Tallulah Bankhead's Coconut Jumbles

“Nobody can be exactly me.
Sometimes even I have trouble doing it.”

Got a fab freelance commission this week - selecting fashion films of the 1940s and writing about them. Film archiving doesn't get much better than that! In discussion over a burger and fries my commisioners concluded that although folks have a strong idea about what 1940s fashion looks like - the 1930s is a bit of a forgotten era fashion-wise. But here is Tallulah rocking the very best look of the era - a white, slinky, silky, bias cut evening gown. YUM.

I'm getting excited about my impending visit to Austin. Not least because I am going to meet some of the lovely test cooks who are doing sterling work in the Lone Star State. One such is Gene, who gave a detailed response to the challenge of Tallulah's Coconut Jumbles. Again, Tallulah's dough was too sticky for rolling and Gene offered the alternative of making dropped cookies instead of cut out cookies. Makes sense! Although her hubby liked them, Gene thought they tasted like a "heap of cooked flour more than anything else". Hmm. This one may need another attempt in the Crouch End kitchen. Food dye and dessicated coconut here I come!

Tallulah Bankhead's Coconut Jumbles

"...all my life I've been terrible at remembering people's names.

Once I introduced a friend of mine as 'Martini'.
Her name was actually 'Olive'.”

Tallulah's excuse for calling everyone "dahling" rings a bell with me. I'm getting terrible at remembering names. Which puts me in mind of my dad once saying, "that whatsisname is really good at remembering names..."

Today's report comes from our favourite type of tester - the "mum" tester! They sure know what they are doing these mums. Taking a totally different approach to test cooks of our own generation. They just get on with it and have no qualms about leaving ingredients out or modifying oven temperatures or cooking times. Genius.

What a pedigree for me. My own mum has selected the persona of Vivien Leigh for the blog. As my dad wants to be Burt Lancaster that makes me feel pretty special. And my mum's verdict on Tallulah's biscuits? "Will be offering friends these when they drop in for a cup of tea." So they are definitely good enough for guests! Vivien left out the milk altogether (a good solution to avoid sloppy cookie dough) and her superb innovation? Topping the biscuits with glace cherries. I am LOVING that idea!

Tallulah Bankhead's French 75s

“If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."

Last night saw extreme Silver Screen Supperage in action. Dinner al fresco which began with Tallulah's favourite tipple the French 75. Followed by Adolph Menjou's Spiced Venetian Cheese hors d'oevres, Errol Flynn's Baked Fish Havanaise and Joan Blondell's Peach and Cherry Compote. The first time I've attempted such a full-on menu of all-star food. Thank goodness for Ava's firm assistance in the kitchen and the kind words of my other guests Gladys and John.

Food was devoured, the wine flowed freely and revelations about the double dealings of Delia had us all on the edge of our balcony seats. I needn't have worried about cooking for a celebrity chef, he was most gracious about my food and said it was all as it should be and "delivered without fluster" which of course, for me was the biggest compliment. I guess that proof that the evening had gone swimmingly was to be found in the fact that there was no time to do a Marion Davies and work on the jigsaw.

Talullah Bankhead's Coconut Jumbles

“They used to photograph Shirley Temple through gauze.
They should photograph me through linoleum.”

So hard to choose a quote for Talullah - there are so many fabulous ones! What exactly is she doing in this picture I'd like to know? The person who comes up with the best guess will win a batch of her Coconut Jumbles. I'm going to have to have a few more goes as the mixture was far too runny to do as Talu suggested and: "Cut into fancy shapes with a jumble cutter."

I actually BOUGHT some jumble cutters after much internet research and trawling of ebay. In the thirties jumbles were apparently doughnut shaped biscuits and they made special cookie cutters that cut a ring shape. I never owned a biscuit cutter before and now I have six original 1930s ones. 2 jumbles ring cutters, 2 heart shapes and 2 star shapes, courtesy of someone who stole them from her sorority house. What kind of bizarre world am I beginning to inhabit? Spending an evening dyeing little piles of coconut pink, yellow and green doesn't seem in the least bit strange these days...