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!

A Visit To My Beloved California

I grew up in Southern California and anyone who talks to me for more than 30 seconds knows that I plan to move back there as soon as it's feasible with job situations and all of that kind of stuff. So any chance to visit makes me very happy. We just returned from VidCon, a three-day convention at the Anaheim Convention Center for anyone who loves online video, from studio heads to content creators to fans who are there to see their favorite stars. We were on the "Creator" track, so we saw lots of panel discussions, met many fabulous folks and learned tons.

I wonder how many of us posted pix in this exact spot on Instagram?

Of course, one can only sit through so many panel discussions before fatigue sets in...

Panel discussion fatigue

So we managed to squeeze in fun trips to the recently reopened Clifton's Cafeteria in downtown LA, many drinks at Trader Sam's at the Disneyland Hotel, and of course a Disneyland day. Disneyland is in my top three of favorite places on earth, so I'm always in heaven there. And we shot video for two episodes of the show, including one at the fabulous, Elvis-themed Azteca Restaurant and Lounge in Garden Grove, AND for the short horror film we're making! We also managed to see wonderful friends for breakfasts, lunches and Dole Whips. So we were very busy, but we loved every minute of it! Well, not every minute. I lost my phone, which was a bit disturbing. But that was a mere blip on an otherwise fabulous trip!

Clifton's Cafeteria

The first of many drinks at Trader Sam's

The fabulous Azteca Restaurant & Lounge

Posters from Elvis films at Azteca

Next up: San Diego in August!

What Would Roger Corman Do?

A different kind of shooting day, but no less boozy!

We're making a short horror film that is a tribute to the mid-century horror films we love for a special project (online late summer) and did some shooting (and some boozy live videos) Saturday night! Pretty much nothing makes me happier than shooting video and when two of my very favorite people are involved, it's heaven! Our dear friend, who also happens to be a wildly talented actor, Zach Zito played the bartender and Paul and I were also in front of the camera. Fortunately the camera has a remote control and a monitor. And we got to employ the green screen!

We'll be getting more video for this masterpiece when we're in California next week, which is very exciting. I'm sure you can tell from the setup that we have nothing resembling an actual budget, but, when we have grand plans and zero cash we just ask ourselves What Would Roger Corman Do?

Stay tuned for more soon!

Shooting Day At The Kitsch-en

Here's what the aftermath of a shooting day at the Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en tends to look like:

Those are drinks for three Friday happy hour episodes and one Tuesday "time machine" episode. That's a lot of booze. If you're in our neck of the woods, please drop by and help us drink it! In the meantime, can I just say that I love what I do? 

Pieathalon 2016: Heathen Cake!

Pieathalon 2016 is here, where bloggers submit a vintage pie recipe, then are assigned another participant's recipe by organizer Yinzerella, of the fabulous food blog Dinner is Served 1972! This is my second year and my second savory pie - the oddly named (since it's absolutely a pie) Heathen Cake (or Heidenische kuchen). I guess my heathen reputation precedes me. 😏 It's a medieval recipe, which means the vintage aspect is fully covered. You can find the recipe here. I even made the crust (the Paest Royall), which is something I avoid like the plague, having neither a working rolling pin at the moment, nor a large space for rolling such things out. But I love a challenge!

It isn't beautiful, but it tasted good and got the job done.

The rest of the recipe was really easy. All you do is chop veggies and beef, cook in water with spices until the meat is fork tender, combine with crumbed bacon and sautéed apple, add six beaten eggs and pour into your crust. 

It's already disappeared, which is a testament to the fact that it was pretty good! I, of course, added red pepper flakes and served it with a selection of hot sauces, since we drown everything in hot sauce. It's particularly good with sriracha. If you're looking for an easy meat pie, this one will fill the bill nicely. Use a rolled refrigerator pie crust and it will be a breeze! Pair with a nice dry red or Pilsner or, if you're looking for a cocktail pairing, a dry Manhattan would be lovely!

Thank you to Yinzerella for once again inviting me to participate in Pieathalon and for putting together such a fun event and thanks to The Hedonist (www.foodandwinehedonist.com) for submitting this recipe! I can't wait to see everyone else's pies! 

Here Are MORE Cocktails For Our AIDS Walk Sponsors!

Here are three more cocktails for three more of our fabulous AIDS Walk New York sponsors, all created by Paul this time!

Jungle Primate (created for Amy)

1 1/2  oz dark Jamaican rum

1/2 oz Aperitivo Cappelletti

1 oz guava nectar

1/2 oz pineapple juice

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

A dash of grenadine

Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into a double old-fashioned glass.

The Savage (created for Patty)

1 1/2 oz aged rum

1/2 oz sherry

1/2 oz Ancho Reyes liqueur

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

1/2 oz guava nectar

1/4 oz cranberry juice

1/4 oz honey mix (half honey, half water)

2 dashes of Jerry Thomas (find them here)

1 drop of Pernod

Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into a tiki mug.

Groovy Hibiscus (created for Kiki)

1 oz dark Jamaican rum

2 oz cranberry-hibiscus tea

1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

A dash of simple syrup

Club soda

A dash of Angostura bitters

Build in a chimney glass with crushed ice in the order given. Stir gently.

And speaking of groovy, we'll have even more cocktails for our groovy sponsors soon! 

I was pleased to receive this shot from the day of the walk from the talented Eddie Velasquez, one of the event's photographers. Thank you for the fabulous photo, Eddie! It was a great day!

Haterade

So far this week I've been called ugly, creepy and unimportant and it's only Thursday. You'd think these things would bother me, but a 1) woman in business with a 2) YouTube channel not only gets these things, but they become routine. However, I recently became acquainted with the term "Haterade" and loved it so much I thought it deserved the cocktail treatment. Shake one up whenever you're not feeling respected and negative thoughts will float away on a happy sea of tequila.

Haterade

2 oz silver tequila

1/2 oz elderflower liqueur

1/2 oz blue curaçao

1/2 oz Bai Antioxidant Cocofusion Molokai Coconut

1/2 oz fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of dried coconut for extra sweetness, if one is available. 

Just think: if there were no haters, we wouldn't have this delicious cocktail!