Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Janet Gaynor's Ice Box Cookies


We are back to Janet's Cookies. It is ten past midnight and I have just eaten one. Fact is, I was feeling like a GOOSEBERRY here at Rosalind's place. The politics of relationships are very, very complicated and methinks it really is time to ship out to the sorority house in Walthamstow STAT.

Fact number two is that Janet's Cookies by my estimation were made on Wednesday and frozen overnight. Cooked on Thursday. Bagged up and taken to New York on Friday. Taken on to Washington D.C. on Sunday. Put in my luggage which left D.C. on Monday and arrived in London on Tuesday. The Cookies taste just as good tonight as they did on Thursday fresh out of the oven.

This is the power of Silver Screen Suppers! All the memories of the Summit live on in those little scotchbread circles of wonderment.
Rock and roll Janet Gaynor!

Anna May Wong's Teacakes


"Every time your picture is taken, you lose a part of your soul."

I can hardly believe that this is a 1940s photograph of Anna - she looks so MODERN. And her cakes are so good. Rosalind and Jimmy both said so. Unfortunately they got a little squashed in transit from Washington D.C. but Rosalind is "planning a trifle".

Ronald Coleman's English Pot Pie

"A man usually falls in love with a woman who asks the kinds of questions he is able to answer."


Hm. That is worth a ponder Ronald. I liked your Pot Pie. Even though the first attempt at cooking the round steak ended in a very burned pan that boiling with vinegar and soaking with dishwasher powder could not remedy. I feel bad about that.

However, Ruth and I went to the GIANT supermarket and bought some more round steak. We planned it perfectly so that we could participate in the "RELAXING MOMENT" the in-store Starbucks was offering everyone. This turned out to be a free coffee without the kind of BONDING with locals I had been hoping for.

The second attempt was fine as I hovered beside the stove with a glass of NOVAKEG on hand. Ruth and I had a slice each and thought it very tasty. I'm going to have another go and make more gravy next time. We left two thirds of it in the freezer for Bill, H.L. and Letha (sp?) to sample and comment upon. Their verdict will be reported here in good time.

William Powell's Baked Artichokes



“Dessert is probably the most important stage of the meal, since it will be the last thing your guests remember before they pass out all over the table.”

What are artichokes FOR? And how do they WORK? It remains a mystery. Although we did come to the conclusion that the fiddliness of the baked artichokes with breadcrumbs and gruyere and not much to get your teeth into would be EXACTLY the kind of "amuse bouche" that William would have with his "mixed drinks".

Janet Gaynor's Ice Box Cookies


Turns out that Ruth is not only slightly camera shy but is also extremely blog shy. I am writing this for the record in the hope that at some point she will add stuff in, if not delete all this and rewrite it to her own specifications for it is SHE that made the Ice Box Cookies and not I.

I am returned to the UK with several hundred JGIB Cookies and several Anna May Wong's teacakes. All DELICIOUS. I am dishing them out to Rosalind and Jimmy tonight and hopefully Charley tomorrow and the Chaw-Bacon on Friday. Happy is the man or woman who gets an item baked by Ruth...

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Jean Harlow's Hot Rolls

“No one ever expects a great lay to pay all the bills.”

Ha ha! How true. Ears must be burning both in Brixton and in Iraq today. We have given our imaginary boyfriends a right old going over in between lunch at Harpoon Hannah's Tiki bar and a session at SEA NEEDLES. Will Ruth and I EVER run out of things to talk about - I doubt it.

Well, Jean Harlow's Hot Rolls - despite being cut in the shape of CRABS as befits our location in Delaware - were no great shakes. The Ronald Coleman English Pot Pie is in the oven and I'm hoping this will improve upon things.

Alas, although one of the things on my list of things to do while I am here was to go to a crab restaurant in they all seem to be closed as it is out of season. This will mean I am CHEATED of the opportunity to reply to the question, "What did you do in Delaware?" to answer, "I got crabs...."

Clara Bow's Vanilla Marlow



"I wanna go home. I miss my cook."

Ruth is beside the stove cooking up Fred MacMurray's Egg Burgers De Luxe for our breakfast and Clara Bow's Vanilla Marlow is "done and done" and settling down in the refrigerator. We are going for it in a big way on day two of the cookathon.


The anticipated Silver Screen Supper Scrap never really came to blows. We perched at a bar at the very edge of Ocean City and broke down the list of 50 into Ruthie's and mine. Distracted every now and then by a couple who had "got themselves drunk" we dished them out with the minimum of fuss. We were both VERY pleased with our list of 26 (for we had forgotten Fred and Claudette so couldn't limit it to 50) and had the added treat of seeing a girl at the bar with her top off displaying an ill fitting pink bra to the two boys she was with. Jim the barman reassured us that it was all OK as everyone knew each other and she in fact lived with a GIRL so everything was fine - unless the GIRL found out...

I am very excited about all my lovely ladies - Clara, Bette, Louise, Joan - can't wait to get all the biographies out of the lock up and get into bed with them and a big vat of Vanilla Marlow.

P.S. Yum. I am liking the Vanilla Marlow - a bit like a frozen Vanilla Milk Steamer and plus LOW FAT because it is almost totally composed of Marshmallows.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Joan Crawford's Creamed White Onions in Red Pepper Cup

"I need sex for a clear complexion, but I'd rather do it for love."

An interesting take on the whole thing thanks Joan... There has been MUCH discussion on the ins and outs of our love lives during the cooking and many interesting things are coming out of it. There seems to be a move towards free spiritedness. A move towards just seeing what happens. Going with the flow. Good.

We are still in the dark as to what "table sauce" is - or was in the 1930s. We decided to use a mixture of Worcestershire Sauce and Chili Sauce which turned out to do the trick. I ate all mine but don't blame Ruth for not eating hers as we are putting away a LOT of food today. There have been Anna May Tea Cakes to nibble on throughout the day too but I'll leave it to Ruth to blog that one...

Gary Cooper's Griddle Cakes


"The general consensus seems to be that I don't act at all."

What a joy to come downstairs after a long lie-in to find Ruth at the magi-mix preparing Gary Cooper's Griddle Cakes in her cowgirl pyjamas. Not only that but also mixing up the dough for Claudette Colbert's Ice Box Cookies. She's a human dynamo.

It has been an insane day of cooking and it aint over yet.... The Griddle Cakes were great - bit like Scotch Pancakes and I ate 5 smothered with butter and maple syrup. Welcome to the USA!

Marlene Dietrich's Lamb Chops en Casserole

"I was raised almost entirely on turnips and potatoes, but I think that the turnips had more to do with the effect than the potatoes."


Well I am pleased to say that Marlene's Lamb Chops en Casserole contains both potatoes AND turnips which gives weight to the idea that it actually WAS her very own recipe. Delicious it was too.


We consumed a few pre-dinner "Pomegrantlet Gimlets" the new house cocktail named after Cary Grant then a few post-dinner glasses from the "Novakeg" - a large keg of beer we fondly named after Kim Novak. Although Ruth had agreed with my proposition that we drink the whole keg in one night we didn't quite manage it.


We did though talk long into the night about the men who continue to confuse us. But as Marlene so rightly says, "Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast" which applies to me and, "The average man is more interested in a woman who is interested in him than he is in a woman with beautiful legs" which may apply to both of us.


Not that we don't have beautiful legs you understand...

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Fred MacMurray Wine




"The two films I did with Billy Wilder, 'Double Indemnity' and the 'The Apartment' are the only two parts I did in my entire career that required any acting."

Isn't Fred handsome?

The Summit has begun. I am in Delaware ("Small Wonder") with America's Sweetheart of Song and we are up and running. Kicking off the session with a wonderful dinner with her parents and a major new discovery. Ruthie's pa opened the wine list and the very first item that caught his eye was a MacMurray red. WHO KNEW that Fred MacMurray had his own vineyard? Not us! But we do now and a delicious fruity number it has produced too. We'll be seeking that one out again to accompany one of the many EGG dishes we have from the kitchen of Mr MacMurray

It is the first night of the cooking marathon and Marlene Dietrich's "Lamb Chops en Cassorole" are slowly cooking away in the awesome Frick Family Kitchen in Bethanay Beach. Ruth is tearing her hair out as she attempts to bash out the list of our top 50 stars/recipes. There has been much cussing. We have whittled down the list to one hundred and now the battle begins.

Luckily we have a KEG of beer to get us through the battle after we have finished the JUG of Pomegranate Gimlet. Bring it on.