I promised a little monthly update on book writing progress so here goes… Like Elvis, my book has left the building. It’s gone over to Lisa at Write the Freakin’ Book for a big picture edit. Gulp. Lisa will be the first person to read the whole thing apart from Mr Rathbone, and she is...
Stop press! James Garner’s daughter Gigi got in touch via Twitter about this recipe. She thinks it may be her grandfather’s recipe rather than her father’s. I am devastated! I knew JG was a judge for the National Chili Championships so assumed that this recipe (published in several newspapers in the 1980s) with his name...
When I made the Vincent Price Chinese Chicken on Saturday afternoon I followed his instructions to sip on a “New Fashioned” as I basted my chicken every now and then. I always do as Vincent suggests, because he KNOWS so much stuff about eating and drinking. His recipe as it appeared in magazines is in...
On Saturday night I had to take a buffet style dish to “Strictly Fortismere” a Strictly Come Dancing type affair at my god-daughter’s school. Her mum (Battenburg Belle) in a moment of madness had volunteered to do a tango. It was brilliant. And VP’s Chinese Chicken was a perfect thing to take to an event...
This is one of the easiest recipes destined for the book and one of the nicest too. I really love it. But then, sweetcorn is one of my ultimate top three super-foods. 1 = Peanut Butter. 2 = Sweetcorn. 3 = and nothing really comes close to either of those. Maybe Heinz baked beans? Got...
I wanted to make a special cake for Battenburg Belle’s birthday and this is the most special one that I know of. Claudette says to get hold of an angel cake and then give it the lemony treatment by making a lemon curd filling and a lemon icing dribbled over the top. Angel cakes make...
First the recipe, then lots of stuff about tidying food cupboards and a genius Burns Night… 1 pint milk 4 egg yolks 4 tablespoons sugar Pinch of salt Lady fingers or sponge cake Sherry wine Scald milk in a double boiler. Beat the egg yolks, add a little of the milk and stir. Then stir...
Mmmm. Yes. I do like these. Mr R however, has something against stuff that “moves around on the plate” so I made him a naked version with the sauce on the side. He took dainty tastes of it from the tip of his knife. He’s a very graceful eater is Mr R. He doesn’t slather...
Some nights you just need a steak and tonight was one of those nights. Luckily due to the 3 yearly freezer amnesty, I happened to extract one yesterday and marinated it as per Paul’s instructions ready to grill when I got home from work – sooooo easy. It was very nice, although I am still...
Mmmmmmmmarmalade… This marmalade is darn good. Reminds me a bit of Rose’s Lime Marmalade for some reason. (thanks to fab new website discovery The Middle Class Handbook for the pic) Do quinces taste like limes in some circumstances? I do not know, because I’m not sure I have ever tasted quinces, apart from possibly in...
It was a miserable rainy day here in London on Saturday and perfect for spending all afternoon in the kitchen. Burt’s beef bubbled away on the stove and I made a fancy shepherd’s pie too. When I went to Suffolk to my folks for Christmas I was in dire need of a new book to...
I attempted this once and ended up with an inedible block of chewy pastry surrounding a pile of undercooked apples – mmm – doesn’t this look nice? but Battenburg Belle offered to have a go, and of course created something divine. Fork holes! I think my first mistake was using wholemeal flour. Why? Because...
Ee by gum! Mr Rathbone had the choice of anything he wanted for his pre birthday dinner and he selected Toad in the Hole. Last time I made this for him I did Vincent Price’s recipe but this time I chose our Gracie’s – seen below in all its splendour. In the spirit of turning...
It’s been a fabulous year at Silver Screen Suppers Towers and I’ve had fun looking through the year’s posts to pick out the highlights. The BEST thing I did, without a doubt, was the Vincent Price Halloween Cookalong. That created so much fun and hilarity not only at my place, but at other bloggers’ homes...
Every year since 2006 my chum Heather and I go on a romantic mini break. It stems from the days we were both single and we got fed up with all our friends going away with their boyfriends for city breaks so we decided to go on one ourselves. We take it in turns to...
Wishing all my readers wonderful times with their friends and families over the festive season. More fabulous food and drink suggestions from Joan, Bette, Clark, Carole, Clara, Mae, Vincent and all my other favourites coming in 2014. I raise a turkey leg and a glass of champagne to them all!
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I’m a big fan of Johna Blinn who wrote the Celebrity Cookbook. It’s a fab, fab, fab weighty tome published in 1981. But despite my 8 years of trawling around the internet for film star recipes I have only just found out that she wrote another film star related cookbook “Great Performances in the Kitchen”. ...
As Chief Executive of Silver Screen Suppers I have made an executive decision. No newsletter this month and therefore no new recipe of the month. So Basil’s curry is up for another month – yipee! Life is just too crazy in December with birthdays, Christmas, end of year work targets etc. etc. etc. This means...
Hmm. This looked cute in my new punchbowl but would probably be more of a summer picnic drink than a fully fueled alcoholic party drink. Guests kept asking if there was any alcohol in it – yes! Two bottles of dessert wine and half a bottle of raspberry liquor! It didn’t taste very oomphy it...
Oh this is GOOD. And what is more CHEAP. I wanted to do two types of punch for my Christmas drinks party and Edmund’s sounded easy and good. It cost me about £4 for two litres compared to about £25 for the Madeleine Carroll’s Sauterne Punch – and I didn’t even use genuine Sauterne! I...
Ptolemy and Keith came to dinner recently and I decided to do a Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone curry combination. I told Ptolemy we’d be having a “Ten Boy Curry” via email and she admitted a sense of disappointment, expecting a takeaway from our local Indian restaurant (thinking Ten Boy could be the name of...
The second of the cocktails and canapés tasting parties happened last Sunday at Nathalie’s place and was a great success. We are planning a little book of these so are trying out a selection with our chums and gleaning comments and opinions about which ones work and which don’t. Here’s the full spread. I think...
When I made these a while back they looked like a right dog’s dinner so I loved the way Nathalie served these up – on individual spoons. Very sophisticated. These were very popular and Nathalie and I discussed possibly doing these with cherry tomatoes next time. The sauce is good and mustard-y which brings out...
These probably caused the most consternation amongst our guests. I think everyone wanted to like them, because everyone likes Cary. But they are indeed a bit weird. Most folks aren’t used to tinned mushrooms these days, but we wanted to do the canapés as per original recipe – might use fresh ones another time. Mind...
Loved the way Nathalie plated these up – on a big plate! We’d thought about doing them in little shot glasses but there were a lot of guests and not a lot of shot glasses. I’m going to start haunting all the charity shops in the new year… My favourite comment of the night was...
Nathalie’s beau made these and they were really delicious. The beef was marinated in soya sauce and was juicy and tasty. We might do these again on little metal toothpicks with just one piece of meat and a tomato (as opposed to Mr R’s favourite sausage which are two types of pig and a tomato)....
Nathalie is a much better baker than I am. Barbara’s Gingerbread was very light and fluffy. I seem to remember when I made gingerbread (Bonita Granville’s) it was not much cop, but Nathalie’s was LOVELY. Mmmm. I have a bit of that in my takeaway parcel from the party too – lucky me! Nathalie suggested...
Nathalie thought this would be a savoury bread but it turned out to be a cake. No matter, it was really delicious. I think this could be the way forward for me and cakes. Cakes made with vegetables in. Yes. I really, really liked this. I have a piece of Ottolenghi’s Semolina, Marmalade and Coconut...
The guacamole and the potted shrimp probably got the most comments on our little comments card. Lots of people loved the fact that it had grapes in. Lawrence said that they made it lighter somehow. I’m going to do that in future now, or pomegranate seeds which Ramon says are the “original fruit” to add. ...
These were good. Very good. Very, very good in fact. Of the four things I made, these were the best. Yummy. Condensed tomato soup, olives, spring onions, anchovies, cheese – delicious. I cut each muffin half into four little tidbits and they were all scarfed. A big, big hit. I definitely think these should go...
It’s a long time since there has been a FAIL here at Silver Screen Suppers Towers but Myrna’s shortbread was close to a fail. It was OK, but that is all. Texture was fine but main problem was, not enough sugar for the modern taste. Therefore, this won’t be the recipe I use when I...
I thought these were very pretty. I was hoping that I’d be able to pipe the filling into a little rosette shape like I imagined folks would have done in the 1970s but it was runnier and so I spooned it in. Delicious. I loved these little eggs. Lionel knew what he was doing here. ...
I do so love Barbra. It’s just one of those things I cannot get away from. I loved her as a pre-teen when I was so self-conscious about my nose that I absolutely marvelled at the fact that someone could be a movie star with a massive conk that was actually bigger than mine. There...
This was going to be easy! The plan was to get it all prepared and tucked away into the oven early on in proceedings. I would then be able to assist our lovely host with her main course, before getting on with the more serious business of carving our pumpkin, dressing up as Vincent Price...
I have a few lovely pics and posts to put up for chums who made things for the Halloween Cookalong. First up is from the lovely Gaz Bailey who organises the phenomenal Abertoir Film Festival in Aberystwyth. I went to this in 2011 and it was FANTASTIC! As Gaz was just a few days away...
My lovely friend and colleague Julie celebrated 10 years with the AP last week so I thought it was high time I made her a cake. For various reasons I had to make it a few days in advance so decided to make an Ottolenghi cake that I know would keep. So from “Jerusalem” I...
It’s been a while since I cooked something a bit weird. So I thought it was about time. I had 600g of my beautiful ham left over and as it has been in the fridge for a few days I wanted to do something with it. When I spotted a recipe combining ham and brussels...
It was the second annual Piccalilli Saturday a couple of days ago and my house still reeks of vinegar. Delicious. Heather came over the night before and we sat at the dining table like two old ladies chopping marrows and drinking vodka and having a good old gossip about our men. Cucumbers, French beans and...
My ex Vic has never made a cake before. He recently got it into his head to have a go at Diana’s which was a recipe of the month a while back so I loaned him one of my cake tins and a cooling tray. As you will see from this photo, it was a...
By request (by the birthday boy himself) I made Obi an Irene Dunne’s Vinegar Chocolate Cake for his big day at work. As usual, it wasn’t as good as the first time I made it. I wish, I wish, I wish, that I made real, proper, testing, testing, testing notes each time I cooked things. ...
My lovely chum Michelle had a bonfire party in her garden a couple of weeks ago and it was so much fun. She has commandeered the communal garden behind her flat and made it like a little grotto. It was festooned with tea lights, had a cosy little shed and even a chemical toilet! It...
Hot on the heels of the Vincent Price Cookalong where we all enjoyed some classic dishes from the 1960s and 70s I’m proposing a 1970s style curry for November. Mmmm. I remember 1970s curries well. There has been a bit of debate around these parts lately about Vesta Curry from the seventies and it has...
Pheweeeeeee! What a night! It was Vincent all the way with the following of his recipes being rustled up at Silver Screen Suppers Towers for a Haloweeeeeen party: Bloody Mary, Liver and Bacon Pâté, Oxtail Creole and Pumpkin Pie. It was the inaugural Halloween Cookalong and at the end of this post will be links...
The lovely people at the British Film Institute invited me to be in a cooking demonstration film with the fabulous Nathalie Morris making a Vincent Price dish. As it was linked in to the Gothic season it HAD to be Ghoulish Goulash! It was so much fun to do and you can see the results...
Hatty’s Silly Radio Show was so much fun to do. Hatty cracks me up. You can have a listen here – we talked a LOT about Vincent Price and his cooking prowess. I took in some Vincent Price Brown and White Cookies as well as the aforementioned Pink Tonics. I was at my parents’ house...
I smuggled some cocktail supplies into the radio station but of course, we didn’t have any drinks anywhere near the equipment. Oh no, I promise, we didn’t. Of course not. These are very good little tipples. Basically a gin & tonic (or vodka & tonic if you prefer) with some lime and Angostura Bitters. I...
Just a quick note to say that I am thrilled to get a mention on the Turner Classic Movies blog – here’s the link – it’s an excellent piece about Vincent and his cooking prowess: In the Kitchen With Vincent Price So a big thankyou to Kimberly Lindbergs who has a fabulous blog here –...
As townies on holiday by the seaside recently I expect that we did all the clichés. We took about a million photos of the sunset from the garden: we looked at birds and boats through binoculars for hours, went on a fabulous 20 minute boat trip that cost £2, and both yelled, “What the hell...
Fish are BIG when they are fresh out of the sea. We bought a grey mullet from the Company Store and the nice man there filleted it for us so I could fashion it into Errol’s unusual fish dish. Look at the SIZE of it! It was absolutely delicious but we couldn’t eat it all. ...
Excitement is mounting at Silver Screen Suppers Towers about the forthcoming Vincent Price Halloween Cookalong. Food blogger chums around the world have been sent a cherry picked Vincent Price recipe to make for Halloween and even if you are not a blogger, join us by making Vincent’s Pumpkin Pie (here at the Recipe of the...
Ooh, there is some controversy over this recipe! I can give provenance for all the recipes I have except this one. I can cite the newspaper, magazine, book or promotional pamphlet the recipes appeared in for the whole 5000ish of them. For Rudy’s recipe however, the origin is dodgy. I first found this recipe on...
My ten-boy curry was a huge success. Lindsey said: “This is practically the best meal I have ever had” and she christened the sideboard that was heaving with condiments The Buffeteria. Genius. I made most of this dinner for the ladies of the book group the night before with the assistance of my trusty new...
I barely lifted a finger last weekend as I was riddled with a cold and milking it. But on Sunday I did rustle up a Brown Bette to follow the slow cooked pork that we had for Sunday lunch. I figured that pork and apples are a classic combination and so it was. The pork...
Ah, I do love Tallulah but I may have to take another look at her recipe for Coconut Jumbles… Her veal recipe was very vague and of course it was delicious but that’s because the only other ingredients are butter and sour cream. Hmm. I want to keep her in the book because she is...
I was involved in a top secret mission last night – details will follow when the embargo is lifted but for now all I can say is this: Vincent Price – Goulish Goulash – British Film Insitute. Wanna see me weilding an axe? Wanna see me washing up with something scary trying to grab hold...
I made a batch of these to take on a camping trip but they were rubbish. It was my fault entirely as being someone who hates to waste food, I deviated from the recipe and recycled some melted chocolate truffles instead of using plain dark chocolate. Cathy bought me some very posh truffles from Waitrose...
Oh my. If you are 18 or over please do pay a visit to Caker Cooking where my food blogging hero Brian has made a film star recipe I sent him. WARNING – not for the faint hearted and please do not shoot the messenger. I only thought he would be better fixed to make...
When I was of no fixed abode for a couple of years I did a lot of sofa hopping. I also did a lot of cat sitting. Installing myself in a friend’s pad for a couple of weeks always felt like a little holiday, and it still does. So whenever I am asked, I cat...
If I were a more organised person I would ALWAYS have a batch of Janet’s cookie dough lying resplendent in my freezer for when unexpected guests pop round for a cup of tea. The thing I love about this recipe is that you make it a day before you need it, pop it in your...
My frozen archives have got out of control. For a woman who lives alone, I have a ridiculous amount of stuff in my freezers. Yes, I have two, and they are both CRAMMED with leftover Silver Screen Suppers fodder and a vast amount of milk products and chillies. It is time for the annual “defrost...
Does that sound appealing to you? Me neither! I’ve been looking sideways at this recipe for many years thinking about attempting it and then running away. Luckily for me, I was invited to participate in the Knoxapocalypse II challenge along with 6 other brave souls. We each sent in a gelatin based recipe and these...
My darling Shellac Sister Jane sent me an email back in February which said: “I’m just about to attempt this … have all ingredients including two pineapples looking like they need rum and umbrellas … and one hopeful dog sitting on her mat drooling and wondering why we don’t just have the chicken raw ..”...
Oops – I missed one. Vic said: “Sponge based trifle cake in a drink form.” There are various versions of this cocktail online but we followed the recipe in the Stork Club Book: 2oz.rum 3/4 oz. pineapple juice 3 dashes grenadine Shake and serve in a 3 oz. cocktail glass. Some versions online include marashino...
In bed with Mr R, I bemoaned the fact that for Lana Turner’s Salsa I’d forgotten to get a comment. He said: “no comment” (he doesn’t like tomatoes). I’m super rich in leftovers and very happy with the whole spread Nathalie and I prepared with the excellent assistance of Mr R and early attendees. Our...
At the end of the night my ex boyfriend and my current boyfriend were the only people left. They had a discussion in the kitchen about whether I should keep the left over Sherry Gorgonzola or throw it away. The conversation sort of went like this. “I wouldn’t have it in my fridge.” “I wouldn’t...
When Nathalie distributed the Chocolate Cherry Creams she had made all you could hear around the place were variations on the word “mmmmmmmmmmmmmm”. We all had one of these divine treats each, and there was just one left to take home to the boyfriend. These are definitely a winner. I am still thinking about them...
Made with Yinzerella in mind… These were really tasty – there are little sausages in there! Wrapped in a kind of scone dough – or as the American’s would call it (I think) biscuit dough. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
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Mr R observed that these were the “room splitters”. Some loved them, some weren’t so keen. Mr Wiskey insisted on calling them Salmonella Quick Pizza Snacks. I thought they were super tasty. I used Tesco Finest tomato pesto instead of Sal’s more prosaic “tomato paste”. Almost as good as a Pizza Hut Sloppy Guiseppe and...
I didn’t know that Ray Bolger played the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. Lawrence said, “All the rest of him was made of straw, apart from his balls which were made of potato.”
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I had two avocados knocking around the place so figured some guacamole wouldn’t go amiss. Much to the amazement of all of Lawrence’s 1,579 Facebook friends he’s off the booze for a month. He arrived proudly brandishing 4 cans of Kaliber – an alcohol-free lager. In discussion towards the end of the evening I mentioned...
Favourite dish of the night (zero leftovers). Mr R: “They were bloody good. Not up to Ottolenghi’s meat ball standards of course.” Me: “Do you want to say that to Ida’s face?”
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Surprise hit of the evening. Tortilla chips with potted ham and cheese and gherkins. Here they are just about to go in the oven: There was much fun in the kitchen making these as we imagined Joan INSISTING on perfectly shaped chips and going nuts if one of them broke while her helpers were spreading...
