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?

Adolphe Menjou's Venetian Spiced Cheese version 3

Adolphe's spicy cheese is becoming quite a house speciality. Grace requested it for our Christmas shindig it so it was rustled up. How she manages to make two types of potato salad, some mackerel pate and a bundle of cheese & chorizo puffs in the same amount of time it takes me to mash up some cream cheese I will never know. However, when I overheared William saying, "these are the most delicious things ever" about my Venetian Cheese stuffed Pepperdews I was full of foolish pride.

It was party night at number 43 yesterday and it was a lovely festive occasion. Everyone did a party piece and much fun was had. I gave gifts of Bette Davis Mamalade to Myrna & William, the Stockabilly and Dick. Even though beautifully wrapped in tissue paper nobody was fooled. "Is it a jar of jam?" two of them asked immediately. Well yes, sort of...

The year is drawing to a close and to paraphrase Julian Maclaren-Ross it was a year I could have well done without. Well, the job stuff and the men stuff I could have done without. Everything else has been fabulous. Still, good things ahead in 2008. A new job from the 6th Jan and a clear slate man wise. Oh, apart from the cabbie who lives up the road...

Adolphe Menjou's Venetian Spiced Cheese version 2

There has been much hilarity this week with all kinds of high jinx. Myrna and William came over for a Strictly Come Dancing dinner and we had another batch of Adolphe's spicy cheese. It was very much enjoyed and I liked Myrna's observation that he was "probably the last person ever to be christened Adolphe".

Other japes have included smuggling in the military man to a Blockheads gig and a night out with Rita which had me laughing like a drain as she ran the length of Marylebone station in an attempt to catch a soon departing train, legs akimbo and arms dangling around.

It is a weird but good feeling to be completely man free for the first time in about 10 years. I am waiting on nobody...

Adolphe Menjou's Venetian Spiced Cheese

"It was my mustache that landed jobs for me.
In those silent-film days it was the mark of a villain."

If only you could tell these days if a man were a villain by whether or not he wears a moustache. There seem to be a few villains around at the moment posing as nice people...

Anyhow, those Rolling Stones boys sure enjoyed the Sunday lunch we whipped up for them. Ginger cooked up two delicious chickens with all the trimmings and Grace made two beautiful Pavlovas so there was no need for a trifle. Instead I made Adolph's spicy cheese which we had on crackers with our pre-dinner glass of bubbly. Lee Van Cleef liked the delayed reaction of the paprika and I liked him. He said, and I quote, "The delight of the initial taste of the Venetian Spiced Cheese is further excited by the after tang of the what-have-you." A drummer with eloquence...

Ginger proclaimed it to be "blooming marvellous" and now I'll have to wait for her to find out if Mr Van Cleef is interested in seeing me again. A matchmaker put me and Charley together so maybe her plan will work...

As for the New Zealander, he was a no show on Saturday night at White Mischief and not a peep out of him to say why he didn't take up his guest list spot. Rosalind and I have always considered the New Zealand male to be the nicest but as she announced with some venom, he has single handedly brought the whole country into disrepute!