I was thrilled to be invited to contribute a recipe to the Guild of Food Writers’ Treasury, and it’s gone live today on their website – GFW Recipe of the Month – I snuck in two as they are for little film star nibbles.  Gloria Swanson’s Caviar Canapes – seen below – and the legendary Joan Crawford Salami Sandwiches – seen above…

I’ll be making some of the Joan salami treats later today as my chums from Audio Gold are coming round for lunch.  The rest of the menu will be Hitchcockian fodder, I will blog about it tomorrow.

SNOW has arrived in London and it is just beautiful outside.  I’ll have to venture to the corner shop soon for a few last minute bits and pieces.  Brrr!

The recipe of the month is up.  I was thinking about what I would like to eat on Valentine’s Night.  I will treat myself to a nice juicy steak prepared Joanie style with a good bottle of wine.  I might watch Pillow Talk.   I love the scene with Doris’s heated blanket lead trailing along behind her as Rock scoops her out of bed, surely the sign of the true spinster…

I’m running a competition this month over at the Vincentennial Cookblog.  All you need to do is click here and let me know your favourite thing to eat for brunch.  The names of everyone who makes a comment will be put into a hat for the prize of a jar of “rare as hens’ teeth” Patum Peperium Gentleman’s Relish.  Good luck my dears.

Am having a day off work today to write.  Having a wonderful time.  Just had Haggis, Neeps and Tatties for my lunch.  Yum, yum, yum.

Ah, the website has returned from its holiday at the seaside.  I was getting worried there.  5 years of blogging, over 500 posts about hundreds of film star recipe experiments – I thought it had all gone for ever.  I shall be lavishing care and attention upon the site now it is back.

I made my third batch of BD Marmalade last week and I made one modification to the recipe in order to get it to set.  Half a bottle of Certo.

It has definitely helped, although I’m still not 100% happy with my marmalade.  When I get a new ribbon for my typewriter I am going to write a good old fashioned letter to Pam “the Jam” Corbin to ask her what she thinks of the proportions of fruit to water & sugar in Bette’s recipe.  She may be able to throw some light on where I am going wrong…

Here is the jar I’m going to be sending to Ameriki!  Lauren Hairston was one of the two winners in my recent competition and I’m going to send her a little package of goodies soon…

Happy New Year to all my readers.  2012 is going to be a humdinger I can just feel it!

Last night I saw off the old year in style with Corinna and Kate.  We had Vincent’s New Year Vol-au-Vent which was a splendid looking mega pastry full of turkey, bacon, peanuts, raisins and onions in a cream sauce.  Oh yummy!

Woah!  Ha ha!  I heartily encourage you to try this.  Easy peasy crowd pleaser!  It’s recipe of the month for January so just click on the link in the top bar for the instructions.

I’m full of New Year’s Resolutions.  All the usual ones about being less of a skank around the house,  hula hooping once a week, playing the ukulele more – etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.  But the BIG resolution is that I am going to get a book published this year.  By hook or by crook, come hell or high water, by the hair on my chinny chin chin, by this time next year there is going to be something on paper.  Glossy paper.

I’ll be on the telebox on Christmas Day with the Shellac Sisters!  I think it will just be a fleeting moment but the programme will be gorgeous anyhow.  We did love Darcey…

I should have gone to bed early tonight, instead I have made Roland Young’s Rissoles from my leftover turkey as is TRADITION.  I laughed out loud when I searched my computer for Roland’s recipe and one of the things that popped up was a document called “Gaby-isms”.  I lived with Gaby for two years and her turn of phrase really made me laugh.  I’d obviously started to write down some of the funny things she said and here verbatim is what I had written:

With a hand placed gently on her collarbone: “Alas, my hot water bottle has perished at the neck”.

Reacting to the news that I was planning to make rissoles from some left over Christmas turkey: “I’ll be round like a rissole”.

After an evening on the sofa with the biscuit barrel: “Those macaroons were a bonus”.

When she spotted me with my hands in the sink on a special day: “I’m not having you washing up on your birthday!”

Reassurance that washing my hands of a certain man would be a positive step: “Stripping out love, stripping out!”

Whilst hula-hooping and listening to the radio the news came through that a woman who’d just had octuplets intended to breast feed them all, Gaby exclaimed: “What is she?  A woman or a Labrador?”

If you know Gaby, all of the above makes absolute sense.  If you don’t know Gaby, email me and I’ll try and introduce you.  Everyone should have her in their lives!

Christmas came early this year to The Palace of Solitude as yesterday I cooked Christmas dinner for three.  Wow, what a lot of work!  But it was worth it and I was very pleased with my Vincent Price “Roast Turkey  Wayside Inn” which I’ll write about later on the Vincentennial Cookblog.

For canapes I made Pepperdew Peppers stuffed with cream cheese, always a winner.  Little cocktail sausages and bacon rolls, PEANUTS (trad) and Joan’s Salami Canapes:

Yum yum!  There was much eating, drinking and dancing like sailors.  An excellent Christmas Day.

I was so thrilled to be invited to give a presentation to the Guild of Food Writers about my Silver Screen Suppers project.  I was very nervous to be speaking to such an esteemed crowd but they made me very welcome and I had lots of lovely compliments afterwards.

We had wonderful retro-styled canapes made by Joan and Heather wearing lovely vintage pinnies:

and Heather invented a special Silver Screen Suppers cocktail:

After my talk I relaxed by playing some Christmas songs on the wind-up for all the guests sipping aforementioned cocktail:

and chatted to some of the lovely, lovely members of the Guild in the Sainsbury’s Headquarters demonstration kitchen:

It was a really fun night and I met some great people.  Thanks to inspiration from Ptolemy I gave the whole presentation without notes.  Scary but fun!

Photos by Joan Ransley

The Diana Dors double bill is out on DVD!  The booklet contains an article by yours truly about Diana’s fashion style and there are lots of pix of her frocks to drool over.  I’ve got a copy to give away to one lucky winner.  Diana is GREAT in both of these films and I love Jack Hulbert as P.C. Feathers.   The recipe of the month here at Silver Screen Suppers is Diana Dors Moussaka so I love the idea of the winner eating the moussaka whilst watching the films!  I’m late with this month’s newsletter but hopefully tonight…

Here’s the competition question – what was Diana Dors’ real name?  Careful of typos now chums!  Enter by leaving a comment below or emailing me at silverscreensuppers – at – yahoo.co.uk   Names of those who get it right will go into a hat and the winner will be drawn at random in a grand ceremony in my bed on 1st January.

A busy week this week as I prepare for two momentous things.  One, my birthday on Saturday (run for cover, my celebration involves GUNS) and two, my presentation to The Guild of Food Writers about the Silver Screen Suppers project.  I am scared and excited in equal measures.

My heart nearly burst with pride this morning when I got an email from my mum praising my pastry!  I’d taken up some mini apple pies I made to a Vincent Price recipe last time I visited and she said, “We had your tartlets yesterday, they were really nice, were they a SSS recipe?   Lovely short pastry.   We had them warm with some cream.”  SSS is the official shorthand for Silver Screen Suppers!  As my mum taught me all about pastry making when I was just a nipper, this was high praise indeed.

I was thrilled to meet Vincent Price’s daughter last week at the Abertoir Horror Film Festival and have written all about it over at the Vincentennial Cookblog.  What a week it has been.  I met 3 idols – Leee John from Imagination, Victoria Price and the local Muswell Hill “chewing gum artist”.  All lovely, lovely people.  It is indeed a charmed life when, like Vincent and Mary Price we set out to be “collectors of experiences”.