes to be made, I typically make those a day or two before we shoot, though I've been known to make hair accessories minutes before!

An offering from the costume closet

If we're shooting at home, it takes about three hours to get ready to shoot an episode, between setting up lights, arranging the ingredients for drinks and the bar top, makeup and hair, etc. It takes a lot of makeup to look like you're only marginally made up!

Shooting at a location can either increase or lessen our shooting time, depending on a number of factors, like how long it takes to get there, what we're using for equipment and so forth. If we're just using our portable light or available light, we can actually be pretty quick if we need to.

On location at Otto's Shrunken Head

Once the shooting is done, Paul dons his editor hat and takes the reins. He often, though not always, edits the episodes on his train commute!

I guess my performance didn't keep him awake that day!

Once it's edited and we're both happy with it, it's time to upload to YouTube, Facebook, REVRY, Instagram and anyplace and everyplace else! I maintain our website, which is the last step in the process. You can find all of our recipes there!

That's the process in a nutshell! We're always open to episode ideas, cocktail suggestions and anything else you'd like us to cover on the show, so be sure to let us know what you'd like to see!

Vintage Recipes & My Daily Hustle

I just posted a new batch of vintage recipes on our website! Here's a little teaser of what you'll find - click here to visit the page!

July means BBQs and picnics!

Now that we've passed 5000 Facebook followers (and, if you're one of those followers, thank you!) we're trying to push our YouTube channel past the 1000 mark. We are so close. It is truly driving me bonkers! If you're not subscribed to our channel, please subscribe! It only takes a moment and you'll see our videos at a much higher quality definition than on Facebook, plus we post extras there that don't always make it onto Facebook. Click here to visit our channel and subscribe! You have no idea how much we appreciate your support! And sharing is caring - please tell your friends!

Really, YouTube People?

I recently tried two recipes I saw on YouTube that failed spectacularly. Crucial steps were left out of the process and/or ingredients were identified inaccurately. And a YouTuber I follow tried a recipe on her show that actually worked, but she intimated that she'd seen several recently that had not. As someone who posts recipes on YouTube, I find this highly disturbing. Presumably you post recipes on YouTube because you want to provide value or a service to viewers. They're just going to hate you if your recipes fail! I don't know what possesses people to post sloppy or inaccurate recipes, but I promise you here and now: we test our recipes before shooting them and, frankly, we toss any idea that isn't super easy or pretty much guaranteed of success. If you ever try something you see on our show and it doesn't work, please let me know! We will fix it! We want you to succeed!

Island Nut Bananas: so easy you could make them after SEVERAL lovely libations!

I Have Discovered The Secret

We've been pushing very hard to promote the show. The more followers we have, the more we can get brand deals and paid advertising and the show can start paying for itself. And I've spent many hand-wringing hours looking for someone who can show us the way. We've worked on our branding, our tags (so that people can find us in searches), we're collaborating - we've been doing everything "they" say you need to do to find your audience, but the experts left one tiny point out. You also need to pay to advertise.

There's this idea that abounds that if you just work hard enough and you just collaborate enough with other creators and you engage with your followers that the audience will follow. Well, yes, and I have to say that we have some wonderful people who always share our content with their friends and we're incredibly grateful. But you also need to advertise and I think that's the dirty little secret that no one wants to admit. Social media is supposed to be free and there's supposed to be this democratic system where anyone with a smartphone and a dream can become the next big thing. I'm not going to say that doesn't happen, but there is a LOT of noise out there and a lot of competition for peoples' attention. If you want to be heard above the din on social media, you need to pay. Otherwise you just won't show up in peoples' feeds, no matter how much they may love you. I can't tell you how many times we've had people ask us if we're still producing our show, when they're not only subscribed, but fans. It makes me crazy! Yes, we do this twice a week! So I tried a little experiment yesterday and paid to boost our current episode on YouTube and guess what? MANY more views than normal.

This is a business. I totally get it. You have to invest in your business and I have no problem with that. I just wish "the experts" would have told us a lot sooner that we should be investing heavily in advertising. No one wants to admit it - YouTube is free, right? But there it is. I'm actually glad I figured it out, but I will admit that I feel slightly stupid that I didn't figure out something this obvious a lot sooner! 

Take my money!

New Channel Trailer!

I'm very excited to announce that our YouTube channel has a new trailer! Please click here to watch and PLEASE click here to subscribe to our channel! Every subscriber helps us, so thank you!

Cocktails and fun await on our YouTube channel!

Can I Be Something Besides A Tortoise?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. Specifically, I've been thinking this in connection to (no surprise) our show. We've already determined that one needs to spend money on promotion and we're really okay with that. All businesses need to promote and advertise. Why should we be any different? But there are many ways in which one can spend that money and that's where it becomes interesting and a little troubling.

Brands and anyone who might invest in you and your show want to see that you have large numbers of followers on whatever your chosen platform. Whether YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat or something else, they want to see that thousands of people will see their product if you're using or promoting it. Makes perfect sense. So we all do whatever we can do entice people to follow us. Obviously making great content helps, but getting that content in front of lots and lots of eyes is even better. But there is a less savory way of developing a following and that is to purchase it outright. Some creators buy views or subscribers from a number of online services that promise the boost they're hoping for. Suddenly someone who typically gets 100 views on an episode or tweet or photo is getting thousands or lots of new subscribers. Sounds great, right? Well, it's great until YouTube (or whichever platform) catches on and suspends your channel/page/account. I'm too afraid of that happening to buy views or subscribers, but I have to admit it pains me when I see folks benefiting from doing just that, while we toil, trying to raise our profile the old fashioned way. I wonder whether or not I'm an idiot and if my moral compass is just a little too strict? I'm not going to buy followers or views, but I definitely see why others do.

So we plod pokily along to the finish line. We'll be able to cross it with our heads held high, knowing that we did the right thing. But isn't there some legal, ethical way to speed things up at least a little?! Maybe we don't want to be hares, but can't we be - I don't know - roadrunners or something? I'd like to reap benefits while I'm still young enough to know what I'm reaping!

All This Authenticity Wears Me Out!

I see so much lately about how success on YouTube, in blogging, and in business is based on authenticity. I think "authenticity" is this year's "empowerment." I'm seeing that word everywhere. So-and-so is successful because they're so authentic.  But I can't always tell what that means. I feel like most people I know are authentic - they're themselves. And is someone inauthentic because they put their best foot forward or approach life in a humorous way? I have absolutely no issue with getting on Periscope and admitting I can't tell one cheap red wine from another or addressing issues like burnout in a humorous way, but am I inauthentic because I'm not wringing my hands and shedding tears? That's just not who I am. And isn't there plenty of that out there already? So many food and beverage writers will tell you that your choices in those areas say important things about you and separate the authentic from the inauthentic, as though you're a big phony if you eat a Twinkie or a frozen dinner. Many, many people will tell you that your wine or liquor choices matter a great deal and that they say something crucial about you. Well, I'm here to tell you that it's okay to drink what you like, whether it's cheap red wine or single malt scotch or tropical drinks in hollowed out pineapples! Isn't authenticity the ability to be in the moment and do what feels right at the time? And how can we pronounce judgement on someone's choices like that? I say be true to yourself and, if anyone accuses you of being "inauthentic" or phony, authentically give them a one-fingered salute!

You Can't Please Everyone

One of the biggest challenges I've faced on my journey to creating my Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en media empire is knowing that not everyone adores me. Shocking, right? It's in my DNA to be nice to people and I always approach any new person in my life wanting to have a fabulous relationship, whether personal or professional, but sometimes it just wasn't meant to be. Sometimes folks hate you on sight. Sometimes there are professional rivalries, imagined slights or you just resemble someone's abusive boss or cheating wife. There's not much you can do about other people and what they think. All you can do is be kind, be yourself, do the work you want to do and live your life in a way that makes you proud. If someone doesn't like you or what you represent, that's their problem!

At Vidcon last year I attended many panels featuring creators of wildly successful food and lifestyle shows on YouTube and some of their stories were shocking. The abuse and vitriol that even the most popular ones endure is pretty amazing to someone like me, who wants to love everyone. But I took a valuable piece of advice away from more than one panel, which is that you're no one without haters. If you don't have haters, it means you're not putting yourself out there in the world. So thank a hater! Their asinine comments are evidence that your message is being heard!

Here's a little cocktail to enjoy as you build your business, life or just navigate the crazies who are determined to hate everything:

Happy New Year!

I hope 2016 is treating you well so far!

I love the feeling of a clean slate that a new year brings. Resolutions aren't particularly my thing, although I do love to set goals! We have some pretty ambitious ones for the show this year, including producing three new music videos and getting our YouTube channel to 10,000 subscribers.  It's not just vanity on our parts. YouTube has an arcane algorithm which ranks channels on watch time and subscriber numbers. If they deem either of those numbers low, you fall in their rankings and it becomes that much harder for viewers to discover your channel. And when that happens it becomes a vicious cycle. Our watch time is excellent (a high percentage of viewers stick around to the end of our episodes), but our subscriber count could be higher. More subscribers means more opportunities for us to spread the love of kitsch and cocktails throughout the universe! So please subscribe to our channel if you haven't already. Click here to go to our channel - the "subscribe" button is red and on the right. And please share with anyone you know who loves cocktails, cooking, kitsch, retro culture or just laughing at the antics of a couple of goofballs. We're so grateful for your support!

Happy New Year to YOU!

Please click the link above to subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/VelveteenLounge

Stream Con NYC

We just attended Stream Con NYC this past weekend, which was a convention for digital content creators and those involved in that industry, as well as for fans of such content. My head is swimming now with information and possibilities.

One thing we learned at VidCon (a similar, but much more established, convention) in July is that our audience, by YouTube standards, is old. Old in this case means over 30. If you've ever watched an ad before one of our videos you know what I mean. If it's not for incontinence products, it's for osteoporosis meds. That's what YouTube thinks of folks over 30. Next stop: the nursing home!

In the meantime, I look at our audience and see a bunch of vital folks, ready to have a good time. Many have disposable income and time on their hands. They travel, party a lot, buy good liquor, eat out at nice restaurants, entertain and spend money on things like turning junior's room into a man cave or mom cave after he goes off to college. It just doesn't align with the decrepitude the digital world sees in the numbers and stats.

However, we are faced with a unique issue in promoting our show to folks who don't "live online" like the younger set. It can be a real challenge getting folks to subscribe to our show, even though they love it and watch every week, because they're just not in the subscribing habit. It doesn't cross their minds. Kids get all of their entertainment on their phones. The over 30 crowd still pays for cable in many cases. Kids watch live streaming on Periscope and YouNow, both of which are turning kids who just talk to their phones into millionaires. Over 30: What's Periscope?

It can be really frustrating, since I love our show and know others do as well. We've been recognized on the street. We get good reviews. We were on TVGuide.com, which is as traditional as it gets, but at least it shows we're legit. Public TV stations (again, traditional media) download our show and send us messages if we miss a week. All of that means a lot to us and keeps us going, along with our love for what we do. But I'm not going to lie: I want to make money at this and that will happen when we reach a MUCH wider audience. We need to reach the folks who love cocktails and food and fun. I think that's a lot of people. But how to reach them when Facebook won't put YouTube videos in peoples' news feeds and YouTube won't promote you if you don't already have big numbers?

Time to put on the deerstalker and begin to crack this mystery.

Here are a couple of shots from the weekend. I'm looking forward to attending more of these conventions in the future, since we clearly need the advice!

Stream Con NYC

Halloween party at Dailymotion