Hello, Vintage-istas!
I've missed you all so much :-) Here's what I have been up to this week....
It's time to let my summer blonde turn to a warm autumnal glow.
"And if we wrapped up against the cold, we wouldn't feel other things, like the bright tingle of the stars, or the music of the Aurora, of best of all the silky feeling of moonlight on our skin. It's worth being cold for that." --Serafina Pekkala (Northern Lights, by Phillip Pullman)
My happy place.
"The end is nothing; the road is all."
--Willa Cather
Ludwig's Halloween costume! I have to say, it is the perfect costume for a wiener dog!
We've started wedding planning! The theme is I'll follow you anywhere...
Staging. staging. staging. Lots and lots of staging rehearsals!
For this week's Thirsty Thursday installment, instead of looking at a new recipe we are going to look briefly at some of the most important tools with which any well-stocked home bar should be equipped!
If you are just starting out, a bar tools set may be a quick and easy purchase to help bring your bar up to speed. These kits vary slightly, but in general they all likely include a few of the following key instruments:
Above are links to four various vintage accessories and sets found on Etsy. The advantage to purchasing some vintage tools is that not only do they have a lot of character, but often you will find cocktail shakers that come with classic cocktail recipes listed right on the side!
In addition to these tools, there are a few peripheral tools you ought to search for (in addition to the above tools) in order to enhance your accessory holdings. These would include:
Cocktail Shaker
Citrus Zester
Paring Knife
The above tools I would all list under "essential." With them, you will be prepared to make an overwhelming majority of cocktail recipes (just add alcohol, of course!) From here, let's look at a few more accessories that might be a good idea (but not necessary) to eventually keep on hand in your home bar:
Bartending Guide
Bottle Pouring Spouts
Toothpicks
Stir Sticks
Cocktail Straws
Cocktail Napkins
Small Cutting Board
Serving Tray/Drink Caddy
Selzter Bottle
Well, that does it for this week's Thirsty Thursday. Next week we'll be back with another cocktail, but keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming post about different types of glassware and which kinds are essential to starting your home bar!
Here are a few lovely and inspiring things I found over the weekend!
JJ and I don't see much of each other these days. When we do see each other, it is usually in passing or while shoveling dinner down at ten o'clock at night. We joke, that some day we will look back at this time in our lives with fondness. But in all seriousness, this has been the happiest year of my life. Almost as happy as these sweet dachshund nuptials! Eek!
Before my Grandfather, Harold Bernt, passed away he wanted to visit Ellis Island. This was the place his mother, my grand grandmother, entered the United States through. Sadly, he never made it to Ellis Island, he did however, have a memorial brick placed with her name, Anna Korger, on the island. After my Grandfather passed, my family journeyed to this iconic piece of American history. We walked through the doors my great grandmother walked through. The story of Ellis Island is our history and sadly it is quickly deteriorating. As part of a revitalization project, the Save Ellis Island initiative created an art exhibit titled "Unframed-Ellis Island" featuring the works of artist JR. Find out more information here.
PBS released the season 5 trailer of Downton Abbey! This is season is going to be incredible...
We're back after an unplanned two-week hiatus. Sometimes, life has a way of moving incredibly slow for perceived periods of eternity and then suddenly piling a lifetime's worth of obligations on you over the period of a week! Well, back to the cocktails! For this Thirsty Thursday installment, we're concluding out champagne series with perhaps the oldest and simplest of champagne-inspired mixes: The Champagne Cocktail.
The "Champagne Cocktail" likely originated in the 19th century and largely has gone unchanged since. After all, it is difficult (and unnecessary) to alter something so simple as the Champagne Cocktail! Since then, it has made many pop culture appearances, including Casablanca! Here are our ingredients:
1 cube sugar
2 dashes Bitters
Champagne or sparkling wine
Lemon twist for garnish
Preparation: In a champagne flute, soak sugar cube in bitters and allow a moment to dissolve. Next, top off glass with chilled champagne or sparkling wine, garnish with a lemon twist, and enjoy!
Recommended accompaniment:
To accompany this drink, we recommend a tune straight from the film Casablanca to put you in the mood: "As Time Goes By," recorded here by Louis Armstrong and Nat King Cole.
Hi! It's The Vintage Chanteuse here and it has been a long time (too long, much too long). My small corner of the world has been in complete upheaval. I've spent the last month trying to settle into two new jobs and it hasn't been easy. Actually, its been a staggering experience to say the least and I have completely lost control of my personal life because of it! Alas, I am beginning to find my place, the dust is starting to settle, and the ground doesn't feel so shaky. And now here I am! I'm back and even more excited to share my vintage inspired life with you all! Oh, and did I mention I am wedding planning also?! More to come on this topic at a later date...
Here's my week in snapshots!
We have been searching far and wide for the perfect venue to host our reception. We found it this morning peaking through the fog as we reach the top of rolling and winding road. This beautiful historic 1756 barn at Holcomb Farm in Granby, CT is going to be the perfect backdrop for our vintage inspired wedding!
Just in case we forgot it is still summer for another 6 glorious hours.
My favorite time of the year begins tomorrow! We will be celebrating the return of fall with roasted butternut squash, pumpkin pizzas, and apple ciders!
"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."
It has been very long time. When life hits, it hits hard. I have been busy doing completely unglamorous things like signing contracts, training for new jobs, sitting in music practice rooms, and dealing with the idea of change--as daunting and intimidating as it is!
After too many weeks away, here we are again, over the weekend! Here are a few awesome things I have found during my late-night-can't-make-my-brain-stop-thinking sessions.
1. These color photos of real Rosie the Riveters are incredibly inspiring.
2. Here is a glimpse into the world's oldest surviving music hall, Wiltons. This place is simply magical and is at the top of my list the next time I am in London!
3. This is exactly how I felt yesterday morning as I watched my coffee steaming as I walked to work.
4. This book! Every free moment I can find is spent with this book!
5. Wedding planning has officially begun for me. Before anything is booked (besides the groom!) I am pouring through vintage etiquette guides for ideas. Like this guide from The Retro Housewife.
Since we cracked open a bottle of sparkling wine last week for our Thirsty Thirsday, we decided we would do a whole series of champagne-inclusive cocktails to use up the rest of the bottle! This week, we're going to take a look at a slightly modernized (and more alcoholic!) take on the classic Brandy Fizz:
A "Fizz" is a family of cocktails containing a spirit, some kind of citric juice, and-you guessed it-something carbonated. Typically, Fizz cocktails contain club soda or seltzer, but we here at The Vintage Chanteuse prefer to substitute champagne or sparkling wine as a way of giving a classic cocktail a contemporary kick! We first stumbled upon this recipe listed as a "Cognac Fizz" in Here's How: The Home Bartender's Mixing Guide, a small booklet printed by the Schieffelin & Co. liquor importing company in the 1940s. Let's take a look at our Brandy Fizz's ingredients:
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 sugar cube
1.5 oz brandy or cognac
Sparkling wine to top off
Lime twist for garnish
Preparation:
In a cocktail shaker, pour lime juice and brandy over sugar cube and allow to dissolve (if you grow impatient, you may gently muddle to encourage the process to speed up). Next, add ice and shake well until ice crystals begin to form around exterior of shaker.
Then, strain into a highball glass, top with sparkling wine, garnish with a lemon twist, and enjoy responsibly!
Recommended accompaniment:
Our version of the Cognac Fizz is steeped in Francophilia (ignoring that we used brandy instead of cognac and sparkling wine instead of champagne!), so we recommend you accompany your fizz with Paris Combo's "Fibre de Verre." Paris Combo is a contemporary Parisian ensemble blending classic French styles with American jazz and swing, amongst many others and is sure to compliment your fizz perfectly!
