Malik Yoba’s Rhythm and Beans and Squash Stew
I am getting a bit devil-may-care about recipes in these strange times. There are many ingredients I can't put my hands on at the moment for obvious reasons, but rather than ABANDONING recipes for lack of this or that, I am getting CRAFTY. I did not have a yam, but I...
Quarantini Time #8 – The Binnie Barnes Schnorkel
Up periscope! This cocktail is a humdinger. Mr R thought it was "psychoactive" and I saw a yellow aura all around his bonce after drinking just one of these Schnorkels. It was like he'd just eaten a bowl of Ready Brek. The Schnorkel wasn't actually named in Binnie...
Living My Life Like Angela Lansbury (a second time)
Greetings from Cabot Covid (thanks to Tim from Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote for that one). Thursday was the blog's birthday. For FOURTEEN YEARS I've been blogging about movie stars and their favourite recipes. My goodness me, I can hardly believe it. I sometimes...
QUARANTINI TIME #7! The Mary Pickford
This week we propose a Mary Pickford for your cocktail hour. You will need 2oz rum, 3/4 oz pineapple juice and 3 dashes of grenadine. Shake with ice. Serve with a whistle swizzle stick if you have one! https://youtu.be/eGOwudM1ysI Cheers Mary!
David Niven’s Jansson’s Temptation
I think my lockdown quarantine feral eating period is almost over. My panic buying of store cupboard staples seems to have abated and the compulsion to eat salad cream directly from the jar on a spoon seems to be slowing down too. But here is something I made when I...
QUARANTINI TIME #6! Fairbanks #1
This week's Quarantini Time features a cocktail named after the swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks gleaned from the amazing Savoy Club Cocktail Book. As his niece Leticia Fairbanks pointed out to me in a comment on a previous post about this cocktail, her uncle was...
Diana Dors’ Chilli Con Carne
As regular readers know, I am a massive Diana Dors fan and have written lots about the recipes in the Diana Dors X-Cel Diet book. I am so lucky to work in a film archive and have the TV-am collection at my fingertips - well, I did before lockdown! Diana regularly...
Recipe of the Month – Vincent Price’s Toad in the Hole
If ever there was a time for comfort food, the time is now. TOAD. You can't beat it really, with a lovely onion gravy made with a drop of Vincent Price Ale this is TOPS. In possibly the shortest recipe of the month blog post ever, I present to you, Vincent Price's...
QUARANTINI TIME #5! Martin Landau’s Vodka Martini Straight Up
I love Martinis! I waxed lyrical about them here when the Carole Landis Martini was the recipe of the month. So here's a little video demo of the way Martin Landau likes his Martini... https://youtu.be/RqVc_m6yiFA ...and here's the recipe - CHEERS my lovelies! 2 oz...
Virtual Vincent Price Dinner Party!
This Sunday folks! It's going to be an absolute hoot. Hosted by Vincent's daughter Victoria and my chum Peter Fuller of the Vincent Price Legacy UK website, it's only $5 to join and Vincent fans all around the world will be wining and dining together via the magic of...
Vincent Price’s Chicken Sweet and Hot
My brain has gone kind of melty when it comes to cooking during the lockdown. I am usually a stickler for making a recipe exactly to specifications, no deviations, no repetitions. But these strange times are doing something good to my brainbox and I am "subbing" as...
QUARANTINI TIME #4! Shirley Temples and Dirty Shirleys
It's Friday so you know what that means? QUARANTINI TIME! This weeks cocktail du jour is the Shirley Temple. Mind you, I realised after watching an episode of Mad Men the other day that a cocktail should have 3 ingredients and these only have two. I suppose that makes...
Benny Hill’s Nice Salad
I am as old as the hills, so when Mr R brought over his DVD of the Christmas Top of the Pops from 1971 this weekend I thought, I might know some of these songs. But it turns out, I knew the lot! And three of them have special significance too. Slade's Cuz I Luv U will...
Julie Harris’ Curried Zucchini Soup
I can't remember the last time I ventured into a shop, I think it was about 10 days ago now, but I do remember that I bought two courgettes just because I thought they looked nice. Fresh veggies! I am usually very much a forward planner but these crazy days, not so...
QUARANTINI TIME #3! Vincent Price’s Pink Tonics
When I volunteered for the Vincent Price Blogathon I had grand plans of throwing an elaborate dinner party with many dishes gleaned from Vincent's fabulous cookbooks. Remember the days when you could have chums over for food and fun? I could have kicked off...
QUARANTINI TIME #2! The Charlie Chaplin Cocktail
My second movie star lockdown cocktail was a Charlie Chaplin. A very fruity little fella composed of sloe gin, lime juice and apricot brandy. I had a few technical problems with the Mary Astor Painless Anaesthetic video so I may do that one again sometime, but a new...
Godfrey Winn’s Kedgeree
Have you seen that film La Grande Bouffe? It features a group of foodies getting together for a weekend of extreme eating. They eat and eat. and eat, and eat... So it was chez moi over Easter. If I listed what we had over our 4-day lockdown at Silver Screen Suppers...
Vincent Price’s Corn Fritters
After my initial Covid-19 lockdown panic about getting hold of certain foodstuffs, things have calmed down a bit here in North London. I managed to get a grocery delivery last Sunday and I have kind friends who have dropped off a couple of things I couldn't get hold...
Judy Holliday’s Stuffed Tomatoes
I had a nice surprise last week when I found out my lovely blogger chum and food illustrator extraordinaire Miriam Figueras has been making YouTube videos about her love of silent movies. I find her voice lovely and soothing and I love this one about life lessons she...
Suzanna Leigh’s Leeks Vinaigrette
I am very lucky to have an excellent corner shop about 5 minutes walk from my flat. During the lockdown, I am only trundling down there when absolutely necessary but the last time I went, I nabbed two leeks. I had no idea what I would do with them but Suzannah Leigh...
QUARANTINI TIME #1! Movie Star Virtual Reality Cocktail Party this Friday at 6pm
Hello chums! Get your cocktail shakers out and join me on Instagram Live this Friday for a MOVIE STAR COCKTAIL! I was planning to make a little edited video showing this cocktail under construction but I didn't get around to it. A special prize to anyone who can work...
Abby Dalton’s Lamb Stew With Parsley Dumplings
Written in the days where you could have friends and family around for lunch! Recently I read an article which asked whether people were getting tired of food blogs which featured really long rambling personal stories to wade through before getting to the recipe. It...
I Got Hitched!
Here is some good news in these troubled times. Last Friday, just hours before the UK went into lockdown I got married! Regular readers will have heard Mr R mentioned a million times on this blog, and now I am thrilled to officially be Mrs R. Here are a few photos of...
Henry Fonda’s Swedish Meatballs
Regular readers will know that I have been a food hoarder for many years. My frozen archives are legendary amongst chums, all four of the freezer drawers are packed solid. My food cupboards ditto. In the past, I have berated myself for this bad habit, but now we'll...
Recipe of the Month – The Carole Landis Martini
If I am having a cocktail, four out of five times it will be a Martini. I love 'em. AHH, the days when you could get a My Man Godfrey Martini at the 5th View Bar in London wearing red knee-high boots! My Guild of Food Writer chum Richard Ehrlich knows everything there...
Angela Lansbury’s Mustard Vinaigrette
This is a recipe that I am going to have to work on a bit for the Murder, She Cooked book as I think there must be a typo in Angela's recipe. Here's a scan of the recipe from Angela's fabulous Positive Moves book. I did make some vinaigrette to this schema but had to...
Richard Arlen’s Buttered Cabbage a la Maryland
Hello sailor! I've been thinking about cooking for one a lot lately. (Cooking for one person, not cooking for a sailor.) A while back I wrote a blog post about making Vesper Martinis and Martini Cured Salmon Blinis for one and mused on the joys to be had in treating...
Phyllis Diller’s Garbage Soup
Making this soup cures all ills. I was feeling somewhat melancholy last Wednesday evening (can't remember why now) but my fridge was FULL of random veggies and once I got going on this I felt a million times better. The glorious thing about this soup is that you can...
Greg Morris’ Ob’s Chicken
There was a great conversation in the film archive where I work recently about the phrase, "lost in the mists of time." Two of the four people in the conversation had always thought the phrase was "lost in the MIDST of time." I guess that both phrases make sense. I...
Dinner With James Garner
I have lived on my own for around 15 years but I have 3 imaginary friends who keep me constant company. My best friend is Lieutenant Columbo. My most recent bosom buddy is Jessica Fletcher. But popping in and out over the years has been the lovely...
Recipe of the Month – Herbert Marshall’s Steak and Kidney Pie
For Halloween (which seems like a lifetime ago now), I wanted to make something Vincent Price related. Over a beer a couple of days before, I ran through many potential dishes I could make and when I got to Steak and Kidney Pie, this is what happened to Mr Rathbone's...
Tessie O’Shea’s Hamburger
Tessie loved a burger! There are lots of recipes for them in her brilliant Slimming Cookbook and by rights I should have gone for the Hammy Hamburger as Hammy was one of my nicknames at school. This was partly because my surname is Hammerton but also because of a kids...
Audrey Hepburn’s Chocolate Cake With Cream
I burned the top of this cake so when I took it out of the oven, I almost put it straight in the bin. It was a birthday cake for my beloved and his family for a celebratory lunch and I thought it would taste awful. BUT, I had no more eggs, so couldn't make another,...
Ian Ogilvy’s Turnip and Onion Soup
"Well, who would have thunk it?" as my mum often says. I must admit, I decided to test this recipe for the Murder, She Cooked book myself as I didn't think anyone would volunteer for it. It doesn't sound very exciting does it? But surprise surprise, it was DELICIOUS!...
Irene Dunne’s Chocolate Vinegar Cake
I work in a film archive and all of my colleagues are just LOVELY. It's such a fab place to work and there is always fun to be had when a birthday comes around. A big pretence is made that we've all forgotten all about it and nothing is said until about 3pm when...
Yul Brynner’s Sauteed Broccoli
When it pours with rain on a dark and cold evening, commuters in London go a bit mental. One night way back in November I had to wait in the cold and wet while 3 full buses sailed past my stop while folks in the bus queue were effing and blinding and waving their...
Ruta Lee’s “Clean-Out-The-Refrigerator” Salad
How was your Christmas kittens? I had a LOVELY time. I ate too much naturally but everything was delicious! Now I am craving a salad, and as this post has been in my drafts folder for several months, here it is! I actually made this in the summer and planned to stick...
Vincent Price’s Carrot Soup
This might be my last post before Christmas so I hereby wish all my readers a fabulous festive season! It was my birthday last week and look at the haul I got - haha! Anyone would think I was writing a book about Murder, She Wrote! The day after my fabulous birthday I...
Tessie O’Shea’s Fun With Leftover Chicken or Turkey
I have a lot of cooked chicken in my freezer. This is mostly because I absolutely LOVE the chicken they serve at Mr R's local equivalent of the bar in Cheers, The Cork and Bottle in Hampstead. They serve 1/2 a chicken for Sunday lunch and it is divine but huge. Hence,...
Lisa Akey and Raphael Sbarge’s Tuscan Bean Soup
If it is beans in a soup you are after, this is it. There are a LOT of beans in this soup. In fact, there is not much soup, mainly just beans but it is TASTY. All the veggies cook down into a delicious green mulch which is really flavoursome. Sometimes it's good to...
Recipe of the Month – Jameson Parker’s Pheasant Cock-a-Leekie
When I was a singleton I had a couple of years of bliss living with two crazy women called Lucy and Gaby. We rented a house together in Walthamstow, E17 and had an absolute hoot. They are both highly entertaining and lovely women. Yes, this was a hen...
Angela Lansbury’s Cottage Pie and Susan Anton’s Apple Crisp
I have been in heaven for a week on a writing retreat in deepest, darkest Shropshire. I was here... and as A.E. Houseman put it Clunton and Clunbury,Clungunford and Clun,Are the quietest placesUnder the sun. Especially when you have a writing room all of your...
Sean Connery’s Spiced Beef With Dumplings – Archway – The Great Bear Stop #9
Memory is a funny old thing. I've been thinking about it a lot lately as I've been reading a lot of food memoirs and autobiographies - current obsession, Dirk Bogarde, what a WRITER! My self-generated food memoir evening class is going slowly, but I'm really enjoying...
Robert Quarry’s Texas Potato Salad
I am going on a week's writing retreat on Monday and I cannot wait. I'll be here... More specifically here... I'll be working on the Murder, She Wrote book and trying not to disturb the three other writers in the building with the sound of the theme song playing over,...
Dinner and a Movie – Ocean’s Eleven
I once saw a series of photographs featuring the same family on the same day every year for many, many years. It was a fabulous insight into the ageing process. I have almost the same record of me ageing over the years with prawns in hand at The Company Shed on Mersea...
Dinner With Bea Arthur
I love getting an invite out of the blue to participate in a blogathon, and Gill of Real Weegie Midget Reviews always thinks of me when she has one coming up, thanks Gill! I have participated in the Michael Caine Blogathon, the Lee Grant Blogathon, the Shelley Winters...
Una Stubbs Update
A few days after my Una Stubbs Home-made Muesli post, Mr Rathbone turned up at my place with this... Who kn-una? I had no idea Una had made a fitness record but you'd better believe I'm going to get my leotard and legwarmers on soon and have a go at this. I shall make...
Recipe of the Month – Ron Glass’s Bombay Chicken
Mr Rathbone made this chicken dish as part of the Murder, She Wrote Cookalong and it was SOOOOOO GOOD I've decided to make it Recipe of the Month. Here's Mr R's lovely thorough feedback on the cooking of the dish....
A Vincent Price Curry Party
Halloween is coming! I have a proposal for you! Why not have a Vincent Price Curry Party? First, could I encourage you to spend a few minutes listening to the dulcet tones of Vincent describing his Lifesaver Curry? This is a video that Peter Fuller of the Vincent...
Marlene Dietrich’s Sleeping Potion
Hot on the heels of Oooooona's Moooooosli, here comes Marleeeeeeeen's Sardeeeeeeen. Of course, this pleasing combination of words only works when mispronouncing MarlAYYYYYna Marleeeeeeeen, but hey ho... I made a beautiful loaf of rye bread on a fabulous day in the...
MY COOKING WITH COLUMBO COOKBOOK – click on pic for link
MY COOKING WITH JOAN CRAWFORD COOKBOOK – click on pic for link
