I am very excited to announce that on the 30th November I’ll be introducing a screening of Mildred Pierce as my first Silver Screen Sippers event at the Electric Palace cinema here in Hastings. Joan’s Good-Bye Cocktail will be available as part of the ticket price (cocktail-free tickets also available) and I think a merry-old-time...
Sometimes it takes me a while to get around to things. So it was with the honouring of this voucher which was a raffle prize at the book launch of Cooking With Columbo which was in 2018. Even though the winners of this voucher, Lady Jane and Trix, live just around the corner from me,...
I have a brand new book out today! It’s a love letter to the ITV television show Vera – in haiku! Each of the 56 episodes are distilled into seventeen syllables. I’ll be sharing one haiku each month via a newsletter. Here’s a sneaky peek. It’s free to sign up, just pop in your email...
When I opened my box of tomatoes from the Isle of Wight and I saw the BIGGUN I knew exactly what I was going to do with it… But when I actually started constructing this most spectacular of working-from-home-lunches I reealised that this tomato was so massive, there was no way I could eat it...
Join me tonight to do the Angela Lansbury workout, chums to celebrate what would have been Angela’s 100th birthday! You’ll need to skip over here and pop your email address into the subscriber box and you’ll receive a link when I go live. Get your pastel workout gear on and prepare for some easy stretches...
Look at this beautiful hat my chum Jane made… The main part of the hat and the flowers are made from fish leather, the spindly bits are seaweed. Yes! Fish leather and seaweed. She is such a clever duck. This splendiferous titfer was featured in a Coastal Currents exhibition here in Hastings curated by The...
Sad to hear that RR went to that Hollywood in the sky this week. He was a legend. I only have one recipe in the collection ascribed to Robert, and here it is for all his fans out there. I am not going to have a chance to make this for a while as I...
Here’s something from the Drafts Mountain for all you Hill St Blues fans. I see I was recovering from Covid when I wrote this, and that feels like years ago! Here we go… Well, this made a change from just slathering mayonnaise over chicken and calling it chicken salad! I made this on day one...
I’ve been writing about this recipe of Vincent’s for something I’m putting together to mark the 20th anniversary of the blog next year. It’s the breakfast I made for myself on many occasions during my 8 years as a singleton, so it has special significance for me. It’s a fab way to pimp up scrambled...
I’m running a little competition over on the Dinner and a Movie Substack to win a copy of my new book Cooking The Detectives. A love letter to TV detectives that contains recipes from the actors and actresses who played all the best ones! Skip over there to enter – the prize question is –...
I’ve been getting back into the recipe research aspect of Murder, She Cooked volume 2, and there were 18 episodes out of 136 that I had no related recipes for. Now there are only 17! I discovered this video on YouTube featuring Brian Cranston, who appears in 3 episodes of Murder, She Wrote – hoorah!...
It’s Yul Brynner’s heavenly birthday today, and here’s a post that’s been in my draft folder for ages. Happy birthday, Yul, my heavenly heartthrob… I recently did a bookbinding evening class here in Hastings, and I LOVED IT. The first four weeks of the course involved learning about the many and varied book structures that...
It’s been a whirlwind of promotion over the last couple of weeks as Cooking The Detectives is officially out in the world! The book is a love letter to TV detective shows and contains recipes from all of the actors and actresses you see on the cover, and many more who played TV sleuths....
Whenever my chum Caroline visits from Texas she asks if there are any foodstuffs I would like her to bring me. Once she smuggled in some fresh poblano peppers for a Vincent Price recipe, and another time some onion juice. On this occasion, I asked for TRISCUITS. Why Triscuits? When writing about Shirley Jones’ Mexicali...
It was Vincent’s birthday last week and rummaging around in my drafts folder, I found this account of making his rhubarb pie. This was written in May 2023, and it’s a weird feeling that although I got my rhubarb from Hastings, I had no idea that a few months later, I’d be living here! It’s...
The book is finished, my friends! Recipes from the kitchens of all the stars on the cover and many more! Join me for an online party to celebrate – all the details will be coming via my Dinner and a Movie newsletter so do sign up and grab your lollipop in readiness! Signed copies...
Just a little heads up for all you Fangelas! A video demo of her salad is now available over on my Murder, She Cooked substack. If you are a fan of Murder, She Wrote it’s well worth putting your email address in for my monthly newsletter – just click on the button below to go...
My goodness. I can’t quite believe that I have been writing about movie stars and their favourite recipes for NINETEEN YEARS TODAY. That’s crazy! When I started I was living on a houseboat and this was my kitchen. I was nursing a broken heart and decided to learn to cook by trying to make the...
This is the kind of recipe you can take with you to an island that is 3 miles long and 5/8 mile wide and easily rustle it up for 5 hungry hikers. I’m just back from a glorious holiday on Lundy Island where I was seduced into the wonderful world of bird watching. I had...
Happy Easter! Hope you have lots of fun things planned, maybe even dressing up as an Easter bunny? Crikey! This was a trifle and a half! Soooooo delicious with its prunes and its orange segments and its custard and its chocolate topping. But most of all because I used some of the leftover Audrey Hepburn...
Over on my Dinner and a Movie blog, Gold Diggers of 1933 is the movie of the month. It’s a fab whirlwind ride and I heartily recommend it. Skip over here (or press the button below) if you fancy joining our fun online community – we sometimes have international online watch parties. Here’s Joan’s Sunday...
This recipe was part of a batch of cards that the wonderful Yinzerella of Dinner is Served, 1972 sent over to me many moons ago. It mysteriously appeared on the floor of my writing room a couple of weeks ago, separated from the rest of the cards. I took this as a sign that Shirley...
This blog post is going to be a great test of the memory box! It was the penultimate stop on the Great Bear adventure that began in August 2018 and this visit to Chalk Farm station was on December 17th, 2022. I cannot believe this was over 2 years ago and I’m only just writing...
Short notice my lovelies but I am doing a live “show and tell” tomorrow featuring some of my favourite movie star cookbooks and ephemera, including the thing that started it all… The event is called Dead Movie Stars Taught Me To Cook and is part of a 3-day online food festival over on the Substack...
So sad to hear that Gene Hackman has gone to that Hollywood in the sky. It’s pure coincidence that The Poseidon Adventure is my movie of the month over at Dinner and a Movie. Let’s celebrate Gene by having a Poseidon Adventure Cocktail, cooking his Steak Diane, and watching The Poseidon Adventure together – everyone...
Audrey’s cake looked delightful as I was making it Not so much when it came out of the oven, though… I have made Audrey’s cake twice. The first time I burned it too. I blamed the oven in my old Muswell Hill flat, which always ran hot. I always had to set the temperature dial...
When asked what my favourite movie star recipe is, in ye olden dayes I used to say Marlene Dietrich’s Lamb Chops en Casserole. But that was before I tried Elizabeth Taylor’s Chicken Steamed in White Wine.Currently #1 in my personal hit parade. I haven’t made the Marlene Casserole for AGES, but when I spotted another...
Man alive these were good! I had to test them for this February’s shebang over on my Dinner and a Movie Substack. I’m proposing a Cher movie. I wonder if you can guess which one? Want a clue? I’d made this recipe once before, but I hadn’t read it right and got the wrong kind...
Happy New Year lovely readers! Did anyone get this for Christmas? It was such fun to be a small part of this excellent release of Vincent’s TV show. I’m in the extras chatting about Vincent’s food writing and demonstrating a couple of his creations. If you can’t get enough of Vincent, do have a peek...
A little tipple you might fancy trying over the holidays. Hereby wishing you all a wonderful, fabulous and fun festive season. Here’s how Carole liked her martinis. Notes – A bit sherry-like. Unorthodox – lots of vermouth. We used Noilly Prat vermouth. Mr R said, “I like an oily sprat.” I said, “It reminds me...
This is a great little recipe. It’s a very easy weeknight dish if you are settling down to a Poirot featuring ARIADNE OLIVER. She’s my favourite supporting character in the Poirot series and Zoë plays her perfectly. This is another recipe destined for Cooking the Detectives and the lovely Mr Rathbone offered to rustle it...
Well, this was a revelation! Mr R sent me a text in the week to say he’d found a couple of bottles of prosecco (where? behind the sofa?). Did I have a cocktail recipe we could try that involved fizz? Well yes, I did! And it was fab! The angostura bitters really take the sweet...
We are celebrating all things Vincent Price over on the Dinner and a Movie Substack this month. There is a competition to win a copy of the forthcoming Blu-ray release of Vincent’s 1974 TV cooking show. I’m on the “extras” of this, talking about Vincent’s brilliant food writing and demonstrating his cucumber crocodile, melon […]
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I think we are getting close to having a critical mass of movie star cocktails tested for the Down the Hollywood Hatch book. Me and Mr R gave this one a whirl last week and we both enjoyed it. One of those cocktails that tastes different with every sip, the conversation went like this. Mr...
Wowzer! I impressed myself with this one. Macaroni and Cheese (or Macaroni Cheese as we call it here in the UK) has never been a big favourite of mine and I think I have only made it once before – to the fabulous Pearl Bailey’s recipe. That was GOOD, but at the risk of offending...
I found this in my drafts while I was looking for something else… This was written not long after we’d been through the Covid epidemic. I absolutely LOVE the creative energy and inventiveness of the Rebel Reel Cine Club so despite this post being OLD, OLD, OLD, I am sharing it in the hope that...
It’s been quiet here on the blog for a few weeks as I’m super busy over on Substack with two free online watch parties coming up in October. First up is this one… Then next day this one – which is the episode of Murder, She Wrote where Jessica visits the Psycho house… Absolutely everyone...
This is fast becoming a favourite tipple here at Silver Screen Suppers Towers. It’s from the 1933 Celebrity Cocktail Book – which would be a perfect Christmas prezzie for a loved one. There are only 50 or so left of the facsimile copies I commisioned so don’t dilly-dally if you want one! Only available from...
This was a very easy way of making a chook just a little bit special. The recipe appeared in a newspaper article about what Roger liked to eat, Luisa was his wife and this was her way of preparing chicken. Roger will feature twice in the forthcoming Cooking the Detectives book. Once, in his role...
If Diana hadn’t already made an appearance in the Top 100 Movie Star Recipe countdown with her Artichoke Bean Bowl, this tuna salad would have gone in. It’s something I make quite a lot, with variations. I usually have a tin of tuna and a tin of beans around the place so it’s an easy...
It’s a while since I told you what’s been going on over at my Murder, She Cooked Substack. I’m serialising the Murder, She Cooked book – with screengrabs! The Substack is an online Murder, She Wrote fan club. It’s free to join, just pop your email into the subscribe box and you’ll get monthly episode...
Who would win in a fight? Audrey Hepburn or Heinz? There’s only one way to find out… Fight! Or, to be slightly more refined, to invite chums round for dinner and a blind-tasting experiment. I was well-chuffed to score a jar of the limited edition Heinz/Absolut collaboration in April 2023. But it took me ages...
It is two years to the day since I had one of my favourite days EVER, going on the Vera tour in Northumberland. For those who don’t know, Vera is a British TV show featuring the fabulous curmudgeonly TV detective, Vera Stanhope. I am so obsessed with Vera that I recently woke from a very...
Want a simple fish soup recipe? Well, here it is! This is one of those, “chuck it all in a big saucepan and be completely surprised about how delicious it is” kind of dishes. I reckon you could add all kinds of spices or herbs if you wanted to, but you could equally just do...
COR! This was utterly delicious! I’ve never made chips before and neither had Mr R so we approached this test cook with great trepidation. As we grew up in the 1970s we had fear installed in us about CHIP PAN FIRES by many public information films, consequently Mr R spent a lot of time blocking...
I invited my chum Lady Jane (not a real lady) around for pesto but when my grocery delivery arrived, there was no basil to be seen. I swiftly pivoted and made her Mildred Natwick’s Tomato Pie instead, which was a big hit with both of us. But when she turned up she was bearing a...
Everyone is hereby invited to party like it’s 1933. Stick this in yer diary! Live on Instagram @silverscreensuppers Hello, my lovelies. A big announcement. I have a new THING and it is a gorgeous limited edition reprint of a rare 1933 cocktail booklet. This delightful dinky book was originally created to commemorate a competition organised...
This stew was utterly spectacular. As someone who is afeared of crustaceans, when this recipe was allocated to me by my Goddaughter Ringo, I had a mild freakout. My best buddy Cathy and I had made a vow to cook every recipe in the Stanley Tucci food memoir, and Ringo was dishing them out. We...
When I wrote a book all about Murder, She Wrote including recipes from the kitchen of Angela Lansbury and many of her co-stars, I had ten of Angela’s recipes in my collection. Imagine how thrilled I was recently to hear from blog reader Linda DeWeese-Brown that she had an Angela Lansbury recipe that wasn’t in...
When I was writing about Dragnet for the Cooking the Detectives book I found lots of reports online about a peanut butter and garlic sandwich rustled up by the Harry Morgan character. In an episode called A.I.D. The Weekend he talks some chums through how he prepares this delicacy as follows: “Now, my friends, we...
When I moved from London to Hastings there was a bit of an involuntary grouping together of of like things with like. As per the teachings of Marie Kondo. This resulted in my discovering quite how much I had of certain foodstuffs. In the “overflow sideboard” there were two cans of Campbell’s Condensed Cheddar Cheese...
When I first started this blog way back in 2006 thought of it as an online diary. I just recorded the movie star dishes I had tried, without sharing the recipe or even a photograph. Remember the days when nobody took photos of their food?! I am always happy to share recipes with readers, so...
I feel slightly ashamed of the amount of food my removal men hauled across the country in their enormous van. I blame the pandemic combined with my tendency to hoard. But now I am installed in a lovely new kitchen; I plan to really try and eat up stocks. My food bill will be LOW...
It’s Vincent Price’s birthday today so here’s one from the archives, I was SO YOUNG! No grey hair, a great set of spex that I no longer wear because my eyesight has got worse and some fab dungarees I can no longer squeeze into. Oh, the passage of time! Great chowder recipe though, and I’m...
Problematic Pierogies x 2. Before I share my woes, an announcement. I had never made pierogi/pierogis/perogies before, and I had never even eaten pierogies before, so I had no idea what I was doing, BUT I tried two different recipes attributed to Stefanie and both had problems. Any pierogi experts out there? I would love...
My blog is 17 years old today. 1,741 blog posts. My goodness! So much water under the bridge and so many recipes tried, with only a few FAILS. I thought I’d do a little round-up of where I am up to with the Top 100. Let’s go! Counting down from #93 Andy Clyde’s Baked Ham...
This has immediately taken #1 spot in the Silver Screen Suppers burger recipe leader board, knocking Ernest Hemingway and William Holden down to 2nd and 3rd. This burger was UTTERLY DELICIOUS. Highly recommended and so easy. Mr R was in charge of this one, and he bought lovely freshly ground beef from his local butcher....
I keep forgetting to let y’all know that April’s Dinner and a Movie selection for the Silver Screen Suppers Club is Pillow Talk with the divine Doris Day. If you fancy cooking up one of her brilliant fluffy baked potatoes, skip over here for the recipe… LINKS TO MY STAR-SPANGLED COOKBOOKS Switch to your own...
Don Adams was mad about peanut butter and so am I. In the fabulous Singers & Swingers in the Kitchen he shared 3 recipes for ways of pimping up this most splendid of all foodstuffs. Here are the other two… I will probably try them ALL before I decide which one will go into the...
Lest I incur the wrath of any Turner Classic Movie fans (as I did when I wrote about a Cameron Diaz recipe), I realise that Amanda is a modern television actress rather than a silver-screen movie star. I also realise that in 17 years of writing about the favourite recipes of screen stars, I am...
Mr Rathbone is a very good egg and has volunteered to test cook at least 3 recipes for the forthcoming Cooking the Detectives book. Well, by my reckoning, this was number 4 as he has already done Robert Wagner’s Chili, Sheila Hancock’s Sardine Pizza and John Nettles’ Un Piot et des Pois au Feu. This...
We were on home turf with this stop on the Great Bear adventure, as Belsize Park is the nearest tube stop to Mr Rathbone’s pad. His place is my second home as we alternate between his gaff and mine at the weekends. In Simon Patterson’s great artwork, Belsize Park station is reimagined as Henry Fonda...
Who would have thought that Tom and Barbara Good’s neighbour, Margo, would make chutney? Of course, I know that Margo is a character and Penelope is a real live woman, but it is truly difficult to separate the two when you grew up at a time when she was the biggest style icon on British...
This month’s selection for the Silver Screen Supper Club Dinner and a Movie is the wonderful Rebecca (1940) and we had a super fun watch-party last Sunday. Folks joined us here in the UK from Canada and the USA to chat about Mrs Danvers giving our heroine the side-eye and Rebecca having her knickers made...
I wasn’t sure if I would like this dish, but I did. It is weird, but good! Jack is best remembered by me as the dapper gent starring in Hawai Five-0 and as I have written about this series in the Cooking the Detective book I wanted to try Jack’s Island-Style Chicken. I know that...
Bergerac has been all over the news this week as it’s rumoured that there is a reboot in the offing. Oooooh, goodie! Names being bandied around for the main role are Aidan Turner, David Tennant and James Norton. Aidan Turner, please! I do not know what Un Piot et des Pois au Fou means (and...
Potential for a hangover fairly high this weekend? Here’s a cure! I had to test this myself for the cocktail book I am working on with Mr Rathbone as he is not a fan of tomato juice. He has a way with words and almost always comes up with a pithy comment about each of...
It’s pizza, Jim, but not as we know it. More like cheese on toast with sardines on top! I had to try it though, as I really want to feature Inspector Morse in the Cooking the Detectives book and there are ZERO recipes from John Thaw in my collection. As John and Sheila were married...
I’m thrilled to have been asked to celebrate the wondrousness of Joan Crawford at the Hippfest Silent Film Festival by introducing their Gala Screening of Our Dancing Daughters on Saturday 23rd March – Joan’s birthday! I’ll also be hosting a Cocktails and Canapés Workshop featuring recipes from Cooking With Joan Crawford on Sunday 24th March....
Occasionally, I made a non-movie-star-related dish that I am really proud of. For the Mildred Pierce Dinner and a Movie extravaganza, I made a chicken and waffles dish that made my chest puff up like a proud pigeon! This is a dish featured in the fabulous Brunch at the Mildred Pierce Restaurant book. It is...
Always a pleasure to be forced to test a bourbon-based beverage, and this one popped to the top of the list one Friday recently. We might include screenwriters and directors in our Down the Hollywood Hatch cocktail book (Preston was both) so thought we’d give this one a whirl. Naturally, as the Old Fashioned is...
What’s been cooking over at Murder, She Cooked? Quite a lot since I last did a round-up. If you are a Murder, She Wrote fan, skip over to the Substack for episode reviews and companion recipes delivered monthly to your inbox. Here’s what’s been going on in Cabot Cove – clicking on the recipe title...
