- by Jenny
- Alan Ladd
I love it when readers get in touch and ask for recipes and I am always happy to rummage around in my bookshelves to find them and send them out. Usually I don’t get so much as a “thank-you” in return, but sometimes – hurrah –...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
Ooh, I forgot about this post, I made this for Mr R’s birthday breakfast on 1st Jan, and now it February already but this such is a winning recipe so I have decided to make it RECIPE OF THE...
- by Jenny
- Angela Lansbury
The minute lockdown in London is lifted and I can leave my flat I am going straight to Cabot Cove, Maine. I will send you a postcard… OK, I know Cabot Cove doesn’t exist, but why not use our imaginations...
- by Jenny
- Ava Gardner
Have you ever seen anyone with a fishing rod look more gorgeous than Ava Gardner? Lest we assume Ava only donned the waders for a set of cheesecake photos, here she is with Gregory Peck “gone fishing”. Naturally once I’d stumbled upon these pix,...
- by Jenny
- Sophia Loren
When I have some olives and anchovies knocking around the fridge my mind often suggests Spaghetti Puttanesca. I rustled this up just before Christmas and it was deliziosa (or maybe delizioso?). I don’t eat much pasta, but when I do I always think, “bloody hell,...
- by Jenny
- Phyllis Diller, Top 100 Movie Star Recipes
Recipes with weird names are catnip for me. Vincent Price’s Hotchpotch of Curly Kale immediately springs to mind. Elvis Presley’s Hush Puppies is another, but Phyllis Diller’s Garbage Soup is the winner in this category. This fabulous recipe...
- by Jenny
- Jane Fonda
Have you eaten and drunk yourself silly over the festive season? I have! Now is the time to rein it in here at Silver Screen Suppers Towers. As usual at this time of year I will be turning to...
- by Jenny
- George Segal, Gertrude Niesen, Helen Hayes, Ian Ogilvy, Pat Phoenix, Vincent Price
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my lovely readers! The choice of my #1 movie star dish of 2020 is SIMPLE because this way of cooking a leg of lamb was an absolute revelation. The recipe is the culinary equivalent of an earworm because...
- by Jenny
- Clara Bow, Diana Dors
What is left to say about 2020 that hasn’t already been said? I just wanted to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas whoever they are managing to spend it with. This will be the first time in about 25 years that I haven’t...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
Greetings from Tier FOUR – who even knew that such a thing existed? Sigh. After a sleepless night worrying about what to do now that Christmas in London is cancelled and seeing my parents is illegal, I consoled myself...
- by Jenny
- Brett Halsey
Greetings from Tier 3 lockdown in London! I am hunkering down for winter hibernation and planning some concentrated work on the Vincent Price Co*Star Cookbook. I now have a deadline for delivering all the recipes, headnotes and feedback from all the test cooks. Deadline is Vincent...
- by Jenny
- Pearl Bailey
I keep cooking liver to Pearl’s specifications as her recipe is so easy, and so delicious, but I never seem to get around to telling you lot about it. Well, I found this post in my drafts folder, written at a time when I...
- by Jenny
- Edmund Gwenn
Have you got all your Christmas presents yet? Could I recommend a few books? First, a book I have been raving about to anyone who will listen… This is a fabulous read for anyone interested in big personalities, television cooks, the...
- by Jenny
- Ben Oates, Diana Manthey, Fred Karno, Jan Manthey, Jonathan Cockerell, Mark Duqueno, Vic Pratt
During the first full UK pandemic lockdown in March, I was a bit down in the dumps and lacking in laughs. Then I heard about a new book which I HEARTILY RECOMMEND to all of you...
- by Jenny
- Jean Seberg, Robert Mitchum
Mr R does not like creamy sauces so I was almost certain that he wouldn’t like this most festive of drinks. When I asked if he liked Eggnog, he said, “It’s like that avocado stuff, isn’t it?” By which he meant Advocaat of course. And yes,...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
Here’s what to do with any leftovers from Vincent’s Friday Chicken or any chicken I guess. After mentioning this recipe recently, I was very pleased to find this blog post hanging around in my drafts folder. This was written soon...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
Well, it’s almost Friday folks! Mr R volunteered to test cook this recipe for the forthcoming Vincent Price Co*Star Cookbook. BUT, we both got so drunk on Gertrude Niesen Buzz-Bombs that I ended up doing it instead. There is something very satisfying about lifting the skin...
- by Jenny
- Kim Hunter
I love it when a blog reader gets in touch, via email, a message via the contact page, a comment on a post – anything! It’s always lovely to hear from you, especially during this strange coronavirus time when I barely have any...
- by Jenny
- George Segal
Oh, the joys of cooking with a dear friend! Even when they are miles away in a different part of London and you can only see a tiny WhatsApp picture of them on your mobile phone. I absolutely LOVED cooking along with Sanja as I know...
- by Jenny
- Rhonda Fleming
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...
- by Jenny
- Ron Masak
Well yesterday was quite a day. It all started quite peacefully with a walk in Highgate Woods… and ended with a raucous party for two in my kitchen. Much booze was drunk, much dancing was done and many transatlantic texts flew through the ether...
- by Jenny
- Audrey Hepburn
I cannot for the life of me remember why I decided to make Audrey’s Pesto, but I am guessing it was because I had some basil hanging around in the fridge. I don’t know about you, but as an urban fourth floor flat dweller with no...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
Hello chums, I don’t know about you, but I am really looking forward to Halloween this year. Me and Mr R will be glued to the sofa all weekend scaring ourselves silly watching some amazing films courtesy of the Abertoir Horror Film Festival. I...
- by Jenny
- James Garner
Remember the days when you could meet friends for an elaborate meal in a restaurant, or go round to a friend’s place for lunch? Any time you fancied? No matter that you were two different households? I’ve been putting off writing this post...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
I am not sure if my friends in the USA will still be allowed to gather together around a dinner table indoors with people who are not part of their household for Thanksgiving this year. But maybe you live with lots of people in...
- by Jenny
- Helen Hayes
Oscar winning recipe from Helen! I love an excuse to buy a new piece of kitchen equipment and although I do already have a crock pot (slow cooker to us Brits) trying this recipe gave me an excuse to buy another. A big’un!...
- by Jenny
- Pearl Bailey
As Pearl writes so beautifully, I will transcribe her recipe as written, but she is vague about quantities. At the bottom of this post I’ve given quantities for the version I made. Pearl’s recipe makes an ENORMOUS amount of Mac...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
Greetings from the eve of Tier 2 here in London. So tomorrow we will be going into a second lockdown with the biggest change to our lives being NO HOUSEHOLD MINGLING. For me this will mean that during the week I’ll be here on my lonesome,...
- by Jenny
- Angela Lansbury
I love the way someone can decide that a certain date is International Spaghetti Day, or International Doughnut Day or my favourite of all – International Beer Day. Somehow these make their way into calendars of food and drink days all over the internet. I have...
- by Jenny
- Melissa Gilbert
I’ve been thinking a lot about comfort food this week. I’m collaborating on a project with Peter Fuller of the Vincent Price Legacy UK and Victoria Price, Vincent’s daughter which will be happening in November. Watch...
- by Jenny
- Errol Flynn
When you wake up on a Tuesday morning during a pandemic and the news that greets you is that singing and dancing is now illegal in pubs it is easy to think that ALL FUN is cancelled. Now and forever. There is still fun to be...
- by Jenny
- Natalie Wood
Bored with the same old working from home lunch? I am finding it easy to be lazy about lunches. Toast is usually on the menu, and now the weather has changed I have rediscovered my passion for posh Cup-a-Soup, namely Szechuan Hot & Sour. But the...
- by Jenny
- Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel
Are you hungry? Are you a Laurel & Hardy fan? If so, you’ve come to the right place! A blog reader called Antoinette recently asked me if I could send her some Laurel and Hardy recipes so I had a rummage around in the...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
Is it hot where you are? Here in the UK we are having an Indian Summer which is such a fillip. It is bright and sunny, and I’m still using my little portable desk fan. I am making the most of the lovely weather by spending...
- by Jenny
- Diana Rigg
As far as I know, cider is not a traditional component of goulash, but Diana uses it in hers, and somehow, it works. This was really very tasty indeed. It was very difficult to make it look nice in a photo though. As it was pointed out...
- by Jenny
- Sophia Loren
When I unexpectedly found myself in M&S with Mr R recently my mind went absolutely blank, and then it went berserk. I have barely set foot in any shops apart from my corner shop in over six months...
- by Jenny
- Karen Valentine, Murder, She Cooked
Whenever I stick something in a marinade I am always very pleased with the results. It is such an easy way to infuse flavour, I have no idea why I don’t do it more often. When my social support bubble were coming for a picnic a...
I spent my hen night in prison. Cabot Cove Prison to be precise. Cast your mind back to a time before Covid-19. When you could invite 15 of your best friends round to ALL BE IN THE SAME ROOM AT THE SAME TIME without the...
- by Jenny
- When Bloggers Meet or Collaborate
There are some things Covid-19 cannot wreck, and one of those is the Pieathalon. I thank all the stars in heaven for that. We Pieathaletes will continue to make mental pies. No matter what. Every year. Forever. I was thrilled to get my...
- by Jenny
- Olivia de Havilland
I got a text out of the blue from my friend Neil recently which read, “You don’t have an Olivia De Havilland recipe! Shame on you!!!” I was perplexed for a moment. Was he planning to watch Gone With...
I had a friend inside my flat last week. Is that allowed in London at the moment? I have absolutely no idea, I have totally lost track. Well arrest me if you want, Cathy of Kitchen Confidence came round for a cocktail and...
- by Jenny
- Pat Phoenix
I am strangely obsessed with Pat’s way of pimping a potato. It pops into my mind as something I fancy on a regular basis. I think I read in one of Sophia Loren’s cookbooks that cheese with fish is a no-no in Italian cooking but I...
- by Jenny
- Tessie O'Shea
It’s the penultimate Tessie O’Shea recipe from the slimming cookbook! I pledged to try one a month from this excellent tome way back in January 2019 and I’ve almost done it. It’s taken me ages to get around to making this because I didn’t...
- by Jenny
- Angela Lansbury, Murder, She Cooked
You know how satisfying it is when you find the right tool for the job? And how the smallest thing can give you an immense amount of pleasure in these strange lockdowned times? Here’s a tiny tale of one such thing. This is a beautiful bottle...
- by Jenny
- Murder, She Cooked, William Gallo
Pink food is weird. This was tasty (no doubt because essentially, it was mostly cream and vodka) but it was a very odd colour. I made this on a lovely summer’s evening after my daily constitution. It was a typical British summer kind of evening… The...
- by Jenny
- Richard Dix
When I heard a couple of weeks ago that we won’t be going back to the film archive until January 2021 at the earliest, I had a little meltdown. Six more months of working from home. I did the maths – I would be...
- by Jenny
- Billie Burke
Billie Burke sent me a secret message on a packet of cheese recently. It was pure chance I spotted it because let’s face it who usually reads the back of a cheese packet? It was on the wrapping of a big chunk of Davidstow Cheddar. This...
- by Jenny
- Gloria Swanson, Movie Star Cocktails
The pubs are open, and I have been in TWO. Yes, I have left my eyrie and gone out into the big wide world, leaving North London for the first time in 17 weeks. I went on a train and everything! Here...
- by Jenny
- Peter Falk
I have been meaning to blog about this for ages but just to let all Columbo fans know that the fabulous Columbophile is doing this mega-countdown RIGHT NOW and I heartily recommend you check it out. If you are quick, you’ll catch...
- by Jenny
- Angela Lansbury
Greetings from Cabot Covid! It’s a very special recipe of the month this month. This was tested for the Murder, She Cooked cookbook by a very special person. Drumroll please! The AWESOME Tim Benzie, creator and...
- by Jenny
- Tessie O'Shea
Have you sorted out your social support bubble yet? I saw mine last Saturday and it was a RIOT. Mr R’s sister and her husband came over and we had a boozy picnic. OK, it was an indoor picnic because the weather wasn’t great, but...
- by Jenny
- Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Movie Star Cocktails, Rock Hudson
This is the penultimate Quaranatini Time! Pubs are set to re-open here in the UK TODAY so there’s only one more movie star tipple demo video to go. The last time me & Mr R exchanged money for...
- by Jenny
- Anna Kashfi, Marlon Brando, Movie Star Cocktails
Wanna see Mr R do an impression of Marlon Brando playing the Godfather? Haha! We LOVED our Godfather cocktails (although, these should probably be called a mixed drink rather than a cocktail) and had two each. OK, so...
- by Jenny
- Diana Dors
Mr Rathbone’s sister recently told me that when her mum was pregnant with her, she craved Mivvis. I am going to ask my mum if she had any particular food cravings when she was pregnant with me. It will not surprise me at all...
- by Jenny
- Burt Lancaster, The Great Bear Project
There was a time, not too far in the past, when people could do whatever the hell they wanted, whenever the hell they wanted to. Me and Mr R would regularly spend a Sunday afternoon transporting...
- by Jenny
- Movie Star Cocktails, Quarantini Time!, Ralph Bellamy
Gosh, I’ve just realised that I am a week behind with the Quarantini Times! So here’s a link to the demo for Ralph’s Scotch Sour and hot on the heels of this will be the demo for the Marlon Brando Godfather....
Coo what a spread! Remember when there was a time when you could eat this amount of food on one day because you had OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR ABODE? As it has now been over 12 weeks since anyone...
- by Jenny
- Mike Connors, Murder, She Cooked
Oooh, this was GOOD! Proper old fashioned fodder with no fancy herbs and spices. Just a hearty amount of vegetables and super succulent lamb chops after two and a half hours in the oven. Perfect for a Saturday evening in lockdown. In the Cop’s...
- by Jenny
- Gertrude Niesen, Movie Star Cocktails, Quarantini Time!
This one comes with a warning, Mr R had to put me to bed for half an hour after consuming just one Buzz-Bomb (and some of the rest of the champagne of course). I lay there like a MUMMY, unable to move...
- by Jenny
- Tessie O'Shea
Tessie does it again! On paper, her recipe looks odd, and in the saucepan, it looks even odder… But these were delicious! What an interesting and flavoursome way of cooking yer sprouts! At first, I wasn’t sure whether I had understood the recipe...
- by Jenny
- Don Ameche, Movie Star Cocktails, Quarantini Time!
Don Ameche was a man’s man and didn’t have any truck with mixed drinks. He liked his bourbon straight up and with no nonsense about a chaser. Here we raise a glass to him and get excited about next week’s BUZZ-BOMB cocktail. Mind...
- by Jenny
- Grace Kelly
I hereby vow to make no more impulse buys from the “flash sales” section of my online groceries order. I really do love these fresh, herby anchovies but even though I used loads in the David Niven Jansson’s Temptation recipe, the rest of the pack has been...
- by Jenny
- Malik Yoba
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...
- by Jenny
- Binnie Barnes, Movie Star Cocktails
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...
- by Jenny
- Angela Lansbury
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 started this...
- by Jenny
- Mary Pickford, Movie Star Cocktails
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! Cheers Mary!
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- by Jenny
- David Niven
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...
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 teetotal for...
- by Jenny
- Diana Dors
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,...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
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...
- by Jenny
- Martin Landau, Movie Star Cocktails, Quarantini Time!
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… …and here’s the recipe – CHEERS my...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
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...
- by Jenny
- Vincent Price
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...
- by Jenny
- Movie Star Cocktails, Quarantini Time!, Shirley Temple
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...
- by Jenny
- Benny Hill
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...
