Candy Corn: An Autumn Classic

We're all about candy corn today at the Kitsch-en, with a cocktail inspired by the flavors in candy corn, along with an appetizer that's ridiculously easy to prepare, yet surprisingly delicious. You can use the time you save on food prep to make yourself another drink! Cheers!

MORE FUN at Cocktail Time

We recently received a gift of amazing cocktail guides from our fabulous friend Mod Betty, of Retro Roadmap fame (fans of all things vintage and retro, her site is a must visit!). Included in this amazing haul was a little pamphlet from 1935 entitled MORE FUN at Cocktail Time and published by the Seagrams Distillers Corporation. The "more fun" involves "rollicking games and tricks" to make drinking, well, more fun! Here are some cocktails and recipes that will get the hilarity started, along with a Party Log to keep track of the shenanigans. I just love these 1930s graphics. Doesn't the gal on the cover look like Bette Davis?

The weighing of guests is optional and not necessarily recommended!

Enjoy!

Tips For The Harried Hostess (or Host)

Have you thought of throwing a cocktail party, but then said "Eh, too much work," and canned the idea? Well, the time to entertain has come! Find a copy of Good Housekeeping's Appetizer Book (1958, The Hearst Corporation and, yes, those are appetizers sticking out of a candle on the cover), because it has ideas so easy you never even need to turn on a burner, much less the oven!

No serving platter? No problem! Stick your appetizers in a lit candle! It's food AND mood lighting!

(Practically) everyone loves a seafood cocktail! Go bohemian and serve it in the living room! These sauces are all pretty darned quick and easy, but for the truly time pressed, see the final suggestion.

Here's another eccentric serving suggestion for your seafood cocktail - spear shrimp and arrange whimsically around a basket!

For the seafood-abstainers on your guest list, here's an intriguing appetizer from the "slimming" section of the book. I'd never equated canned meat with dieting before.

If you've ever thought you were too much of a kitchen klutz to create adorable raw veggies, Susan is here to show you differently. Don't forget the perky watercress!

Perfect for spearing and sticking into a candle!

With tips like these I'm sure you'll see just how easy it can be to throw a party guests will discuss for weeks! Batch up the martinis ahead of time by the pitcherful and they may even eat!

What Could Be Better Than Cupcakes?

Booze infused cupcakes, that's what! I got these little cocktail glass infusers, made by Wilton, at Michael's the other day and I'm pleased to say they work like a charm! All you do is cut off the bottoms and squeeze in your favorite liquor to fill them, then stick in cupcakes (or whatever) and squeeze again to release your boozy goodness! Cupcakes are suddenly even more fun!

Elegant black and white or pretty in pink?

Door Knock Cocktails

Does anyone else remember the TV show Door Knock Dinners, where Gordon Elliott and a chef would show up at some unsuspecting person's home and the chef would make dinner using only ingredients that the homeowner had on hand? I loved that show! It was such an inspiration, not only for taking a second look at your pantry, but for seeing the items you already have in a whole new way. There are many lists available online for suggested pantry ingredients to keep on hand although, sadly, Door Knock Dinners is no more. Gordon Elliott and the chef du jour may not show up at your house ready to whip up a meal, but a well-stocked pantry means that you'll always be prepared to throw dinner together.

However, what about your liquor pantry? Suppose you've invited a few friends for drinks, but one requests a Martini and you have no gin? You don't need dozens of bottles of hooch to offer a wide selection of lovely libations! By keeping these items stocked you'll be prepared to make many of the classics and you can expand your collection as you discover new liquors that strike your fancy!

The Basics

Gin 

A blended whiskey

Brandy

A light or amber rum

A silver or gold tequila

Vodka

Mixers

Fresh limes

Dry vermouth 

A nice orange liqueur

Simple syrup

Club soda

With the above you can make Martinis, Sidecars, Daiquiris, Margaritas and all kinds of sours and highballs! Add wine and you'll have sangrias and spritzers in your arsenal as well, not to mention the many variations on the French 75 if you have champagne! And, the more juices you keep on hand, the more you can play! As you add new liquors and liqueurs to your collection you'll find that your choices grow exponentially! But, with just these items available, you'll have plenty of choices to please just about any visitor to your home and keep yourself in lovely libations for quite a while! Bottoms up!

The world of liquor is your oyster!

Corn And Black Beans: Is There Anything You Can't Do?

In much the same way that roasting a chicken and using it in dishes all week is a great way to save time and money, this easy combination of corn and black beans can serve as a base for dishes to last for days! All you do is combine one can of rinsed black beans and an equal amount of corn (I used frozen). Toss in some minced onion and salt, along with the juice of half a lime, and in about 30 seconds you're done!

This combination made its first appearance this week in an easy appetizer that is always popular at parties. Add a little spoonful each to Tostitos Scoops chips, top with hot sauce or salsa if you like. That's it! So simple and they disappear quickly!

Other uses for this magical mixture: combine with chicken or veggie broth (and a little beer or tequila if you're feeling frisky) and add a few tortilla chips for a delicious soup, add to your favorite chili recipe, tacos or melt with cheese in quesadillas, mix with eggs and milk for a fabulous frittata, toss with some olive oil and garlic and serve with pasta, blend with cream cheese or mashed avocado and spices for a yummy sandwich spread - the options are endless! Best of all, you'd be hard pressed to find a less expensive meal option. Pick up some corn and black beans the next time you're at the supermarket and don't worry about meals for a few days - you've got it covered!

Last Minute New Year's Eve Ideas

Has New Year's Eve snuck up on you? Are you wishing you'd planned something festive, but worry that it's too late now? It's not! Here are some fun ideas from the Better Homes & Gardens Holiday Cook Book (1959), along with our even easier suggestions below!

If you like the idea of cider or spiced tea, but not the thought of studding orange or lemon slices with cloves, throw the cider or tea, cinnamon sticks, cloves and orange or lemon slices in a crock pot on low and serve when it starts to simmer. Have amber or dark rum or bourbon available for those who like their libations a little lovelier! And that clock centerpiece? Take items from around the house to create your "hours!" Use your imagination and have fun! Happy New Year!

Have An Outer Space New Year!

Today's new episode of the "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en" is chock full of ideas for ringing in the new year in the comfort and privacy of your own home, with no loss of glamour or excitement (click here to watch). However, that's just the tip of the iceberg! There are as many ideas for New Year's Eve celebrations as there are revelers, including this outer space themed party from How To Have A Ball On A Baby Sitter's Budget (1959, one of my new favorite cookbooklets) brought to you by the Pillsbury Junior Home Service Center. Let these ideas help you to soar into the '60s (or 2016). Start by adding a little whiskey to that ginger ale and adapt these ideas for your celebration. Those Mighty Molivecules sound pretty good (add a little cayenne pepper for an extra kick)!

You're Entertaining

Are you hosting Christmas or Christmas Eve in your home, or perhaps a party this weekend? If so, here are some thrifty suggestions for festive decor from the good folks at the Scott Paper Company, from their 1963 pamphlet You're Entertaining (click on the images to make them bigger):

They've also thoughtfully included a page on which to take notes about your party - what went well and what you might tweak for the next one, along with some inspiration for your hosting journey!

I love this booklet! It's filled with just as much goodness as you'd expect, including the appeal to enjoy your own party, one of our common refrains. So hang that sprig of fir on the door, line that boot box with superabsorbent ScotTowels, shake yourself up a lovely libation and have a good time! Those ScotTowels will still be there in the morning when you're ready to clean up after sleeping it off a good time was had by all!

In the beginning...

I'm often asked about the origins of the "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en" and how our show came to be. As with many things in life that seem inevitable only in hindsight, it's the confluence of lots of different events and experiences...

I've always been interested in the mid-century era. I was the kid who'd walk to the Balboa Theatre, on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, CA, to sit by myself in a darkened theater on Saturdays and watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers or Marilyn Monroe triple features. I'd bury my head in books about movies and theater and watched pretty much any technicolor musical or screwball comedy I could on TV. And classic TV: I could spend HOURS lost in "Bewitched," "Family Affair," "Gilligan's Island" and many, many more. When I was cast in a community theater production of "Grease" my grandfather, who played the coach, drove me around to thrift stores to costume shop. An entire world opened up to me. The stores were filled with fabulous '50s and '60s clothing, furniture and knick knacks. If only I could go back in time and shop at those stores, with the same stock, now!

I also grew up very much middle class, but surrounded by wealthy ladies who planned and attended parties, brunches, balls, excursions on their yachts and all manner of entertainment. I was fascinated by the glamour of it all. I later discovered vintage cookbooks, which gave me another window to the world of entertaining. Everything from a midmorning coffee break to a Christmas cookie swap to a birthday party seemed to be an opportunity to exercise one's creativity.  I always knew that one day I'd throw fabulous parties.

While all of this was happening, I was beginning my life as an actor (I'd later add writer to my title). As a youth I was all about the theater, which was very respectable, though deep down I longed to do TV. I tried the "legitimate" route and even attended a full-time, two year conservatory for Shakespeare and classical theater training. But while my classmates were rhapsodizing about the latest Shakespeare production that had aired on PBS the previous weekend, I was nodding and smiling and trying to conceal the fact that I'd been watching "Mystery Science Theater 3000." I would still love to hang out with Shakespeare sometime, drinking mead and cracking jokes, but I just couldn't sustain the fiction that I had any interest in being a dour theater snob. I finally admitted that comedy is my forte.

In the 1990s I discovered Atomic Magazine, which jibed exactly with my retro sensibilities, and the beginnings of the craft cocktail revival dovetailed with acquiring my first home bar (which is where we still shoot the cocktail sequences of our episodes!). I'd just begun dating Paul and picked up the Sardi's Bar Guide, the first of many we'd collect over the years. That was the real start of our interest in cocktail culture.

However, as we met like-minded folks and began attending events, I noticed a disturbing trend. What had begun as a real effort to bring back quality cocktails and encourage experimentation and creativity on that front had left some people feeling inadequate. They picked up the best liquor and ingredients that they could afford, but felt their efforts would never be up to snuff, at least not to the cocktail elite - the ones who set the standards. This felt like such a shame. It was like acting school all over again, where if it was fun and easy you clearly were doing something wrong. This was serious business. We met more and more people who were afraid to throw parties because they felt they'd never be good enough. We were flabbergasted. Parties and entertaining should be fun! If they're not, what's the point?

The "Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en" came to be as a result of all of these influences, along with some coaxing from friends. We deeply believe that parties, holidays and special occasions both large and small should be opportunities to enjoy friends and loved ones, indulge your creativity and have a good time! Whether it's a cocktail after work or Thanksgiving dinner for 20, the point is to have fun. Throw that party! Host that poker night or brunch and do not worry about whether or not it's "good enough!" There is enough to fret about in this world. Indulge in the aspects of hosting that appeal to you and outsource the rest. If you enjoy making cocktails, but not cooking, provide the beverages and get a few catering trays or have a potluck. If you love to cook or bake, but cocktails aren't your thing, make a punch or serve wine or beer. All anyone will remember is that you invited them into your home, offered your hospitality and showed them a wonderful time. And, in the unlikely event someone makes you feel badly about your efforts, scratch them from your invite list! As you get more comfortable hosting you'll soon find that your gatherings are tremendous fun for all, you included!

We're so grateful to all who watch the show and support our efforts! If you have any hosting or cocktail issues you'd like us to address, please let us know, whether here or on Facebook, Twitter or our website! We're happy to help!

My early hostessing days...

I've always enjoyed a small gathering!