Alice White's Sweet Potato Brouchettes

"Warner Brothers answer to Clara Bow"

Well Alice sure was a cutie pie - there are so many fabulous photographs of her it was hard to choose. I may have to make her "Joanie Cake" or "Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast" just so I can put the picture of her in a silver ice-skating outfit up!

Her little sweet potato cakes were as cute as she was, little orange round puffy things with bacon crumbled on top. Gorgeous with baked trout for a romantic dinner a deux on Saturday night. Sidney liked them a lot.

I'm going to have to do some research on Alice as her IMDB entry contains several intriguing mentions of "sex scandals". She's not currently one of the 100 stars selected for the book but if she's got juicy stories I might petition for a swap!

Clara Bow's Vanilla Marlow

"We had individuality. We did as we pleased. We stayed up late. We dressed the way we wanted. I used to whiz down Sunset Boulevard in my open Kissel, with several red Chow dogs to match my hair. Today, they`re sensible and end up with better health. But we had more fun. "

I am so thankful to all the people who populate the internet with marvelous things. I have just stumbled upon the above quote which has saved me from making the grave error of suggesting in a magazine article that Clara Bow zipped around Hollywood with Red Setters in her convertible. Oh lord. Can you imagine?

Mis-remembering is a strange, strange thing. So many facts get mixed up in the brain and I can't shake myself of the feeling that it was something to do with Laura Mulvey and her post-it note infested copy of "Runnin' Wild" that made me get this key fact wrong. What a weird situation that was, waiting to go on Women's Hour with me staring into space with mind completely blank and Laura swotting up on Clara.

I'm so excited that BUST magazine is going to publish a little article I have written about Clara's Vanilla Marlow. How fab. I thought I'd better give the recipe a little test before it goes in so I made some this evening in preparation for the girls coming round tomorrow night. I now know how much the specified 20 marshmallows weigh...

By the way, is Clara wearing an APRON in this picture? Surely not. She almost always admitted that her "favourite recipes" were courtesy of her cook rather than made by her own fair hand. Clara, you poseur!

Errol Flynn's Baked Leg of Lamb

“Women won't let me stay single and I won't let me stay married.”

Luckily Jack is nothing like Errol - he and Ginger were hitched on Saturday and that one is going to LAST. Those two were made for each other and now it's official.

We knew that after the glorious and loved up wedding our household would be in mourning over the loss of our little girl, so I invited Cary and William over to partake of Errol's Leg of Lamb. The butcher gave me the biggest leg he could find (£17 quids worth) and I baked it, throwing a cup of coffee with cream and sugar over it towards the end. Delicious.

Errol obviously knew what to do in the kitchen as well as in the bedroom...

Carole Lombard's Barbecued Spare Ribs

“Every cent anybody pays in tax is spent to benefit him.
There’s no better place to spend it.

I enjoy this country and I really think I get my money’s worth."

I've had my head in my hands most of this month, worrying about my tax return. I finally completed it yesterday. How refreshing - and timely therefore - to find this quote on the most excellent www.carolelombard.org website this morning. Gives me a new perspective on things and very Alvin Hall. Sort of.

I'm having a Lombard weekend as I attempt to write a blurb to go with her spareribs recipe for the book. I'm applying myself with renewed vigour to the project now that we are entering 2009. I am trying not to be distracted by the DVD of My Man Godfrey which is hovering beside me, as I must actually write the stuff rather than just thinking about it.

Maybe I will reward myself with a viewing of the film once the work is done. In fact, I may indeed do that after having a My Man Godfrey Martini in the 5th Floor Bar of Waterstones Piccadilly when the month of sobriety comes to an end. Perfect.

Marlene's Lamb Chops en Casserole

"When you're dead, you're dead. That's it."

I went to the funeral of a very religious friend this weekend and my crazy sister-in-law announced very loudly at the wake to nobody in particular that she didn't believe in the afterlife. A stony silence fell over the room as everyone momentarily stopped tucking into the delicious spread prepared by the local Women's Institute.

The funeral was a very sad affair with a few moments of brilliance. John had appeared in many guises in various episodes of Dr Who and the ham fisted organist gave a pretty valiant effort at playing the theme tune as the coffin was carried down the aisle. My brother-in-law wore a tie with a dalek on.

Last week in a rare night in for two at number 43 I made Marlene's Lamb Chops for Ginger. She's soon to leave us to embark upon married life so every moment is being savoured. She announced that Marlene "sure knew how to throw together a dish" and I agree. A notoriously good cook.

I can't help feeling very sad at the thought of our happy home breaking up soon but we sure have had some good times and it is great to have the blog to be reminded of some of them.

Margaret Sullavan's Peanut Butter Hermits

"Most actors are basically neurotic people. Terribly, terribly unhappy.
That's one of the reasons they become actors."

It's New Year's Eve and I have made Hermits for my workmates. It's like a ghost town here but we had to come in just in case somebody famous popped their clogs overnight and there was a clamour for footage. That hasn't happened. We should have brought in some board games, instead we've been finding pictures of fish in aspic on the internet to use as screensavers and - in my case - doing some research on Margaret Sullavan.

Oh, and reading cook books cover to cover is my new technique. It paid off yesterday when I discovered that the chefs at Pret a Manger feel that graham crackers (as found in the Hermits) are interchangable with digestive biscuits! I shall try that when I run out of GCs.

My French colleague Franchot was asking me just now why Margaret's biscuits were called Hermits. "Is it because they don't go out?" he asked. In turn I wonder if Peter Noone published a biscuit recipe it would be for Herman's Hermits...

Charlton Heston's Spaghetti With Cauliflower

“I've played three presidents, three saints and two geniuses
and that's probably enough for any man”

The mention of Charlton's dish was not enough to persuade the new boyfriend to come over for dinner. I do admit that it doesn't sound too appetising but I switched the cauliflower for brocolli and it wasn't too bad for a mid week tv dinner. Grace and Ginger enjoyed it with Ginger wondering if we would all get "Hest Chests" if we ate enough of it.

I am back in cooking mode after a month of crazy adventures on the high seas cruising the Caribbean giving lectures on Hollywood stars. The bit I liked best was watching the water in the swimming pools being chucked all over the deck when we were in a 5 metre swell. I also liked the captain reading out the "naughty list" of passengers who were late reboarding the ship after a shore day. Luckily, although we cut it fine once in New Orleans, I never heard my name over the tannoy.

Clara Bow's Chicken Chartreuse

"I wanna go home, I miss my cook"

I am loving Clara this week. She is keeping me sane during the insanity that is involved in preparing 9 seperate lectures for the upcoming cruise. My brain is ADDLED and I feel like doing a Clara and just sitting down and playing poker with my cook.

I made Clara's chicken dish for the new beau as a note under the recipe in the Photoplay book said, "try it on the boyfriend". I made little individual portions in ramekins as I couldn't find a circular ring mould (!) He seemed to like it and said in a broad Jamaican accent "Rass, that's good" so I guess that's the seal of approval.

Barbara Stanwyck's Roast Leg of Lamb

"I'm a tough old broad from Brooklyn.
I intend to go on acting until I'm ninety
and they won't need to paste my face with make-up."

Well, Barbara didn't make it to ninety, but she was acting almost to the end of her life in 1990, appearing in Dynasty and its spin off The Colbys. We got it slightly wrong in discussion around the dinner table, we thought it was Dallas - Ginger told us that she wasn't allowed to watch the mighty Dallas as in her house it was considered "too racy." I was allowed though and loved "the poison dwarf". Her hair was almost as long as her body.

There has been rather a lull in the cooking of the suppers. This is partly to do with much writing going on - working on the book proposal for Frankfurt and working on the cruise lectures. But also due to the sudden appearance of a new man in my life. Too much to tell, but suffice to say that this one is a keeper.

Barbara's lamb was very good - but not, in my opinion as good as Errol's. The soaking of the leg in a pint of red wine and a pint of white wine got full approval of the household. I think Barbara probably liked a drink or two. As the wine was glugging out of the bottles and on to the lamb Ginger was heard to exclaim, "Go Babs!"

Joan Crawford's Meatloaf

I was so excited to find the Holy Grail of Joanie's Meatloaf recipe that I invited Charley over to partake. I knew he would appreciate her secret ingredient of hard boiled eggs. My new squeeze is anti eggs and when I told him that Charley LOVED hard boiled eggs he said, "well bully for Charley" which made me laugh.

Alas, when I went to the butcher and priced up the meatloaf I had to change my plan. I was making HALF the meatloaf Joan would have made and the sirloin and veal alone would have come to £30! Unlike Joan, I am not earning a gazillion pounds a week. Actually I am not earning any money at all and haven't done for quite some time so had to change the plan. I bought 4 lamb chops instead which were quite, quite delicious. Viva the butcher. The meat is definitely more tasty.

I shall start a savings plan for the meatloaf.

Ida Lupino's Lemon Mousse

I've been swept off my feet by a man I met at the Cafe de Paris. One minute I was jigging around on the dance floor, next minute I was having my face snogged off round the back of the VIP area. How marvelous.

Last night he came round for dinner. I was going to cook Errol Flynn's Roast Lamb but I'm cat sitting and didn't have the recipe with me. So I made a coffee free version. Pudding was Ida's Mousse. Always a winner. As he licked his spoon in an lascivious manner he said, "I've got a plan for the rest of that, and it doesn't involve a plate."

Constance Bennett's Spanish Chicken

Version 3 of Constance's chicken was the best so far, by far. The secret being having a whole fresh chicken hacked into bits by the crazy Wood Street butcher I think. As Connie put it, "Take 2 fat hens jointed as for frying..."

Rosalind came over to borrow a 1930s frock for her Wind in the Willows party. She selected the Fritzi of California number, an excellent choice. Both the ladies were home too so we had a lovely al fresco dinner in the garden. We discussed how delicious the chicken was and how women of our generation have got into the habit of buying bland cuts of chicken vacuum packed by the supermarket. As Rosalind observed, when we hear a piece of plastic being pierced by a knife we think, "Ooh, someone is cooking..." But the difference between that kind of chicken and this was definitely noticable. From now on I'll try and frequent the butcher for my chooks, even though he thinks I am a figure of fun with my absurd questions about how to cook meat.

Ha ha! I am watching a great Lana Turner film on TCM and faded fashion model Ann Dvorak was just escorted out of a restaurant as she was smashed. A man offered to get her a cab and she said, "What a gentleman. My mother told me that if I stuck around for long enough I'd eventually meet one." Fabulous line, I may memorise that!

Ooh, Lana just called Barry Sullivan a "small time chisler". Ha ha!

Carole Lombard's Cherry Pie

Just coming up for air after the madness of the past couple of weeks. Entering into a new period of calm. Watching Judge Judy during the day and looking for a job.

The folks came for lunch last week and I had another bash at Carole Lombard's Cherry Pie. My ma was very impressed that I had stoned all the cherries AND made the pastry. I was genuinely shocked when she said that she never made pastry any more, just bought the roll out stuff. Role reversal / roll reversal! I used crumbled macaroons instead of breadcrumbs and although the texture was good, I think the pie was too sweet as a result. I think I need to look for sour cherries.

Not anticipating that I would make a pie, my mum had made a raspberry pie and brought it with her. When Grace got home from work she set upon my cherry pie with gusto. She planned to eat a big piece right there and then and take another big piece to work next day. She was ranting about how much she loved my pie and when I told her that my mum had also brought a pie which I was planning to put in the freezer she asked with much excitement: "What kind of pie?" which made me laugh and launch into a round of "Who ate all the pies? Who ate all the pies?" What a pie-monster!

Janet Gaynor's Ice Box Cookies

I have to say thankyou to Larry Hodges for this pic of Janet Gaynor playing table tennis. He has a whole website dedicated to celebrities playing ping pong. How fab.

Just a little report on the meeting with our possible publisher ES. I rustled up some Janet Gaynor cookies on the fly as I only had a day or so notice of our meeting. Luckily I still had two nice boxes from the cake supplies shop on Hoe Street. Imagine my horror when I passed it on the bus yesterday to see that it has not only closed down but has effectively been razed to the ground! Is there no need for elaborately iced cakes any more?

It is all systems go on the proposal. I have a LOT of work to do in the next week or so - writing. It is all very well cooking the dishes but it all has to be translated into words which isn't so easy. Plus I have the Joan Crawford and Hollywood Glamour lectures to work on, AND the cruise lectures. AND a job application. It's a good job I don't have a boyfriend any more! No time!

Loretta Young's Chiffonade Salad

"I found out you can learn a lot about yourself as a person...
while you're learning how to use fashion in your life.”

I too am learning how to use fashion in my life at the moment. I am ploughing through the mountain of clothes in my room trying to make some rational decisions.

Had a lovely night with Ginger, the newlyweds and Dick - who I am surprised to see doesn't have a blogname yet. Surely he has been involved in a supper before now? I made Loretta's salad again and the secret is obviously to chop all the non-leaf items quite small. Dick asked all and sundry if they were happy to eat a salad containing egg, onion, beetroot and gherkins and Ginger's response was, "it's heavy on the pickle, and that's always good in my book."

I am missing all the cowboys and my sister of the skillet like mad but the skies are sunny, the Rosé is flowing and all is well in the Stowe.

Dolores Del Rio's Enchiladas

Seemed only fitting to try a Mexican recipe whilst here in the Lone Star State. I only have three more days here and want to cry because I am loving it so much. Last night was a real film-fest night in the old school style as Ruth's chum William Haines came over for Enchiladas and the conversation was mostly about Joan and her Daughter Dearest. Love the fact that Joan fans are so polarised over who they believe on the issue of Joan's childrearing methods.

Saturday was just the best day here. Involved driving through an electrical storm, just missing the chance to get a free watermelon, jumping the queue at the Salt Lick, sitting on a blanket at the LBJ ranch watching True Grit under the stars, having my photo taken with the joint winners of the John Wayne Lookalike Contest and being swung around the dance floor at the legendary Broken Spoke. It just does not get any better than that in my opinion. Yeehah!

Jean Harlow's Hot Rolls

"Jean Harlow is in the back room, where Sylvia is giving her a spanking she’ll remember – to judge by the howls."

So begins Sylvia of Hollywood's 1931 expose "Hollywood Undressed", I knew I was in for a big treat as soon as I opened the cover and saw the original owner's stamp. "The Circulating Library of the Bungalow Dress Shop in Alhambra, California" - NATCH. Despite the fact the book purported to be written by Sylvia's secretary it was surely Sylvia herself attempting to avoid ANOTHER law suit by adopting an alter-ego. Mind you, would Sylvia refer to herself as "a midget viking"? Probably.

She spilled the beans on all of her clients. Marie Dressler (addicted to "near beer"), Jack Holt (wore bright purple silk underpants) Constance Bennett (bony backed), Ramon Novarro (sleeps in a coffin), Mae Murray (non-payer) etc. Fabulosa!

I was most pleased to hear that Sylvia advocates a high heel, she does not approve of flats. "A patient wearing low heels will not be admitted twice to Sylvia’s work-room. The boss prescribes the so-called Louis XV heel as the one best suited to the build and locomotive idiosyncrasies of the average female."

I must seek out some Louis XV heels.

Carole Lombard's Cherry Pie

“I live by a man's code, designed to fit a man's world, yet at the same time I never forget that
a woman's first job is to choose the right shade of lipstick.”

It was the night of the Carol(e)s last night as Ruth had a dinner party for 7 in tribute to Carol Channing with a little Lombard thrown in. We spent the day mucking about with the Sauerbraten and making a cherry pie and some salad. It was only after the pie was on the table we realised that we had commited a minor faux pas. I had made Loretta Young's Chiffonade Salad to accompany the main course. Someone brought up Clark Gable's affair and subsequent love child and Ruth and I felt bizarrely ashamed to have Loretta and Carole at the same table. Weird.

The dinner was a great success with much hilarity and tonnes of film related stories. The ginger-y beef was absolutely delicious - all hail the Texas Longhorn. The cherry pie was delightful and even the salad (containing beetroot, hard boiled eggs and gherkins) was appreciated. Although not by Ruth who on top of feeling that a banana taints everything, is not a fan of the beet.

Carol Channing's Sauerbraten

RASPBERRIES!

I knew we had a Carol Channing recipe somewhere and we intend to make this for our dinner on Sunday night. It involves a big lump of meat and some gingersnaps. Can't wait.

Happy to report that the Sylvia of Hollywood diet is going well. Despite the fact that Wholefoods only had GARLIC melba toasts I am so far sticking to the breakfast of these with honey on top and lunch of soup. Only one misdemeanor so far, I have ignored Sylvia's strict, "Liquor is out! Absolutely!" comment and had one Margarita. Well I AM in Texas after all. Oh, and although I have done the 20 minutes of arm swinging she prescribes each morning I have so far not done the one hour of evening two stepping. Perhaps I should seek myself out some kind of hoe-down to do some partner dancing rather than just jigging around in Ruth's "recreation room".

I am pleased with myself so far (my dinner host last night had a Margarita AND two glasses of wine) but I sure am hungry...

Sylvia of Hollywood's Diet

I am in Austin and it is the evening before I attempt a diet I found in a 1932 edition of Photoplay. The proponent of this diet is "Sylvia" - she doesn't give her surname but we are told, "She made motion picture stars beautiful and kept them trim. She can do the same for you." She tells it like it is, "The reason you're fat is because you eat your head off and don't take exercise". She uses encouraging phrases like, "Come on, darlings, be beautiful and lovely and attractive! You can if you will." and gives some exercises to do after tuning the radio "to a peppy band".

So I've decided to stop expanding and start reducing. I shall attempt to follow Sylvia's advice for two weeks and see how I get on. I shall report back on how it goes with nothing but melba toast and honey for breakfast...

Oh, the picture is not Sylvia by the way. It's Ruth Etting - the namesake of my sister of the skillet. Bizarrely enough Sylvia was married to Edward Leiter, an actor who only appeared in one film - his co-star was Ruth...