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Celebrate the Holidays with Chambord

December 22, 2020 by Natalie 1 Comment

Celebrate the holidays with Chambord! I’ve teamed up with my friends from Chambord to give you a last-minute gift idea plus two holiday cocktail recipes. I understand better than anyone what it’s like to procrastinate to the very last minute to buy gifts and to plan what you’re making for the holidays. It is me. Every. Single. Year.

Chambord makes the perfect gift for a hostess, last-minute gifting or stocking stuffer. The bottle is so unique and elegant and looks amazing on your home bar or entertaining area. Pretty and delicious? Sounds great to me!

Every drop of Chambord is produced at a chateau wholly dedicated to Chambord in Cour-Cheverny in the Loire Valley of France. It’s made with 100% natural ingredients and uses whole, fresh fruit in the production process and contains XO Cognac, which is aged longer than VS or VSOP. So you can feel great about using it in your cocktails.

A very easy cocktail you can whip up in no time for Christmas or even the New Year is The Chambord Royale by simply adding 1/4 oz. of Chambord to your favortie glass of Champagne or Prosecco and garnishing it with a raspberry, blackberry or both.

I’ve made my own little spin on this cocktail by turning it into a larger format punch for easy entertaining at-home or socially distanced. In addition to Chambord all you do is add lemon juice and your spirit of choice. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Chambord Royale Punch

1/2 cup of Chambord

1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice

1 cup of your spirit of choice (I recommend gin or Cognac)

Top off with a bottle of sparkling wine

lemon wheels, for garnish

raspberries, for garnish

blackberries, for garnish

Add lemon juice, Chambord and spirit to punch bowl. Then add ice and top with sparkling wine. Garnish with lemon wheels, raspberries and blackberries.

This Chambord Royale punch is decadent and wonderfully effervescent. It’s the ideal accompaniment to meats and cheeses for a cocktail hour or beside a rich holiday meal. Might I add that a sparkly punch is always wonderful and appropriate for NYE.

Whether you’re spending it with your closest family members or even apart from them, Chambord makes the perfect gift. If you’re spending it apart, gifting a bottle and then making the Chambord Royale cocktail or punch over Facetime/ Zoom might be a fun way to connect with your loved ones this season. Regardless have a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and please celebrate responsibly.

Order directly via Drizly and you can get $5 credit on your first order* using promotion code CHAMBORD. Also don’t forget to tag your Chambord cocktails with #makethemomentmagnifique over on Instagram.

This is a Drizly offer. 21+ subject to terms and conditions of Drizly. Void where prohibited. Offer Expires 3/30/21. Thanks for supporting the sponsored posts that make Arsenic-Lace happen.

Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate

December 20, 2019 by Natalie Leave a Comment

There’s nothing I love more than a hot chocolate on a cold night. In fact, that’s about all I love about cold nights because I hate the cold! I made this Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate the other night when we had a snow squall. What’s a snow squall you might ask? I had to ask google the same thing. It is a very abrupt and short-lived snowstorm with blizzard and whiteout conditions. Thankfully I had my friends over at Exotico Tequila to help me through it and this Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate to keep me warm.

Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate, makes 2 cups

2 cups milk

4 oz. Exotico Tequila

2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tbsp. demerara sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 tsp. chili powder

1/8 tsp. ground cayenne (you can omit this if you don’t want it too spicy)

bittersweet chocolate shavings, for garnish

marshmallows, for garnish

To make your Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate whisk cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon, chili and cayenne together until combined. Add your milk to a small saucepan and place on the stove over low heat. Add in your dry ingredients and stir until all ingredients are incorporated and the cocoa has melted into the milk, about 10 minutes. Stir in your vanilla extract.

Add 2 oz. of tequila to your serving vessel, I used enamel mugs, and then pour the hot chocolate. Garnish with mini marshmallows and chocolate shavings.

I love sweet and savory dishes and drinks and this Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate checks all those boxes. It’s decadent and rich and warming from the chili and cayenne. I have a very high tolerance for spice and while I don’t find this overwhelmingly spicy, you can omit the cayenne if you think this recipe will be too spicy for your taste. Exotico Tequila is so perfect for this drink. Chocolate and spices complement the sweet earthy notes in tequila and other agave spirits.

This is not only a great drink to serve on Christmas Eve or for dessert on Christmas Day but you can also enjoy it all winter long. A hot cocoa bar is a great idea to set up for a party or gathering and I put together some ideas in this post. While I will be enjoying this Spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate for as long as the temperature dips below 45 degrees there’s nothing like sipping on a warm drink in front of the Christmas tree.

I hope you decide to make this drink and Happy Holidays from me and Exotico Tequila! xo

Mod Cocktails Now on Pre-order

September 5, 2019 by Natalie Leave a Comment

Super excited to announce that the book I’ve been working on since last year, Mod Cocktails, is now available for pre-order and is officially released on November 5th!

Thanks to everyone for their continued support while I wrote this book. Especially to my publisher Page Street. I worked really hard compiling recipes and stories of cocktails that I love and are important to me from the midcentury era. The recipes span anywhere from the 1940s to the late 1960s and also include my little spins on some of my favorite classic cocktails.

I tried to make this book accessible to everyone. That includes the at-home enthusiast and even more complicated recipes for the seasoned bartender. The objective of this book was to take two categories that are often separated, classic and tiki, and have a place for them to belong together while celebrating the midcentury. I hope you’ll invite these cocktails into your homes and bars.

I’ll be announcing the release party and book signings very soon. In the meantime, you can pre-order Mod Cocktails here on Amazon. xo

Home Tour on Apartment Therapy

September 11, 2018 by Natalie 7 Comments

I’m so excited to share that I recently did a home tour with Apartment Therapy. Having a home tour on one of my favorite interior design sites has been a dream since I was in design school and I can’t believe it has finally happened! I have spent the last year and a half pouring my heart and soul into this apartment and making it a home. It is truly my sanctuary. Here are a few sneak peeks — but you can check out the full tour here.

A special thanks to Nancy Mitchell who photographed the feature. I met her working at Bar Convent Brooklyn with Angostura Bitters and we started following each other on Instagram. Shortly after she reached out telling me she also worked for Apartment Therapy and asked if I wanted to do a home tour. Nancy runs an amazing cocktail blog and IG account called The Backyard Bartender. Make sure you check out her drinks and her interior photography. You seriously never know who you’re going to meet and I’m so glad I got to work on this shoot with Nancy.

Hope you all enjoy the tour and let me know what you think by chiming in on the comments below. The beautiful baby blue monstera leaf wallpaper in the bedroom is from Wallflora Shop and the lemon mural in the kitchen was done by my very talented friend Blair Urban of Urban Lush Murals.

Not sure what I’m going to do now that the house is completely decorated. 😉

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