Paulette Goddard's Creamed Sprouts

"You don't have to be a Freud to know that the most fascinating
person in the world- actors or anybody - is yourself."

'ave a banana!

Paulette is one of those stars that we REALLY want to feature in the book but hasn't furnished us with a very inspiring recipe. In fact, the Creamed Sprouts is only recipe we have for Paulette, originally featured in an advertising booklet for Daricraft - a brand of evaporated milk.

Even for someone who counts sprouts as one of her three favourite vegetables (me), this recipe doesn't really tickle my tastebuds. However, Dale out in Austin made these as part of the Star Spangled Rhythm party and reported that her guests did enjoy them. She's a natty cook though and added a few items to joosh up the recipe including breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and thyme. Actually, now I fancy some!

I mentioned recently that my book group is reading "Me Cheeta" the spoof Hollywood biography. I am NOT recommending this to my blog readers because it is far too rude. I particularly objected to his salacious description of Paulette's behaviour at a Hollywood party. The author is denigrating my idols! Nasty man!

Groucho Marx's Matzo Balls

"From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down,
I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it."

My meeting on Thursday was fabulous. I am inspired, enthused and excited about the nebulous entity that will be the book AFTER Silver Screen Suppers. Better get on with this one first though I guess. As Groucho says, "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."

I am loving the surreal banter that I am having with test cooks all over the world via the medium of the email. Katharine in Cardiff is now my official advisor on all things Matzo related. She has cleared up my confusion as to the exact definition of a "Tea Matzo". She also tipped me off to the fact that Matzos with butter, apricot jam and little morsels of cheese dotted on top are utterly divine.

When making Matzo Ball Soup you could of course buy some "kneidlach" (Matzo ball mix) but where's the fun in that?! Ms H. said that it was the first time she had made Matzo balls that weren't out of a packet and they turned out "a million times better". Although alarmed at the amount of chicken fat in the recipe, she later came to the conclusion tht this may be the secret of their success. After popping up to the top of the chicken broth and bobbing around for 15 minutes or so they emerge, "very soft and light and fluffy and tasty".

Katharine also let me know some delicious nuggets of information about Marilyn Monroe. Apparently when she was married to Arhur Miller she once helped her mother-in-law prepare chicken soup and matzo balls. For a while Marilyn embraced domesticity and learned to make pasta. She draped sheets of it over the back of chairs and dried it with a hairdryer. Superb! But where are Marilyn's favourite recipes. In our collection of over 3500 we don't have a single one. The call is out!

Janet Gaynor's Ice Box Cookies

I love this picture of Janet - she is looking so perky! Very much not how I am feeling but I may try and channel this kind of attitude tomorrow. It's going to be a big day.

The cookie dough is in the fridge doing whatever it does overnight in readiness for my important meeting tomorrow. It's going to be a scramble to get there in time as in the early afternoon I'm going to look at what may well be the answer to my cosmic order - a sunny studio flat in a leafy North London suburb.

Apologies to all the test cooks who have sent in feedback but haven't seen their verdicts on the blog yet. I've been a bit preoccupied with moving. Planets are realigning though and soon I will have the time and the head space to forge ahead with the feedback. Onwards mighty Silver Screen Suppers!

Carole Lombard's Cherry Tart

“Don’t kiss and talk about it - men don’t.”

OK then Carole, I will keep schtumm. Carole looks so MODERN in this photo, so much so I am going to double check with the lovely Carla over at www.carolelombard.org just to make sure it is really her...

Back from a wonderful weekend camping in Epping Forest with my Crouch End family. On the way there, Paulette cracked me up by doing her “Cleopatra” line-dance routine in the car and losing the instructions to the campsite through the car window. We found it though, and fabulous it was too.

Those who weren’t born and bred Essex like Paulette and myself were astonished at the lawlessness of the campsite. Nothing new to us though, we Essex folk don’t like living by the rules. We two Essex girls weren’t surprised at all at the amount of axes lying around the place next to the fire pits and the number of fireworks going off at all hours.

I didn’t mention the delicious cherry pie that Paulette made for the book group in the previous post. As the original 1950s housewife she is queen of baking and I loved her variation on the theme – using cherries soaked in kirsch. She was a little alarmed at the amount of sugar in the recipe and yes, it was very sweet but as Jane said, “Sweet, schmeet”, we all loved it.

Today Shirley told me that I was her favourite grown up in the whole wide world, which after the week I’ve had has done my self-esteem the world of good. I even forgave her for attempting to curl my hair and getting it in such a tangle that Paulette had to use scissors to remove the hairbrush.

Alan Ladd's German Style Potato Pancakes

"Time scoots along pretty fast when you grow up."

Another suitcase in another hall... I am back in the Crouch and hopefully for a while this time around. This moving around business is getting a little tiresome. At least nobody here minds me wearing a tiara while I am blogging though...

On Friday Louise made Alan's Potato Pancakes for the book group and they were enjoyed by one and all. Quite, quite delicious - especially with Moroccan spiced salmon. Yum. There was much to talk about around the table and we eventually got on to the book at around 10.40pm. Paulette's husband Ivor keeps saying we can't really call it a book group as we never talk about the book. But I say phooey to that, we have too many other things to discuss.

Next up is "Me Cheeta" and it will be my turn to host. Where? Who knows. I do know one thing though, it will be a Tarzan and Jane themed night which will feature Johnny's Weismuller's Rhubarb Pie and Maureen O'Sullivan's Bridge Cakes.

Katharine Hepburn's Eggplant in Casserole

"I'll be a boy... and rough and hard!"

I'd forgotten all about Katharine posing as a boy in "Sylvia Scarlett". Maybe it would be a good double bill with Louise Brooks in "Beggars of Life" or even better, Jessie Matthews in "First a Girl" my favourite of all her films...

By a weird coincidence we have had another report of a power cut caused by a Silver Screen Supper this week. Well, it was probably caused by a raging Texas storm, but I like to think it was the power of Katharine's eggplant dish that did it.

Gene reports that the recipe could do with some oomph - she added Parmesan cheese, garlic and rosemary which I think is a mighty fine idea. We shall have to fiddle with this recipe quite a bit if it is to make it into the book. As Gene observes, "I think it was her long legs and patrician accent that won Spencer's heart, and not this dish...."

Oh how I do miss the Texas thunderstorms. I have a particuarly vivid memory of driving through a humdinger with Ruth trying to obtain free watermelons from a man dressed as one by the roadside. Or did I just dream that?

Greer Garson's Guacamole

“I do wish I could tell you my age but it's impossible.
It keeps changing all the time.”

Dorothy's feedback on Greer's Guac did make me laugh. Several times.

Firstly there was the response to "Was the recipe easy to follow?" which was, "Yes, but avocados are difficult to peel." which in my sleep deprived state just sounds like some kind of 1930s musical theatre joke, the meaning of which is lost in time.

Then, she posed the rhetorical question, "Er, by any chance did Greer die of a heart attack? This recipe has a LOT of salt!" Well yes, apparently it was "heart problems" that caused her death, but not until she was 92 so pshaw to that!

Finally I loved the fact that because Greer had said not to mash the avocados the Guac turned out very lumpy. As Dorothy likes her Guac more creamy she decided to pop it in the blender to smooth it out a bit. Her blender threw a wobbly, blew a fuse, and knocked out the power in her whole house. Ha ha! Oh the misadventures of the Silver Screen Suppers test cooks. I love it.

Merle Oberon's Chicken Creole

“Without security it is difficult for a woman to look or feel beautiful.”

There has been a rather subdued atmosphere this Sunday in the shadow of the power station. Partly due to a late night and partly due to a big blue over some slippery gramophones. The dinner will probably be a bit subdued too, as the ingredients of Merle's Chicken dish are somewhat low-key. Still, you never know with these 1930s recipes, sometimes they surprise the palate.

There was no cinnamon to be had for love nor money in this stretch of Battersea. It's the last weekend for the Somerfield store and shopping there is quite hilarious. People stroll around like it is a post Armageddon experience, shaking their heads with bemusement at the empty shelves. "It's like being in a pre-capitalist Russian supermarket," a complete stranger said to me yesterday. And today half the shelves were completely bare - naked. In the spice section all there seemed to be were a few mixes to add to sausages to make a casserole and some jars of Tahini. Only 60p off those so still awaiting the final price drop. What a canny shopper I am!

Gary Cooper's Buttermilk Griddle Cakes

"Dad was a true Westerner, and I take after him."

Dang the Montana Mule sure looks good in a cowboy hat!

I am craving some of Coop's Buttermilk Griddle Cakes this Sunday morning. I was DJing last night wearing long silk gloves and every time the canape waitress came past I had to take one off to grab a nibble, hence I am ravenous, I gave up in the end...

I will have to live vicariously through Una's report on her bash at the Griddle Cakes as there is no time this morning to cook up a batch here. Una declared them "quite wonderful" both with, and without syrup. She also observed that they "went amazingly well with bacon" - can you hear my stomach rumbling from where you are?

She writes, "pancakes are almost always great with bacon, but something about this recipe made that relationship extra special. And the cakes seemed to get a little more cornbread-like as they sat in the oven, which just made them get yummier and yummier." She admits though, these are not for everyday munching, signing off her email saying, "they're just sitting like rocks in my stomach now though!" Ha ha!

Gene Kelly's Greatest Man Sandwich in the World

“I got started dancing because I knew it was one way to meet girls”

It's a double whammy today with a tester Stateside (Jeanne) and a tester Thameside (Hedy) both trying out the "Greatest Man Sandwich in the World". It's quite a claim isn't it? And particularly surprising in that it doesn't contain the one thing that most men seem to deem necessary in a sandwich - a great big slab of meat.

And did these ladies make these sandwiches for their men? No they did not! They wolfed them down themselves both announcing the mashed potato stuffed french bread adorned with mayo and red onions to be a great combo. Hedy proclaimed it "The ultimate carbfest for real men!" and Jeanne said, "This is a total YUM! recipe and I give it 5 stars out of 5!" Who knew a potato sandwich would be such a winner?

I may have to include a "photos" page when I fancify the website a bit as Jeanne sent a hilarious photo of her sandwich "before and after a bite". It is making me hungry just looking at it! Gene would have been proud of our testers, for in his recipe he acknowledges that the sandwich is not just for the boys, saying "be sure your wife has at least one bite"!

Ann Sheridan's Chili Casserole

"I used to go to Grauman`s Chinese or Pantages and sit there
waiting to see my faceless body on the screen.
Texas began to look awfully near and awfully good,
and "Clara Lou" had a sweet sound to my ears."

I am thinking a lot about Texas today and sending many positive vibes to Ruthie out there. I am also thinking a lot about fringes ("bangs" to our American readers) and I hereby pose a rhetorical question could ANYBODY rock a fringe better than Ann Sheridan?

She was born Clara Lou, hence the quote...

I am quite the 1930s housewife tonight. The casserole is in the oven, the washing up is done, my man is on his way home from the film set, all we need now is the pipe and slippers. I am enjoying the experience of cooking in the umpteenth abode of this project. Am loving the big wooden chopping board and Le Crueset saucepans in Sidney's kitchen. But most of all am enjoying the view from the massive 10th floor kitchen window. The Millennium Wheel, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Battersea Power Station and - when the sun goes down and the bedroom lights go on - everything that goes on in the block of flats opposite.

I have my favourite window to spy upon already. Tonight, my favourite couple are turning their mattress....

Claudette Colbert's Claudette Colbert Cake

“It took me years to figure out that you don't fall into a tub of butter,
you jump for it.”

I'm going to the hairdresser tomorrow - I may well take this picture in and get my fringe done like Claudette's. She is the star I am supposed to look most like - according to the special face measuring wheel in my "Westmore Beauty Book" of 1939. I don't have that moody face on much though...

Marion, our super cake tester from Texas, reported back that Claudette's eponymous cake was rather good. In fact, so good that she has decided to tinker with the recipe and add it to her collection. I have not attempted this one myself, mostly because the first ingredient is "1 Angel Food Cake" so I think I need to master that first!

Marion suggested, "I bet this is the cake Claudette served John Wayne when he brought her "wings" back in Without Reservations" and continued, "I find it amazing that she did so well with her career because she wasn't that dazzling good looks movie star variety...just cute and clever." Hm, bearing in mind that I am supposed to look like Claudette, perhaps that applies to me too?!

A big thanks to Marion for mentioning Silver Screen Suppers in her blog - http://texasjot.blogspot.com/2009/09/across-pond.html - and a heads up that her "Chocolate Crimes" book will be out very soon...

Katharine Hepburn's Eggplant in Casserole

"Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other.

Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then."

I'm hoping that LOTS of people test Katharine's Eggplant recipe so I can populate the blog with her wonderful quotes.

As I am not a fan of the eggplant (aubergine to us Brits) I'm very happy that Gloria in Bristol has had a go at this one for us. It's one of the few veggie options lined up for the book - those stars sure liked their meat so it's slim pickings for the non-carnivores. Interestingly, Gloria made the eggplant dish as an accompaniment to grilled lamb steaks and prounounced it "utterly deliciously buttery".

With a flair quite befitting of someone I met on a cookery writing course, Gloria made two versions of the dish. One, as per Katherine's recipe, and a second "jooshed up" with pistachio nuts and crumbled feta. To my great joy, Gloria perferred the 'silver screen' version - hurrah!

Judy Garland's Vegetable Salad

"It's lonely and cold on the top... lonely and cold."

It's a real family affair this week as fresh in from my sister is a report on Judy's Vegetable Salad. I absolutely LOVE the fact that my sis made this for the Sudbury Town Twinning BBQ!

Ida said it "went down a storm" with the twinners In fact, they polished off the lot. Apparently this has never happened before with Ida's contributions to these pot-luck affairs so she was, and I quote, "dead chuffed".

Judy's recipe calls for endive and there was much searching of Suffolk supermarkets for some of this to no avail. So Ida plumped for replacing it with chicory, finding out later that the entity Americans call endive we call chicory. No wonder the Wikipedia entry for endive states: "There is considerable confusion between Cichorium endivia and Cichorium intybus." Indeed there is!

Josephine Baker's Spaghetti Bolognaise

"Beautiful? It's all a question of luck. I was born with good legs.
As for the rest... beautiful, no. Amusing, yes."

Since my dad retired he's been getting a dab hand in the kitchen. This began when he started an evening class called "Cooking for Men" taught by a down to earth Home Economist called Violet. I have a handwritten recipe that goes by the name of "Violet's Cheese Pate" which was one of the first things I ever remember eating that was made by my dad and I love it. Not least because it has gherkins in it.

Anyhow, he volunteered to test cook Josephine's favourite Spaghetti recipe and when I asked how it turned out he said, "not as good as mine" which tickled me! It didn't surprise me at all that as veal stock wasn't available in the wilds of Essex he replaced it with extra wine! Like father like daughter on that one...

Rudolph Valentino's Chicken from Parma

"To generalize on women is dangerous.
To specialize on them is infinitely worse."

Back from the seaside after a week of intense recipe-wrangling. My mind is reeling with all kinds of nonsense - is a frying pan the same as a skillet? What English cheese would be roughly equivalent to Asederos - the Mexican cheese used in Lupe Velez's Enchiladas? And of course the continuing conundrum of how much fat salt pork would Gary Cooper have been able to buy for 15 cents in 1936?

Returned to my new home in Battersea with renewed vigour for recipe testing. Planning to test every one of the metric-ified recipes in the next few months. I will be very fat indeed by Christmas. It's definitely worth doing though, the very first test revealed that although there was flour in the recipe ingredients for Rudolph's dish, I hadn't specified when to add it. Rectified!

Sidney's verdict? "Very succulent. The sauce was to die for..." Better to die of a delicious chicken sauce than a perforated ulcer and blood poisoning at 31 like Rudolph I would say.

Sidney's local Somerfield supermarket is closing down in a couple of weeks, so the sherry for the sauce was HALF PRICE! So were many other things, so we had a bit of a spend up. The kitchen is full of booze, cleaning products and extra virgin olive oil...

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!

Lana Turner's Super and Easy Salsa

"I would rather lose a good earring than be caught without make-up."

I know JUST what you mean Lana. And I would rather wear a sparkly hairpiece like this than a shower cap when taking my morning plunge. I may ask my personal milliner Shellac Sister Veronica to rustle me up one of these so I can glam it up in the tub like Ms Turner.

We have our youngest Silver Screen Suppers participant! Baby Peggy over there in Austin Texas already has an appetite for Lana's Salsa. I am so pleased that the recipe was attempted by a resident of the Lone Star State. Back here in the UK I'm not sure most cooks would know the difference between a poblano pepper and a hatch green chilli but Eve sure does.

Mmmmm Mexican food. I am MISSING Austin. Not least because in her feedback form, Eve mentioned the phrase "pico de gallo" which would have meant nothing to me were it not for the Taco Shack a hop, skip and a jump from Ruth's place in Austin. No quesidillas, chimichangas or enchiladas out here in Herne Bay. But plenty o' fish & chips.

Maurice Chevalier's French Onion Soup

"If you wait for the perfect moment when all is safe and assured, it may never arrive.

Mountains will not be climbed, races won, or lasting happiness achieved."

Shirley (who is 9 years old) was very excited to be at her first hen night on Friday - mine. Well, a hen night of sorts. I'm taking Maurice's advice and not waiting for the perfect moment to arrive, taking the plunge and giving it a go with Sidney.

Paulette made Maurice's soup, her hubby rustled up some spicy grilled mackerel and Shirley prepared her speciality cous cous to go with the fish. A delightful evening was had by all and Shirley observed that it was "love at first bite" when she bit into Maurice's parmesan bedecked french bread croutons. There were no "L plates", no strippers and no discracefully drunk women shouting like fishwives across crowded discotheques. But Shirley DID stay up until 11pm.

Now I am in the lock-down that is writing week at the seaside. Sidney has been here for two days, assisting me in spending two pounds in two ps on the coin pushers in order to win a gherkin shaped keyring and other such delights. He left today so I am in the Herne Bay B&B that goes by the name of "The Priory". Perfect spot for a de-tox head-down recipe-wrangling 4 days. I admit it was partially chosen so that if anyone asks where I went for my week off I can say "The Priory"- which for our American readers is a bit like saying, "The Betty Ford Clinic".

Marlene Dietrich's Lamb Chops en Casserole

"It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter."

Oh what a find! A fabulous picture of Marlene doing what she loved best, off set - cooking. Browsing the site where I found this picture has made me WISH that I lived in Denver. The Denver Public Library is offering a writing class based on the wonderfully surreal book "Marlene Dietrich's ABC" AND Knitflix. A screening of "The Man Who Came To Dinner" with special lighting for knitters. Does Denver need a film archivist by any chance?

Joan C channeled the spirit of Marlene last week and charmed her own Blue Angel with Marlene's Chops. Like many of our testers Joan wondered about the lack of seasoning and herbs in Marlene's dish but quipped "I zuppose zimple iz bezt, darlink." I love the fact that she replied to almost all of my feedback questions in German - I have no idea what the first part of her final comment is, but I get the second!

"Sehr einfach und sehr lecker. Marlene, Ich liebe dich!"

Ann Sheridan's Chilli Casserole

"I can whistle through my fingers, bulldog a steer,
light a fire with two sticks,
shoot a pistol with fair accuracy, set type, and teach school . . "

Spoken like a true Texan Ann. Reminds me of the multitasking Ruthie gets up to over there in the Lone Star State...

Alfred, the handsome new man in Marilyn M's life, turns out to be quite a cook. He's rustled up a couple of dishes as a tester and provided very useful feedback. He made an observation that this recipe comes from an era when people had less adventurous palates. Indeed it is true, this isn't a HOT chili, as Alfred puts it, "more a kind of chunky pork and tomato soup."

He suggests serving it with Alan Ladd's potato pancakes (see yesterday's post) which makes me wish Ann and Alan had appeared in a film together. It could have been a perfect match of both menu and co-stars. Could you see them together as a couple? I could. As Ginger sometimes puts it, "they have a marriage likeness".

Alan Ladd's German Style Potato Pancakes

"Being a good host offsets the deprivation and loneliness of my youth."

Aw, come over here Alan and let me give you a cuddle...

Our most prolific tester so far, Dale in the TAMI office over in cowboy country threw a "Star Spangled Rhythm" party last week. Dang I wish I'd been there. She selected recipes by several of the stars in the movie and had a right old cook-up. I'm going to blog them one by one to savour the enjoyment of it all!

Of Alan's Pancakes she observed that potatoes and onions must have been smaller in Alan's day, the proportions of the recipe were all out of wack and had to be fiddled with - I have taken note. Love the modern modification Dale suggested of topping some with creme fraiche, some with applesauce and some with caviar. What would Alan have thought of that?!

As some of you may know, cowboys are my weakness and that Alan sure was a tall drink of water. I can't think of him however, without recalling the debacle Ruthie had when she organised a screening of "Shane" in the town where it was made. Horses went wild and trampled on cars. Parents were grabbing their tiny Shanes left right and centre as the gee gees rampaged through the streets. Yee-haw!

I sure do miss seeing men wearing stetsons on a daily basis... I want to be in Austin.

Dorothy Dandridge's Emotional Omelet

"...no producer ever knocked on my door.
There just aren`t that many parts for a black actress"

Much debate via emails flying between Cardiff and London about why Dorothy's Omelet is "Emotional". Plenty of chopping of onions it is true, but I wonder if it is more that Dorothy would whip one of these up when she was feeling particularly low. An emotional actress without a doubt, Dorothy's autobiography is entitled: "Everything and Nothing: The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy". If anyone knows the origin of this strange recipe moniker please let us know.

Well, our first Wales based test cook knew that she couldn't make an omelet without breaking eggs and she did so with vigour to make this dish. Reporting that the recipe was very much "of its time" Marilyn H. suggested adding a couple of items to make it slightly less meaty for the modern palate - some tomatoes and mushrooms. Mmm, it's Sunday morning and that is making me very hungry for breakfast.

Marilyn has also volunteered for Groucho Marx's Matzo Ball Soup so that will be coming soon. We've been swapping Groucho food related quotes and as he once said, "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana" so I'm off to rustle up brunch. What a shame that Sidney is anti eggs, I quite fancy getting emotional...

Gracie Fields' Lancashire Hot Pot

"At Mary Ellen's Hot Pot Party
The lads & lasses all were gay and hearty"

How wonderful that Una in Charlottesville, Virginia had a go at Gracie's Lancashire Hot Pot! At the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains a traditional Lancashire recipe got a good going over and the results were rich but very tasty - especially the leftovers next day. Una made a few subsitutions for ingredients not as readily available as they would have been in the North of England in the 1930s and we may suggest these in the book.

We may also suggest that like Mary Ellen in one of Gracie's best loved songs, everyone have a Hot Pot Party. You can invite your guests to rattle up wearing clogs and evening dress, fill up the wash-hand jug with ale and find a "gormless" conjuror to entertain!

If you are unfamiliar with "Our Gracie" you can listen to the jolly ditty here. I warn you though, it's an ear-worm and you'll be humming it all day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOf_NRKLDb8

Ee by gum!

Dick Powell's Corn Chowder

"The best thing about switching from being an actor to being a director is
that you don't have to shave or hold your stomach in anymore."

Had a very lazy weekend after an old skool style night on Friday with Sidney and his chums. We didn't get home until 5am. Outrageous. There has been a lot of falling asleep in front of the sofa during the athletics to catch up. Luckily we managed to stay awake to see Usain Bolt break the world 100m record. Sidney was full of national pride and is still shouting, "YES, JAMAICA" every now and then....

I made a batch of Dick Powell's chowder for the two of us even though it stated "serves 6". We almost ate the whole saucepan between us, and Sidney may have been correct in his observation that it might serve 6 short people or 4 long people. Maybe people weren't so greedy in the 1940s... In a reversal of Dick's roles I'm going to have to hold my stomach in tomorrow.

Maureen O'Sullivan's Bridge Cakes

"Cheetah bit me whenever he could."

I just adore this picture of Maureen - she's all aquiver - boom boom.

Oh what fun to get feedback on the recipes, there sure are some erudite chefs out there. Marion made me laugh with her suggestion that we change Maureen's recipe to include 12 shop bought cup cakes. She wrote: "I realize Maureen didn't have time to bake from scratch. She spent the good part of a decade swinging through the trees with her mate Tarzan. " Mind you, even though Marion herself has a cookbook coming out soon she sympathizes, "I don't even want to make sponge cake, so who would?"

She also reported on the results of of her testing Fred MacMurray's Chocolate Fudge Upside Down Cake: "This is not a pretty looking cake but it's delicious". I wholeheartedly agree. The recipe reminds her of one in her collection that goes by the name of "Volcano Cake" which is perfect - chocolate fudge lava!

Marion loves Fred in "No Time for Love with Claudette Colbert where he displays his hunky body ripping off his shirt while digging a tunnel, and also "Take A Letter, Darling with Rosalind Russell" where a female executive uses Fred as a little bait for the wives of her advertising clients. As Marion says so eloquently, "Gee, they just don’t make them like that any more!"

Fred McMurray's Chocolate Fudge Upside Down Cake

"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet" the saying goes and it is so lovely that people neither Ruthie nor I have ever met are rustling up Silver Screen Suppers dishes in kitchens all over the world. So a big thankyou goes out to Shirley in Wisconsin for testing and devouring Fred's Chocolate Cake.

This recipe certainly holds a few surprises the first time it is made and I love the fact that Shirley said, "the cake unexpectedly rested on a sea of fudge" - doesn't that just make you want to try it immediately?! It definitely is a gooey, chocolatefest of the highest order so be prepared to make a mess if you have a go at this one! Shirley took some pix of the process which you can see on her fab blog here: http://supperseed.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-it.html

I also love the fact that Shirley felt a swell of state pride as she whipped up the cake, as Fred hails from her in-laws' hometown of Beaverdam, Wisconsin.

Wonderful! Don't forget that you can always have a bottle of Fred McMurray wine to go with your cake - still being produced at his former vineyard in California - www.macmurrayranch.com - yum!

Carole Lombard's Cherry Tart

“You ought to see the map for my face in the Makeup Department.
It looks like a landscape of the moon.”

I've been dying to post this amazing picture of La Lombard for ages and now I get my chance. Dorothy over at the British Film Institue made Carole's Cherry Pie on Sunday for her housemates. I won't say what she wrote on the feedback form about spitting cherry pips and the French, but by all accounts the pie was quite a hit. We may have to tinker with the sugar measurements though as like my pa, a couple of the housemates found the pie a little too sweet.

I do like the reasoning behind Dorothy's selection of her film star persona for the blog - she says, that just like La Lamour, it is her dream to be torn between the love of two song and dance men.

By the way, if you are a fan of Carole Lombard and you haven't paid a visit to www.carolelombard.org I heartily recommend it. My current favourite film star website.

Janet Gaynor's Ice Box Cookies

Veronica over in Westbourne Grove had a go at Janet's Ice Box Cookies this week and sent me an evocative account of her mishaps. Firstly there was a misunderstanding in the late night shop where she went to buy the dates, as the shopkeeper kept thinking she was asking him what the date was.... Reminds me of a similar conversation I once had regarding avocados...

Veronica baked the cookies in three batches and I quote: "The first lot were a bit of a funny shape as the ‘banana-size’ rolls had got a flat edge from their overnight stay in the fridge. I re-rolled the rest of the ‘bananas’ so that they were round again. The second lot were a great shape but got a bit singed because I was drying my hair and didn’t hear the timer go off. The last batch were perfect … gorgeous golden brown circles! The phone rang while I was lying them out to cool and while I was yakking the dog licked them all!"

Naughty Tia! Still, her squeeze took all the singed ones off in a box and the dodgy shaped ones were devoured by a dinner party crowd on a boat and they were apparently enjoyed by all. She didn't say what happened to the dog-licked ones though...

Anna Mae Wong's Tea Cakes

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

All the recipe-wrangling over the last week or so is beginning to bear fruit. Our first feedback form arrived this morning fresh from the floral-bedecked marital home of the new Mr & Mrs Day in West London.

As a wedding gift I gave them heart shaped muffin cases and the lovely Clara reports back as follows: "I made about 18 tea cakes in wonderful heart shaped cupcake cases. They were so delicious that Mr Day and I polished off the whole lot within about 15 minutes of them coming out of the oven!" Asked if she would make them again the response was, "Absolutely – but not too often as our fish supper sat uncooked in the fridge as we had no room for anything else!"

Any modifications suggested? "Raisins," superb!

Still time to test a recipe for us if you are game - just email silverscreensuppers@yahoo.co.uk - a lovely picture of Clara's Tea Cakes can be perused in the sidebar.

Hattie McDaniel's Sweetcorn Pudding

"When I was little, my mother taught me how to use a fork and knife.

The trouble is that mother forgot to teach me how to stop using them!"

I know what Hattie means, I ate almost ALL of her sweetcorn pudding this evening even though big enough for 2. It is sooooooo delicious.

I've spent the whole weekend typing up recipes and I'm realising how much work there is still to do. My mind is spinning with mathematical conundrums - translating cups to grams and quarts to milileters can result in some very odd recipe directions. Also, what does one do with the instruction: "Cut up about fifteen cents worth of salt pork."? How much salt pork would Gary Cooper have been able to buy for 15c in 1936?

I've had to sit myself down with "Hollywood Wives: The New Generation" on the True Entertainment channel featuring Farrah Fawcett (RIP), Melissa Gilbert and Robin Givens to rest my mind. Superb!

Joan Bennett's Beetroot Salad

"I don`t think much of most of the films I made,
but being a movie star was something I liked very much."

The response to the call for test cooks has been enormous - how very, very exciting. I'm intrigued by the range of choices - are people selecting based on the star or the recipe or both? Hard to say! Still plenty on the list of 100 though so if you'd like to join in, don't hesitate to get in touch.

I've moved to my cat sit spot in Crouch End and had a fun night last night with eating Jean Harlow's Celery a la Shrimp and Joan Bennett's Beetroot Salad as accompaniments to the genius fishcakes Paulette rustled up.

For the first time in my life I have coveted my neighbours goods, Paulette has the most beautiful set of 1950s plates with fishy illustrations. There is a gorgeous gravy boat to match with a scary looking lobster decorating the sides. Ebay here I come.

Janet Gaynor's Ice Box Cookies

Much excitement in the Silver Screen Silver camp as I'm off to a big dinner party at the home of Gladys tonight. There will be not one, not two but three other celeb chefs there too. EEK. I am taking some Ice Box Cookies all wrapped up in cellophane as party favours...

Also this week we had a lovely piece on the Sassy Minx website - here is a link:

http://www.thesassyminx.com/girls-on-top/silverscreen-suppers/

and I will try and put a button on the side bar too.

RECIPE TESTERS NEEDED!

I'll be sending out the list of 100 stars and recipes that we plan to feature in the Silver Screen Suppers book at the end of the week to anyone who fancies testing one for us. Your name will appear in the acknowledgments so drop me an email at silverscreensuppers@yahoo.co.uk if you'd like to give one a whirl. A tiny taste of fame can be yours, and you'll get to sprinkle some stardust around your kitchen as you eat like the stars!

Louise Brooks' Knickerbocker Supreme of Chicken

Louise, you rock.

My beautiful friend Ava came round for dinner tonight and we discussed the perils and pleasures of letting men into our lives, the horrors of self assessment tax returns and the chances of being struck by lightning if wearing an i-pod. It was a Prosecco fueled chatathon and long overdue.

I made every single thing in Rosalind's kitchen a candidate for washing up whilst preparing Louise's dish, but it was worth it. My mum's delicious home cooked gammon tucked underneath the cream and flour encrusted chicken gave it the saltiness it needed. It was quite, quite delicious.

Ava cracked me up once again with the tale of her pyjama clad terrine pressing adventures. She managed to avoid telling the nurses at the casualty department how a grease infested terrine was the cause of her sliding across the kitchen floor and gaining a leg black and blue with a severe oblong shaped bruise.

The terrine came out of it unscathed apparently.

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."

Marlene was not only androgynous, but asymmetrical too!

I went to my lock up this morning with heavy heart as it always depresses me to see how much junk I have in storage. However, as Blessed was on the security desk and told me that I looked like I had "just arrived from Hollywood" I left there with a spring in my step. I think it was my 1950s sunglasses.

On my way to work I stopped off at a traditional butchers shop - he had such a magnificent display of meat in the window I couldn't resist buying two big lamb steaks which I'll cook for a romantic dinner a deux tonight a la Marlene.

It must be my lucky day - the man on the veg stall had turnips! And no joke about having them in his trousers either...

Anna May Wong's Tea Cake

There is a mini Vesuvius erupting in my oven. I decided to make Ruth a birthday cake using Anna Mae Wong's Tea Cake recipe. I made twice the mixture and instead of making individual muffin type cakes, bunged it all in a cake tin. As Sidney and I waited for the spare ribs to come out of the oven I noticed it was rising in the tin like a round loaf of eggy bread.

Sidney suggested placing the cake tin on a baking tray and I nearly resisted his practical advice. When I had a look just now it had exploded, flowing down the sides of the tin and collecting around the bottom like a fluffy petticoat. I have popped some foil over the top and will hope for the best.

As Della Reese puts it "It's so nice to have a man around the house", while I was making the cake, Sidney fixed four pairs of sunglasses and one brooch that have been in my mending box for a donkey's age...

Marion Martin's Peanut and Bacon Bouchees

Those little Bouchees sure are a crowd pleaser!

Had a lovely evening on the balcony with Ruthie, her new beau, Ava, Sidney and Edmund. My Sister of the Skillet has arrived during Britain's heatwave. It is amusing her greatly that the Brits are huffing and puffing about the heat when his is actually COLD here compared to Texas.

Ava entertained us with tales of working at her loom in a sequined bikini - she conjured up a lovely image. And I was very pleased that two of my guests, when trying to pick me out of a line-up of 12 naked women in last week's colour supplement chose a woman of 29! As Ruth observed, we should all try and see ourselves as others see us.

Ruth and I are debating who Mr Goodsnog should be on the blog. "Strong face" Ruthie is saying as she's trying to put a name to the star she is thinking of... Ronald Coleman!

Janet Gaynor's Ice Box Cookies

Love that Tam O'Shanter!

I made a big batch of Janet's cookies for my Cinema Museum lecture and they were wolfed down by the lovely folk who came along. The lecture was lots of fun but I had a few technical problems. When my Greta Garbo clip failed to play I had to do the quote myself, "Gif me whiskey, ginger ale on the side. And don't be stingy baby." Ha ha!

I met some lovely people and had a chat after the event with a potential publisher for the book over beer, fish and a "little bit of chip".

Jean Harlow's Celery a la Shrimp

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

A feeling of great joy today after a lovely evening with the E17 posse. They came round armed with gallons of fizzy wine in an attempt to make a dent in the Cassis left in the number 43 cocktail cabinet via the medium of Kir Royales. Ginger, Grace, Cary, William, Jack and Grace's new beau polished off the canapes with vigour - favourite seeming to be Marion Martin's Peanut and Bacon Bouchees. We have christened the new beau Douglas Fairbanks Snr as he is full of vim. He said he wasn't sure about the combination of peanuts and meat though - to which Ginger's response was, "it's a good job you don't live in Thailand!"

I'd had a weird day in which my fortunes rose and fell to the tune of £300 over the space of an hour. I thought my battle with the storage company was won until - crazy archivist mentality not withstanding - I realised I hadn't kept a copy of a crucial email. I blame the stress of that for the amount of fizzy wine I consumed. I knew I was really, really drunk when after getting into the bath to scrub my black flip-flop encrusted feet clean I heard someone say, "Come on now, be sensible" and it dawned on me that everyone else had gone home...

Mae West's Salada de Tuna

"Cultivate your curves..."

Sure thing Mae, I will!

Doesn't Salada de Tuna sound much more fun than Tuna Salad? I was rustling some up in the kitchen just now when I heard a really, really loud plane fly past. This sometimes gives me the heeby jeebies, being so close to Centre Point - a very tall skyscraper - but then I heard them announce a fly past to celebrate the Queen's birthday on the radio. So I ran out on to the balcony and although the plane was gone, a beautiful big fluffy red, white and blue vapour trail was puffing up in the sky. Gorgeous.

It's day 1 of a 2 day writing jag. I'm working mostly on a talk I am going to give at the Cinema Museum on 28th June about the Silver Screen Suppers project. If you are London based, please come along. Free Janet Gaynor's Ice Box Cookies! It's at 3pm and more details are here - www.cinemamuseum.org.uk - no idea why they have christened it "Eat to the Stars" - eating your way to heaven perhaps...

Ann Sheridan's Chili Casserole

"They nicknamed me "The Oomph Girl", and I loathe that nickname!
Just being known by a nickname indicates that you`re not
thought of as a true actress . . . It's just crap!"

Not sure if that's a matching headscarf or a hood, either way it is very desirable beach attire.

A batch of Ann's Chili Casserole is in the oven and Celebrity Masterchef is about to begin. I am loving the spinster life! The fact that the Chili is baked gives it an extra something I think. The flavours develop somehow. I've added a few shakes of the secret ingredient Gladys' mother adds to her potato salad to give it Oomph - Maggi Sauce.

I just cannot wait to get a big bowl in front of me and dig in...

Jean Harlow's Celery a la Shrimp

“Underwear makes me uncomfortable and besides
my parts have to breathe.”

Isn't this just the BEST picture of Jean ever? I think Ruthie and I should pose like this for our author photos, leaning on the heads of two polar bears facing each other.

I'm thrilled that the lovely Matthew over at movietone-news.com has done a fab piece about my Silver Screen Suppers blog. You can see it here http://www.movietone-news.com/2009/06/eat-like-your-idols.html - I am bashful but chuffed! Welcome new readers!

I've been in Brighton today for Joan's birthday. It was lovely except for the fact I seem to have developed an aversion to being touched by babies - and there were two there... Joan kept dandling one of them and propelling it towards me then away from me from me like Vic Reeves' and his spirit level. I seemed to be the only non-broody woman in a coven of them.

Home to safety, Casualty and Jean's Celery a la Shrimp. I've been craving it throughout my booze binge and tonight's the night. I might just go the whole hog into spinsterdom, put on my kaftan and do as Jean does - go commando.

Marion Martin's Peanut and Bacon Bouchees

"Ducky Wucky"

Well I knew as soon as I spotted the pics for Marion that she was a bit of a one. Love the fact that her nickname was The Blonde Menace. I am desperate to see her in Queen of Burlesque which has the tagline "Thrills and Tears of Backstage Queens - to the Rhythm of Gay Music!" That's either got to be really really good, or really really bad...

Her little Silver Screen Snackettes were very tasty. I used some pancetta that I had left over from a salad and Rosalind declared that she liked the combination of "crispiness and fat". We had two each before I met up with Sidney for some beers and a snooze in St James' Park.

Jean Arthur's Chocolate Fudge

"First I played ingenues and Western heroines; then I played Western heroines and ingenues. That diet of roles became as monotonous as a diet of spinach."

I am up way past my bedtime trying to get some of Jean's fudge to set. I just can't see how the chocolate sauce in my pan is going to turn into fudge. Characteristically vague 1930s recipe instructions have again put a spanner in the works.

I may just have to pour it out, bung it in the fridge and hope for the best. Too emotionally drained to muck about with it. I've been talking to Sidney on the phone and it has affected my equilibrium...

Hattie McDaniel's Sweet Corn Pudding

"As for those grapefruit and buttermilk diets,
I'll take roast chicken and dumplings."

I do have Hattie's very own recipe for chicken and dumplings, but tonight it's sweet corn pudding. It's in the oven.

As per tradition, to mourn the end of a relationship I have scheduled in a private screening of Gone With The Wind. It seems sinful, particularly as it is a gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon and most of London will be cavorting in parks, swimming pools and pub gardens. But I am selfishly drinking myself stupid and wallowing in Scarlett's misery. Ha ha! There is no better cure for heartbreak than 4 hours of frocks, furbelows and flirting.

Can't wait to see Rhett at the bottom of those stairs...

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.

Adolph Menjou's Spiced Venetian Cheese

"When I realized they had me pegged as a foreign nobleman type I began to live the part, too.
I bought a pair of white spats, an ascot tie and a walking stick."

I'm getting ahead of myself by preparing Adolph's cheese a couple of days before Gladys and Ava's visit on Thursday. I have proposed a rather elaborate menu - Tallulah Bankhead's French 75s alongside canapes containing aforementioned cheese, Errol Flynn's Baked Fish Havanaise with seasonal vegetables and Joan Blondell's Cherry Compote. Blime.

It's a bit daunting, but as I've just been sassyfied by Lisa over at thesassyminx.com I'm not going to panic. I can do it! I'm also going to take on her advice on how to focus my energy and get everything working together towards getting the book published.

I am going to try and live the part of a Silver Screen Hostess on Thursday evening too - what is the feminine equivalent of white spats, an ascot tie and a walking stick?

Joan Bennett's Beetroot Salad

"I don`t think much of most of the films I made,
but being a movie star was something I liked very much."

I'm feeling rather low this weekend after Sidney & I decided to call it a day. Very sad. Very sad indeed. I feel an extended period of cooking on the way. And lots of work on the book.

I'm spending my Sunday recovering from a wild Eurovision party last night. It was just what I needed, the company of some very good, very old friends, copious amounts of booze and lots of a-whooping, a-hollering and a-warbling along. And today, I'm being very self indulgent. Drinking G&T in the afternoon, scoffing Joan's Beetroot salad and watching the Come Dine With Me omnibus. Spinsterdom. Again.

Jane Powell's Barbecued Baked Salmon

"We need to ditch the idea that there is any value
in the strong and silent man
being in any way attractive.
Being silent isn't being strong, it's being a victim."

Well Jane sure was a cutie, both in looks and attitude. Interesting theory she has there, I'm going to mull that one over.

The salmon was quite a success. Sidney said it was "very fresh on the palate" - ooh la la. But what, I wonder, makes it "barbecued"? It was baked in the oven in a tomato sauce, it never made it out of the house and on to a barbecue. No men in aprons wielding metal tools were involved. I guess barbecued meant something different in 1949 America than it does in 2009 Britain.

I'm a bit preoccupied with the result of a freak accident this morning. I broke one of my front teeth clean in two by knocking it on the corner of a cupboard door. Bizarrely my 4 hour round trip to the dentist and £615 bill has left me feeling very calm and philosophical. There wasn't even any sedatives involved, how unnerving.

Rudolph Valentino's Chicken from Parma

“Women are not in love with me but with the picture of me

on the screen. I am merely the canvas on which

women paint their dreams.”

It helped that he was the King of the tango... Grrrr.

Rudi's Chicken was a big hit. Secret ingredient? A big mug of sherry. I made it for Sidney on Sunday for our quiet night in. I am so very, very, very happy that he turns out to be a man not averse to fiddling around with a jigsaw.

Next morning in bed he kept pursing his lips with a faraway look in his eyes and I said, "what are you thinking about?" to which his response was, "last night's chicken". Ha ha – it’s a winner!