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 a strange foodstuff to a tube station on the Northern Line and then eating it. This was all part...
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. Where does all the time go? I have no idea! Ingredients for the Bellamy...
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 except Mr Rathbone crossed my threshold, I find it hard to believe that this actually happened....
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 Cookbook the title of Mike’s dish is actually Mannix’s Lamb Chop...
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 a muscle. This cocktail is a humdinger and no mistake. I mentioned in...
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 correctly. Put the cream cheese in the water with the sprouts and...
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 you, looks like he enjoyed a cold beer now and then too…
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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 hanging around my fridge for a dangerously long...
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 did have celeriac… I...
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 Barnes’ honour but the Stork Club Bar...
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 blog at a very low point in my life, and it has got me...
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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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 needed comfort food of the...
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 most of his life and certainly wouldn’t have been drinking...
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 appeared on the show...
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 Toad in the...
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 lovelies! 2 oz good quality vodka, 1/2 oz or splash of dry vermouth, ice...
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 Zoom! If you fancy joining and...
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 the online foodies seem to say when they...
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 them a “mixed drink”? Shirley Temples...
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...
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 much. I had...
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 proceedings with a Vincent Price Cucumber Crocodile as I so often...
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 Quarantini Time should be popping up here...
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 Towers I think quite...
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 of before that momentous moment. My lovely...
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 has learned from classic films. Check it...
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 had the solution....
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 out what was on the kitchen...
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 has given me pause for thought. Sometimes my blog posts...
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 our happy, happy,...
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 all be doing a lot more cooking...
If I am having a cocktail, four out of five times it will be a Martini. I love ’em. My Guild of Food Writer chum Richard Ehrlich knows everything there is to know about martini making and I have been to two of his Martini Monologue workshops. I learned lots, I drank lots! Here’s a...
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...
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 yourself to something fancy, even...
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 put anything in it. Except jello...
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 like this definition from the...
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 Jim Rockford. Columbo and J.B....
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 face. Herbert Marshall is in...
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 TV show that had a...
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...
“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! This will now be my go-to...
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 someone...
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 fists...
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 this up on...
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 was a...
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, slabs of it...
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 have...
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 night! When I asked Lucy if she...
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 own here. and the view from your writing desk is...
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 working through the list. This studiousness is partly with...
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, and over, and over…. They...
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 Island… The thing...
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 Blogathon, the Jeff Goldblum Blogathon, the Angela...
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 myself...
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. ************************************************************************ I thought I had some idea of what Bombay Chicken might involve but it...
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 Price Legacy UK and I made together,...
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 kitchen with my chum Liz Wilson, aka Ma Baker. In fact, I made a...
I live alone, and when I was single for many years, I absolutely loved a solo Friday night in. I would come home from work, make myself a Martini and listen to the Desmond Carrington Show on Radio 4. Singing along to Desmond’s crazy selection of tunes, I would rustle up something fancy to eat,...
Corinna and Cathy are GOOD SPORTS when they come round to my house for dinner. They probably know that something weird is going to be served up. Gourmet food Tessie’s fishcake was not. Fishcake singular you note, even though it serves four. Basically, you make a big old mixture of whatever tinned fish you have...
I wanted to make something to mark the end of the Murder, She Wrote Cookalong and a return to normal life, and this salad was always going to be it. It was fresh, healthy and delicious. Everything you would expect from a recipe Angela included in her wonderful book Positive Moves and just what I...
One of the best things about having a blog is connecting with folks all around the world who are game for anything! So today’s testers are based in Australia, the USA, Canada, Finland and Greece as well as here in good old Blighty. Thanks so much, you wonderful worldwide blogger chums! I haven’t met all...
I do a LOT of cooking so if someone offers to cook for me, I am in heaven! Some lovely, lovely people invited me to partake in the Murder, She Cooked recipes they were testing. I had a blast. Just as when Jessica and Seth cook and eat together, I am happiest when doing that...
I’ve been thrilled by how many people have signed up for the cookalong. Some are blogger friends I only know through the ether, some are friends in real life, and some I don’t know from Adam! I am having so much fun reading and compiling all the feedback. I cannot tell you all how valuable...
We interrupt the Murder, She Wrote Cookalong with a quick post about Shelley Winters! I had great plans to live my life like Shelley Winters for a day as part of the Shelley Winters blogathon organized by Gill from Realweegiemidget Reviews and Poppity of Poppity Talks Classic Film. Naturally, daily life and my...
My work chum Julie Gambling will probably be the first to admit that she doesn’t cook much. She offered to try Farley Grainger’s Baked Potatoes With Chives and cooked these for her folks on a visit to Norfolk. She says, “After my parents got over the shock of me cooking something they did enjoy, we...
Greg Swenson of the Recipes for Rebels website and book of the same name is a creative genius. He designed the cover of my Cooking With Columbo cookbook (and proofread it I might add!) He also designed all my lovely Murder, She Wrote Cookalong graphics Greg made not just one, but two brilliant cooking demo...
Hoorah! It’s time for the Murder, She Wrote Cookalong! I have been overwhelmed by the amount of folks who have volunteered to test recipes for the forthcoming Murder, She Cooked book and I love you all! The next few days will be all about the favourite recipes of Angela Lansbury and her many fabulous...
Tomorrow is the anniversary of the first episode of Murder, She Wrote hitting TV screens in 1984 so this is a perfect recipe to celebrate! The Murder, She Wrote Cookalong is happening in the next few days so be prepared for much madness here on the blog… The first time I went to the AMAZING...
You know the phrase, “Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet”? Well, one of the things I LOVE about having a blog is meeting people through the internet that I KNOW would be friends if they lived around the corner. One such person is Kelli Cline who lives 4,781 miles away from me in...
This recipe came to me courtesy of Yinzerella over at Dinner is Served 1972. I don’t know how she could bear to part with these amazing vintage recipe cards but that’s just the kinda gal she is! They came in the post one day and I absolutely treasure them. I would love to make a...
I hate to waste food as much as the next hippie, but in the case of Tessie’s soup I had to make an exception. Her way of pimping up a can of condensed soup is slightly bonkers but at its heart, sensible. Add some garlic salt, chicken stock cubes, salt and pepper and voila! Pimped...
