It was so lovely to get this postcard through the mail recently, from my fellow film archivist chum Lawrence Napper. He sent it when he heard that Rhonda had gone to the Hollywood in the sky, remembering that I had a special place in my heart for her. I got in touch with Rhonda in...

I returned from my folks’ place laden down with a huge bagful of leftovers – oh goodie!  My dad hates leftovers, but I love ’em!   Usually I would make some Roland Young Rissoles with all the leftover turkey and ham and pigs in blankets, but this year, I changed it up, and made a...

Summer has arrived at last in London and I had a really lovely cocktail hour in the garden on Sunday with Vic and Corinna drinking beer and talking nonsense.  Vic said he had vowed never to sit on a rug in a garden but we made him do it.  It’s a rare sight to see...

Aw, the Royal Wedding was LOVELY! Such a treat to have an extra day off work and I made the most of it by taking a Rhonda Fleming English Trifle out to Leigh-on-Sea. My mum always makes trifle for big family get-togethers so it felt like the right thing to do. Had a truly fabulous...

Rosalind always likes it when I say I am “planning a trifle” – I think it is a quote from “A Private Function”. Well I AM planning a trifle, for the Royal Wedding party I am going to tomorrow. I’m just about to nip to Morrison to see if they have any blue sprinkles so...

This month’s challenge over at the Daring Kitchen was edible containers. Oh those clever people really did make some amazing things. My favourite was onion soup served in a carved out onion – genius! I did something quite easy but absolutely brilliant (even if I do say so myself)! I made little stand up cups...

Every month I offer a prize to my newsletter subscribers and test cooks. Recently the prize was to come to lunch at Silver Screen Towers and the lucky winner Lucy (aka Jennifer Jones) came to my place yesterday along with Lisa (aka Dorothy Lamour) and Lawrence (aka Edmund Gwen). Can you imagine what fun it...

I thought my heart would burst this week when I got a personal email from Rhonda Fleming! I wrote to ask if she would be happy for me to include her recipe for Hollywood Ham Loaf in the book. She not only sent me her current favourite recipe (for Cowboy Caviar) but also this photo...

My lovely ex boyfriend Charley came round for dinner last night. As the man who re-introduced me to the pleasures of carnivorism after 12 years as a vegetarian I knew he would appreciate The Queen of Technicolor’s Hollywood Ham Loaf. A loaf made almost entirely of MEAT is the perfect thing to cook up for...