Recipes on the Record

Last night we had the good fortune to appear on the fabulous YouTube series "Thrifty Business with Jay and Nay," talking about one of my favorite topics, kitsch!



One of my favorite categories of kitsch is what I think of as "housewife records," and one of my favorite subsets of that is records with recipes on the back cover or inside, if the cover folds out. Last night I made recipes from two different records, including this Pineapple Refrigerator Dessert from the card party-themed album "Foursome."

Of course we need cocktails! We recently discovered this album in a thrift store and it has become one of my favorites. Ready for some "Smooth Sounds" (and smooth drinks)? I won't tell if you don't actually mix with Gordon's. ;)

Have a fabulous weekend!

Boozy Relief For A Bad Week!

Has this week been a challenge? Tequila to the rescue, with a lovely libation I call S.O.S.!



It's almost Friday!

Classic Cocktails for Crappy Weeks

Has your week been less than stellar? We have two classic cocktails from 1950 to relieve the pain! Here's to the second half of the week being better than the first!



Be sure to tune in to YouTube tomorrow night at 9:00 PM EDT/6:00 PM PDT to watch us live on Thrifty Business with Jay and Nay! https://www.youtube.com/user/tikipug

Cocktail And Crab Dip Recipes With Champagne!

The lovely Laura suggested a champagne-themed episode, so we're all about the bubbly today with a lovely, rummy libation and champagne crab dip!

A Case Of The Mondays

I don't normally get "the Mondays," since I actually prefer being busy to relaxing, but this has been a very Monday Monday and I could use a cocktail. Well, another cocktail. I'm not going to lie, I've already had one! Yesterday Paul injured his foot assembling a piece of IKEA furniture, then we found out that, once again, one of our debit cards has been breached and someone has been making fraudulent charges overseas. Our bank is fantastic and flagged it right away, but yeesh! What does the rest of the week have in store? Fortunately for Paul, we'll always have the Painkiller. I highly recommend shaking one up if your Monday has been anything like ours!

Painkiller

2 oz amber rum (Pusser's preferred)

2 oz orange juice

1 oz pineapple juice

1 oz cream of coconut

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

Here's to things looking up this week!

Friday Catch-Up, Cocktails Included

Where has this week gone? It was craziness, but lots of good things happened: we saw the new film, "This Is Everything," about transgender YouTube star GiGi Gorgeous at the YouTube Space here in New York and loved it! We were on a very late train that night, which gave us time to grab some cocktails at the Old Homestead Steakhouse. I got a "spicy" Sidecar, which had just a little Tabasco sauce in it. Sounds awful, but I highly recommend it if you like spice, since it was great! We also made the hour long trek to IKEA last night for our new bedroom "closet" (really a wardrobe)! I think we'll have our boudoir more or less finished this weekend! While at IKEA we picked up these drink concentrates, which I think we'll use in an upcoming live video:

Doesn't Dryck Flåder sound like a character in an action movie?

I'm testing recipes today and had a healthy moment and tried this bulgur salad, which is actually really amazing:

I got the idea from, of all people, Jennifer Aniston and an article about how she stays looking great at 48 (shocking, so elderly, LOL!). For my version, all you do is cook up some bulgur and toss with coarsely chopped cucumber, onion and Bell pepper, one drained and rinsed can of chick peas and goat cheese, then with a vinaigrette dressing (I used olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder and ginger). So healthy you can have an extra cocktail! ;)

Speaking of cocktails, it's Friday, which means happy hour! Here are some vintage ideas from How to be a Cordial Host, published by Canada Dry back when they still made liqueurs and before zip codes had five digits. What will it be? Schnapps Whizzer? Hamburgers au Canada Dry? 

Have a fabulous weekend!

A Happy Hour Trip Back In Time!

Join us for a cocktail made by none other than Trader Vic Bergeron, from his 1947 book The Bartender's Guide...by Trader Vic, Tip Top Punch! We'll see you back in 1947!

Cocktails Inspired By CHiPs!

Excited about the upcoming "CHiPs" movie? Horrified by the upcoming "CHiPs" movie? Either way, we have cocktails for your "CHiPs" viewing pleasure, based on the original TV series! Mix up a few, park yourself on the sofa and have yourself a "CHiPs" marathon!

A Visit to the Magic Land of Tequila!

This week at the Kitsch-en we're journeying to the magic land of tequila! We have a lovely tequila-based libation and an easy vegan appetizer! We'll see you in Tequilaland!

Spring Drinks and Appetizers, 1937-Style!

Today is the Spring Equinox and, even though it doesn't feel like spring here in New York, at least it's sunny! Let's celebrate with some cocktails and eats! These are from the 1937 booklet, Through the Seasons with Seagrams. There's lots of choice here so, if you're not tantalized by Roquefort Tantalizers or tempted by Tuna Boats, maybe you'll be up for Celery Sticks! Happy Spring!

We Survived Our First Live YouTube Broadcast!

We survived our first live broadcast on YouTube! We've been doing live video on both Facebook and Periscope for a while now, but YouTube is the final frontier, where we're exposed to everyone, not just people who already follow us. It was a lot of fun (and the cocktails didn't hurt)! Thank you SO much to everyone who tuned in and, if you missed it, it's still there (click here to visit our YouTube channel and please subscribe once you're there)! We will continue doing live broadcasts on both Facebook and YouTube, in addition to our regular episodes, "they" say live video is where it's at now, plus they're fun! You never know what will happen in a live broadcast!

St. Patrick's Day Eats, 1954-Style

If you have plans for St. Patrick's Day there just might be a bar or pub involved. Don't forget to eat! Here are a few ideas for unexpected St. Patrick's Day nibbles from The Holiday Cookbook, published by the Culinary Arts Institute. They won't see these dishes coming!

These sandwiches "spell real eating enjoyment." It must be the MSG!

It's a 1950s salad, so naturally gelatin is involved. 

It's called Dublin Pineapple Salad, so it must be legit! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day Classic Cocktail!

Looking for something to drink this St. Patrick's Day that isn't beer or shots? We have a forgotten cocktail from the past - Irish Elegance, from 1948's The Bartender's Guide, by Patrick Gavin Duffy? His name makes me think he might know a thing or two about Irish cocktails!

Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en Gets Around

I had the honor of interviewing some fabulous vendors while at Tiki Oasis last August and I just discovered that a few of the videos are now online! I've added them to our playlist "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en Gets Around," on our YouTube channel. Reliving them is like a welcome dose of summer sun, since we got 28" of snow yesterday!

Wine Is Better Than Dating! A Music Video About Dating Disasters. And Wine.

Our new music video is now online! Wine is far better than dating and Glendora isn't afraid to say it in song!



Coming Thursday: a classic cocktail for St. Patrick's Day!

Coming Tomorrow: Our New Music Video!

It's taken many months longer than we originally anticipated, but our next music video is scheduled to go live on YouTube tomorrow morning! Our past music videos were ambitious, but this is our most ambitious to date and I'm dying to see the finished product, which Paul is still editing.

In making past videos we've worked with a recording engineer/arranger and composers. This time we had a composer (we write the lyrics to these little masterpieces ourselves), an arranger, musicians and a recording engineer. There were lots of moving parts and I learned a ton, which I plan to put to good use, as we want to do two more music videos this year. Well, I want to do one every week, but they're expensive to produce! We're aiming for mid-summer for our next one - wish us luck!

In the vocal booth

The view from the vocal booth. Paul looks emphatic about something!

The fabulous Dennis in a scene shot at Lun Wah Restaurant and Tiki Bar

Cocktail Recipe and Gift Card Giveaway!

We're so thrilled to partner with the fabulous folks at the amazing online store Cats Like Us to offer one lucky winner a $75 gift card! The winner will be announced Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 8:00 PM Eastern time. Watch the video and enter to win! Good luck!

Who's Ready For Gin?

This week's episode is a shortie, due to the craziness of the past week! We've had a recording session and painted the bedroom, along with our regular work schedules. Whew! Time for a pretty purple gin cocktail!



Coming up: this Thursday we have a special happy hour in conjunction with the fabulous folks at Cats Like Us and next Tuesday we'll debut our music video!

Sneak Preview of the Finished Room!

We are DONE painting the bedroom and I love the pink! It makes me so happy and makes me wish we'd done this a long time ago. We're not done because we need a new closet system in there, so it remains a work in progress, but I'm thrilled with the results so far! My inspiration for the room was this poster, which used to hang in our dining room:

Which, ironically, got damaged last week when our clothing rack collapsed. So I re-ordered it and expect it soon. See what I mean about everything in this project costing extra?! I can't wait to get my replacement poster and hang it! Also, we're still customizing the headboard for the bed, so shots of that will come later, too. In the meantime, here's one shot of the pinkness!

I love my new bedroom!

Progress

After a miserable night of sleeping on the living room sofa (I mean both of us. And it's not a pullout.) since the bedroom was choked with paint fumes and wet paint and our guest bed is inaccessible because everything from the bedroom is on top of it, I'm pleased to report there are two coats of primer on the walls and we expect to get a coat of pink up tonight! Hallelujah! As with all of our home improvement projects, it has now cost twice as much as we anticipated, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and the crackhouse vibe is gone!

In other news, I updated our website and now there are links to both our Amazon affiliate store and our merch store on our shopping page! Between the two stores we have everything from glassware to cocktail parasols to bitters! Click here to visit when you're in the market for cocktail paraphernalia! 

This Week I REALLY Need That Cocktail!

Last Friday I shared the early stages of our bedroom re-do project, which we need to at least need to complete the paint on before we shoot our upcoming music video. I said at the time I really needed a drink. Well, file under "It's going to get worse before it gets better" - this week I really need that drink! The paint under the reed that we'd tacked to the walls peeled like crazy, so we've been scraping and sanding like crazy. Also, if I ever again take it into my head to undertake a project which involves putting about 175 nails in the wall I hope someone will shoot me. I've dubbed the current look of the room Crackhouse Chic. Wish us luck, because we need to make significant progress, quickly!

Crackhouse Chic

The smiling stage. I've since transitioned into grimacing stage.

Classic Cocktail Recipe: The Pink Squirrel - A Pretty Pink Drink!

Who else is ready for a lovely libation? This week's happy hour cocktail is pretty in pink!