Halloween Episode Online and Other Fun Stuff!

Our Halloween episode, "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en: Halloween A Go Go," is now online!  Turn your home into the demonic discotheque of your dreams with our bewitching Halloween tips!

Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en: Halloween A Go Go

Our friend Insanitiki turned a shot from the episode into an animated gif!  Check it out!

Halloween A Go Go animated gif from Insanitiki

I'm excited to share this lovely review of the show from This Is Vintage Now!  We thank them for their kind words about the show!

"Genius in the Kitsch-en," on This Is Vintage Now

That's it for now!  I hope I can avoid eating too much Halloween candy before tomorrow night!

Apple Cobbler

This was a crazy, work-filled weekend, but I did manage to find time to make an apple cobbler with the apples I bought the other day!  I'm especially pleased with this because, even though I got the recipe out of a 1968 cookbook, where it was loaded with butter and cream, I made it super healthy!  I substituted unsweetened applesauce for the egg, olive oil and coconut spread for the butter and coconut milk for the cream.  It's even vegan, for those who are concerned about such things!

I'll definitely be making this again.

Halloween Preview

Here's a preview of one of the recipes we're featuring on our Halloween episode (online next Tuesday), Gruesome Mousse!

Frightfully good!

Fabulous Massachusetts Trip!

We just returned from Massachusetts, where we attended a fabulous party and shot footage for TWO episodes, in Boston and at Plimoth Plantation, in Plymouth, MA.  We were very fortunate to have our good friend Erin with us, to act as our sherpa in Boston.  She had the inside scoop on all the historical sites and was a tremendous help to us!

On Monday we visited Plimoth Plantation, the living history museum in Plymouth, MA, where you can see pilgrims and Native Americans cooking and engaging in everyday life as it would have been in 1620 and just beyond.  We were there specifically to learn about the food and drink for our Thanksgiving episode and they could not have been more gracious and helpful.  I even made pancakes in a pilgrim home!  We can't thank them enough for their hospitality.  Now I can't wait to try the Buttered Beer recipe I was given by their Colonial Foodways Culinarian Kathleen Wall!

Mayflower II

Plymouth Rock!

Coffeehouse Brownies

Here's a yummy, healthy brownie recipe I just came up with.  It's even vegan!

Coffeehouse Brownies

Preheat oven to 350°

Sift together:

1 cup white whole wheat flour

½ cup + ½ tsp baking cocoa

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp baking powder

Cream together:

3 TBSP + 2½ tsp olive oil

1¼ cup sugar

Stir into sugar/oil:

2/3 cup all natural (no sugar added) applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1 heaping tsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tsp hot water

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just moistened.  Bake in a greased 8x8 pan for 35 minutes.

New Episode Online!

Due to scheduling issues, we got our new episode online a little early!  Make friends with your anger using our easy-to-follow tips!

Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en: Managing Your Temper

New Episode Coming Tuesday

Our next episode, featuring tips for managing your temper, will be online Tuesday!  Make friends with your anger using our easy tips!

I'm also running a contest on the "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en" Facebook page, Guess The Ingredients In Betty Ford's Sweet & Sour Carrots.  I recently rediscovered The President's Own White House Cookbook (Special Bicentennial Edition), chock full of recipes you just know our former presidents (up through Ford) whipped up constantly in their copious spare time.  Whoever can guess the ingredients in Betty Ford's Sweet & Sour Carrots most closely wins a major award!  Of course, being an old softie, I'll be sending something to anyone who even makes a serious attempt at guessing!

The book:

Throwback Thursday

In honor of Throwback Thursday, here's a photo I just found in our attic, of me in a community theater production of "Grease" when I was a freshman in high school.  Fran Drescher was Frenchy and she got a TV gig and suddenly needed an understudy.  I got that gig!  This was the night I went on in her place.

She was as nice as she could be, as was her then-husband, who played Danny.  My grandfather played the coach!  I wish I'd gotten to keep that wig!

Bread Pudding

In honor of fall, I made a bread pudding!

And I think I might even be able to taste it!  My senses are coming back, despite the fact that I now suspect I have walking pneumonia and not a cold (thanks, WebMD!).  The good news is that it's on the wane, thank heavens.

It's That Time of Year

No, not Christmas... cold season.  I have a nasty cold, the symptoms of which seem to get worse daily.  I'm trying to take it easy.  I haven't sung or worked out in days and not working out is driving me NUTS.  I think I'll do some hula hooping, just so I don't feel like a complete bump on a log.  I bought this horrendous-looking green "mega" juice blend, which tastes pretty good (at least I think it does--my sense of taste is not 100% right now), but would be even better with a shot of tequila.  Maybe once the cold meds are out of my system.

In other news, there's only one "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en" mug left!  Thank you to all who've bought one so far!

Tiki Mugs Have Arrived!

The "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en" tiki mugs from PopTiki of Colorado have arrived and they look spectacular!  There are only six available, so please act quickly if you want one!  $45, plus $12.95 for Priority Mail shipping.

Tiki Mugs Coming Soon!

For those of you who've asked, we will have "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en" tiki mugs again soon, made by Pop Tiki of Colorado!  Here's a shot of one from the last batch: