The holiday season is filled with treats. From cookies and pies to chocolates and candy canes, it seems everywhere you look, there’s something sweet to be had. But I try to resist all of those temptations (save a cheat now and then). That’s because I like to save my holiday indulgences for Oatmeal Cookies. No, not the kind you eat, but the kind you drink!

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The Oatmeal Cookie is the perfect holiday cocktail. Slightly sweet, slightly spicy with a nice little kick. I like that the drink is much lighter than Eggnog and not quite as in your face as a Hot Toddy or as sugary sweet as Hot Buttered Rum. I love to sip on my Oatmeal Cookie after dinner, enjoy one while wrapping (or unwrapping!) presents, or serve them as a pretty option at a holiday party.

But perhaps the very best part about the Oatmeal Cookie cocktail? It is the easiest holiday drink to make. Seriously. Scroll below for the complete recipe and instructions. Don’t blink or you might miss them.

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RECIPE: OATMEAL COOKIE COCKTAIL

Ingredients

1 part Goldschlager
1 part Baileys Irish Cream
1 part Butterscotch Schnapps
ice

Instructions

Mix one shot Goldschlager, one shot Baileys Irish Cream and one shot Butterscotch Schnapps in a cocktail shaker over ice. Give it a good shake. Pour into glasses.

If you want to fancy up your Cookie a bit, you can double the recipe (as I did above), add a jumbo square ice cube to each glass (these trays make it easy), garnish with cinnamon sticks (I rolled mine in sanding sugar) and sprinkle a little cinnamon over the top.

Regardless of how you pour them, I guarantee you’re going to love these Oatmeal Cookies. Surprise your friends at your annual cookie swap party. I have a feeling you’ll still win first prize!

original photography for apartment 34 by ashley batz

Today I’ve got a delicious treat for you. If you missed the reveal of my kiddo’s first birthday party yesterday, I hinted at the best part of the party – for the adults anyway – our signature drink!

Once again my girl Ashley came to my rescue. In case you haven’t followed along for awhile, Ashley is my former production assistant/cocktail recipe whiz, who is now rocking the mixology world with her own company Crafts & Cocktails. Yet again, Ashley crushed it with a custom punch recipe for the birthday party. I decided to deem it “the Mr. Carter,” because it was an upbeat, easy-going, can’t get enough cocktail – kind of like my kid!

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I requested a light and delicious recipe and Ashley did not disappoint. Punches are the perfect thing to serve at parties. You mix it once and let everyone serve themselves, leaving you to enjoy the festivities. Punches are also great because they’re often a lot less expensive then buying fancy spirits for a cocktail and can be made so they’re not overly, strong. Perfect for toddler-focused celebrations when you need a little somethin,’ but not too much!

This punch was incredibly easy to make and included some of my favorite flavors. Grapefruit (as seen in my other favorite concoction of Ashley’s), sparkling wine and Lillet. Ashley gave the recipe a sophisticated twist by adding thyme syrup. It gave the drink an almost savory quality that I know might sound a touch odd but was in fact delicious. Here’s how you can whip up a batch of your own Mr. Carter Punch for your next get together. I’d serve it at brunch, a BBQ – really any reason to get friends together!

MR. CARTER PUNCH
Ingredients
3 parts sparkling wine
1 part Lillet
2 parts grapefruit juice
1/4 part thyme simple syrup
Thyme sprig garnish
Grapefruit slice garnish, optional

Simple Syrup: To make simple syrup, bring sugar, water and thyme to a low simmer in a small pot over medium heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Let sit 30 minutes or overnight for a more intense flavor. Strain.

Punch: To make your punch simply combine all ingredients in a punch bowl or other serving container over ice. Pour into cups & garnish with a thyme sprig and grapefruit wedge.

When it comes to exact quantities of your ingredients, we purchased six bottles sparkling wine, two 750 ml bottles Lillet and three 32 oz cartons grapefruit juice which was more than twice what we needed for about 20 adults. It was such a light, refreshing drink I’m tempted to whip another batch right now.

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As I sit surround by a zillion boxes with another 1,ooo more to pack, I keep letting my mind wander to the holy grail: when all this moving business is done! And what do I crave? A cocktail – der. It’s supposed to be 80+ degrees in San Francisco this week (sorry moving company) and I’m counting down the seconds until the last box is unloaded into our house and I can whip up a proper spring drink to celebrate. Only requirement is that it must involve bubbly. Preferably copious amounts. I’m currently considering any of these options.

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Two Lips & a Rose. This vodka-sparkling wine cocktail is perfect if I want to get a little fancy. It has the most ingredients, including a touch of rose. It’s a luxuriously decadent sip to enjoy on my new deck!

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Champagne Grapefruit Sage Cocktail. This sip is sophisticated take on a grapefruit mimosa with a touch of sage for an herbal punch. I like. Since we’re buried in citrus right now and I’m a sucker for anything involving grapefruit (like our most popular cocktail ever), this little guy is looking very tempting right now.

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Frozen mimosas. Freeze your favorite juice, just add champagne. Genius. I’ll take two please.

What spring drink are you loving right now? I’d love to add more options to my must-try list.

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drinks via coco+kelley // shannon kirsten // glitter guide

If Valentine’s Day has snuck up on you this year, no worries! You can still whip up a beautiful brunch spread for your lov-ah or your bestie (did you know Galentine’s Day is a thing?? I’m just finding out myself). Anywho, we’ve put together a kick ass brunch spread that will make anyone feel loved. There’s even a quick Valentine’s Day DIY to make you look like that domestic goddess that, come on, we’ll probably never actually be! This DIY is so good, I dare you to spot it in the pics below.

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MARBLE COASTER DIY by Craft & Cockatils 

Materials
Black ceramic tile
white paint
gray paint
feather
paint brush
sandpaper
clear acrylic sealer spray
felt
hot glue

Directions
Step 1: Lightly sand ceramic tiles. Wipe with damp cloth.

Step 2: Dip a feather in white paint. Using the tip, paint random lines on the tile, pressing harder in some spots to vary lines. Marble lines go in the same general direction, but are random so keep this in mind when painting (we pulled up an image of marble to refer to.)

Step 3: Using a thin paint brush, go over some lines with white and light gray paint to define and differentiate lines. Let dry.

Step 4: Spray with clear acrylic sealer and allow to set.

Step 5: Finally, cut felt into squares to fit the size of the coaster and glue to the bottom of the tile.

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No matter your feelings about candy hearts and sappy sentiments, there’s no reason to pass up an excuse to get fancy. So grab a bottle of Chambord and tap into your creative side. Even if your better half doesn’t appreciate the gesture, you’ll have a ball sipping on your hot pink drink! Check out the recipes for our Valentine’s Day cocktails below – though they’re so good they don’t need to be reserved for a special occasion. I think any old Tuesday would be the perfect time to enjoy one.

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RECIPE: DIAMOND IN THE ROUGE 

Ingredients

1 3/4 oz bourbon
3/4 oz Chambord
3/4 oz blood orange juice
1/8 tsp Balsamic vinegar
Blood orange slice

Directions
Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Strain into a glass with one large ice cube. Garnish with blood orange slice.

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RECIPE: NOIR FRAMBOISE FIZZ

Ingredients

2 oz champagne
1 oz gin
1 oz Chambord
1/4 oz lime juice
1/4 oz simple syrup
a quarter of a vanilla bean

Directions
Cut the vanilla bean in half and scrap the seeds out and add to a shaker. Add all the other ingredients but the champagne into the shaker with ice. Double strain into a champagne flute. Top with the champagne and garnish with raspberry & blackberry.

 

art direction by erin hiemstra // photography, production & original cocktail recipes for apartment 34 by craft & cocktails 

This post is in partnership with Chambord and Refinery 29. All thoughts and opinions are 100% our own. Please drink responsibly. Thanks for supporting awesome partnerships that have kept apartment 34’s doors open all these years. Like seriously. I really appreciate it. Brown-Forman Corporation, Louisville, KY, Black Raspberry Liqueur; 16.5%, 21+.

Just before the holiday, we shared the recipe for the Apartment 34 Sparkler – our 2015 signature cocktail. It’s a pretty fantastic little sip if we do say so ourselves. But if a single signature drink isn’t your thing, I’ve got another option for you to have in your arsenal for New Year’s Eve. Or Tuesdays.

Whatever floats your boat.

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A champagne cocktail variation with the bite of spice from the cinnamon and the dramatic bubbles from the sugar cube, this sweet sip will wow. Know one has to know how stinking simple it is!

ABSOLUT House Party

Ingredients
1.5oz Absolut
1oz cinnamon liqueur
3oz champagne

Directions
Keep Absolut and cinnamon liqueur in the freezer. Once thoroughly chilled, pour all ingredients into a champagne flute. Garnish with a sugar cube soaked in Angostura bitters.

Cheers to 2016!

No matter how busy the holiday season gets, there’s one thing I never skip – creating a festive bar and a great signature cocktail recipe to celebrate the season. And this year, mama needs her cocktail more than ever! So I’ve partnered with Absolut and used their stunning limited edition Electrik bottle (featuring the same Absolut Original Vodka we all know and love) as inspiration to kick my holiday bar up a notch. This vodka cocktail recipe is going to be in rotation long past the holiday season.

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The look is all about a new mix of metallics. Adding bold shots of silver and hints of sparkle feels fresh and full of energy. The silver accents really pop when juxtaposed with the sea of gold and brass the design world has been floating in. For this year’s bar cart, we stuck with an edited color palette to ground the metallics. Black candle holders, smokey black tumblers and a few noir accents are just the bit of edgy glam I crave. And the festive addition of a eucalyptus garland accented with black berries feels chic and uber modern but still totally festive. It certainly makes me want to get the party started!

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And then there’s my signature cocktail! I knew I had to immediately turn to my resident libation expert Ashley. She’s killing it with her recently launched venture Craft & Cocktails. I’m in love with this recipe. Served in an updated take on stemware, drizzled in glitter and garnished with silver leaf, any holiday night out is guaranteed to have a stunning start.

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THE APARTMENT 34 SPARKLER

Ingredients

2 oz Absolut Original Vodka
4 oz sparkling wine
3/4 oz grapefruit rosemary oleo saccharum (recipe below)
1/4 ounce lemon juice
Rosemary sprig garnish
Edible silver leaf garnish

Directions
Make the oleo saccharum at least 4 hours before. With a lemon slice, run it around a champagne flute. Roll it over a sheet of silver leaf or use a clean paintbrush to dab it on. In a shaker with ice, mix oleo saccharum, vodka and lemon juice for 10 seconds. Strain into a glass and add the champagne. Stir, garnish with rosemary sprig and enjoy.

Grapefruit Rosemary Oleo Saccharum (citrus oil syrup)
6 grapefruit, peels only
9 oz sugar
2 stalks rosemary, destemmed

Peel grapefruits, reserving fruit and juice for other cocktails. Be careful not to remove too much of the white pith or it will make the syrup bitter. Place peels in a bowl along with rosemary. Pour sugar over and mix with your hands or muddle to start breaking down the sugar. Let this sit for 4 hours or overnight. You will know it is ready when all of the sugar has been dissolved by the citrus and herb oils. Strain and place in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

*the silver leaf is delicate and will stick to just about anything, so handle it gently. One sheet is good to garnishing 2-3 glasses.

**oleo saccharum is simply an oil sugar syrup. It’s easier than a simple syrup because it doesn’t require cooking. It adds not only a nice texture to a drink, but the oils enhance the citrus flavor without diluting with too much juice.

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As a new mom, it can be a little hard to motivate when I look at my jam packed holiday calendar, but the Apartment 34 Sparkler makes me want to put on my dangly earrings, slip into some killer heels and paint the town. No one has to know that I might be back in bed by 10pm :P.

I hope you raise the energy of your holiday nights this season!

original recipe, styling and photography for apartment 34 by craft & cocktails

This post is in partnership with Absolut. Please enjoy responsibly. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. To learn more about Absolut Electrik click here. Thanks for supporting posts that keep Apartment 34’s doors open.

Well friends, it’s official. The first day of Fall is here! But it has me feeling a little torn. Now I luv summer as much as the next girl. Long days, warm temps, dreamy afternoons spent on a beach {or at least dreaming of one}. But I also love when the seasons change. It always feels like a breath of fresh air. A new beginning if you will. And just because summer is saying see ya, doesn’t mean entertaining season is ending. Oh contraire! We’ve actually been enjoying a seriously gorgeous Indian Summer in San Francisco right now. So I say set aside a little time to gather friends and enjoy that waning evening light while we still can! In fact, we did exactly that last weekend and the results were equal parts yummy and lovely – if I do say so myself!

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Our mission was simple. Gather some of our favorite ladies for an impromptu happy hour. The ingredients for a successful happy hour aren’t complicated either. Copious amounts of easy to snack on food, a killer outdoor patio and a fabulous drink of course. But remember, just because something’s impromptu doesn’t mean it can’t be pretty! Today we’re revealing our tricks to creating a stunning little feté in no time flat {seriously!}.

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Step 1: Set the scene. An outdoor patio decked with a farm table and bench seating is easy and relaxed. We were lucky enough that our table happened to be marble-topped but any wood table would be just as pretty. A string or two of cafe lights are extra nice touch. You can leave them up pretty much all year ’round. A few simple flower arrangements plucked straight from the garden are also a thoughtful detail.

Step 2: Don’t skimp on your place settings. When you want to up the ante for your gathering, paper and plastic just won’t do. But again, you don’t need to slave away. We relied on the services of Mrs. Peasy Party Box Rentals who provides gorgeous plates, flatware and glasses for rent! She’s got pre-designed boxes featuring gorgeous items like Heath Ceramics dishware and vintage cutlery. Or you can do what we did and simply mix and match your own set up. The best part? You can drop it all off dirty so your end of party clean up is pretty much done before you even start. It’s genius.

Step 3: Create a humble feast. For our happy hour we decided to create the charcuterie board of champions. But again the task required little else than a power shopping trip at Trader Joe’s and an epic 3-foot long wood board. Cured meats, crackers, cheese, olives, pickles, fresh berries & figs, dried fruit, nuts and our little trade secret – fresh flowers created a truly stunning display. Piling everything high makes your board so pretty you almost don’t want to dig in and mess it all up. Almost.

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Step 4: Serve a signature drink! The true star of our party was our cocktail – the Aperol Spritz! Now this drink is near and dear to my heart. A traditional Italian apertif, Chris and I enjoyed a Spritz (or 5 or 6!) in Venice – the drink’s actual birthplace – during our honeymoon and I’ve loved them ever since. They’re totally refreshing – a true before dinner sipper. And the best part? They’re super easy to make. No professional mixologist skills needed here. You’re not concocting homemade syrups or adding tinkshers with eye droppers. The recipe is so simple every party guest can whip up one for themselves – yet another way to take some pressure off of you! Don’t worry – we’ve got the recipe for you at the bottom of this post!

But first we have to give you the final step in our happy hour master plan.

Step 5: Sit back, relax and have a grand old time!! There’s nothing better than some quality catch up time with girl friends. Even with today’s overly packed schedules, offering a chance to enjoy a refreshing drink, a bite to eat and some great conversation is pretty irresistible. We’re quite confident your girls will show up for a gathering like this #squadgoals.

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Recipe: The Aperol Spritz

3 parts prosecco
2 parts aperol
1 splash of seltzer

Add a few ice cubes to a wine glass. We actually used oversized square cubes in our drinks. Pour in your prosecco. Then add your Aperol. Top with a generous splash of seltzer. Give your drink a swirl, garnish with orange slices & an orange peel twist if you like. Betcha can’t enjoy just one!!

 

 

FOR MORE OF OUR FAVORITE COCKTAIL RECIPES, CLICK HERE

FOR MORE ENTERTAINING IDEAS, CLICK HERE

 

 

original photography for apartment 34 by ashley batz // florals by natalie bowen designs // dishware by mrs. peasy // styling by apartment34 

This post is in partnership with Aperol. All thoughts and opinions expressed are 100% our own. Thanks for supporting partnerships that help keep Apartment 34’s doors open!

Yeah, that was our exact reaction too! A Rosé slushie?! Is there such a thing or has the heat gotten to us and we’re only halucinating? No, this isn’t a mirage! While we were initially sad to see the Sips for Summer series come to a close, we’re thrilled that the finale is featuring this delicious recipe.And of course the group of ladies at Glitter Guide would save the most fun sipper for last. Look no further rosé lovers {#roséallday!}, your Rosé Slush, aka quite possibly the best summer cocktail ever invented, awaits you…

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Once you wipe the drool from your computer, hop on over to Glitter Guide for the full recipe!

Have you missed out on the rest of our #SipsForSummer?? You can see the archive of recipes RIGHT HERE.

photography and styling by Caitlin Kruse

Phew! Things are heating up around here! Temps have hit a summer high and we’re knee deep in finalizing home renovations. Thank gawd, Camille Styles is basically reading our minds! This Honeydew Ginger cocktail {by the pool, no less!} is exactly what we need right now. A little dip and sip sounds ah-mazing. We’ll be shaking this cocktail up as soon as the clock hits happy hour. Now we just need to find a pool!

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You can find the recipe for this yummy cocktail here. Don’t forget to hashtag your #SipsforSummer on Instagram!

image via camille styles // photography by buff strickland
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