So following on from the glorious post of all the wonderful things testers have made for the Vincent Price cookbook, here’s a post about when things don’t quite work out so well. Three Keith Michell recipes, and each one of them a bit of a fail. His lentil pâté recipe makes a huge amount of...
It’s Vincent Price’s birthday today. Let’s celebrate with a round up of some of the dishes cooked for the forthcoming Vincent Price cookbook by our wonderful volunteers. My co-writer Peter has published a sneaky peek of the proposed book cover (revealing the NEW TITLE) and some of the inside pages here – do check it...
It’s a big day today. It’s 15 years since I wrote my very first blog post. Oh my! Back in 2016 I was a broken hearted singleton living on a houseboat and I was feeling very sorry for myself. I was rubbish at cooking and so in an attempt to cheer myself up, I made...
I never cook rice. If Mr R is around the place and we are having curry or chilli or something else that requires a ricey accompaniment, he is in charge. He is the expert. Just as I am the expert in the scrambled eggs department. On a Sunday morning that’s my job, he looks after...
What do you stick into the DVD player when you are down in the dumps? If there one film that always lifts your spirits, or do you have a handful to choose from? I need to know my lovelies! I’m working on a new book. I’ve actually been working on this since 2010 but it...
If you are not from the UK, you might not know who Ken Dodd is. Where on earth do I begin? I think for the purposes of this blog post, all you need to know is that his comedy schtick included tickling sticks Remember The Great Bear Project? Where I was taking an appropriate foodstuff...
Potatoes fried in a large amount of butter are going to be good aren’t they? This is not clickbait to tease you into reading a disaster story about how potatoes fried in a large amount of butter turned out NOT to be good. Because they definitely were good (it is a Vincent Price recipe after...
Any recipe that includes pickle juice piques my pickle interest. My fridge is FULL of pickle juice and because I love pickles so much, I make a lot of pickles and I eat a lot of pickles. It always seems a waste to chuck away all the delicious spiced vinegar once I’ve scoffed all the...
I’m having a bit of a sort out here at Silver Screen Suppers Towers and I keep finding brilliant things like this. When I stumbled upon this wonderful magazine cover, I thought to myself, “did I ever write about the time I was a beekeeper for the day?” Well I did, but it’s been in...
Beer with her soup, that’s my gal! I was so thrilled to get an email from my penpal Annette of I’m Annette to say she’d found a Jane Russell recipe on the internet. This was music to my ears as the only recipe I had in my collection is BONKERS, really bonkers! I was planning...
In May my blog will be 15 years old. Fifteen years of eating and drinking like my Hollywood idols. CRIKEY! I know exactly what movie star dish I am going to cook to celebrate, but you’ll have to wait until then to find out! Here’s a clue… In honour of the blog’s birthday I decided...
HippFest Silent Cinema Festival has begun – whoopee! My Mary Pickford Silver Screen Supper video goes out on Saturday morning and is available for 48 hours so if you have landed here looking for more information about her enchiladas or cocktails, please skip to this post for the shopping list and cooking tips. I promised...
Oh, how I miss being in a huge room with hundreds of other Murder, She Wrote fans laughing like a drain at Tim Benzie’s antics onstage at one of his Solve-along-a-Murder-She-Wrote events. You are missing it too right? Well I have a TREAT FOR YOU ALL. During lockdown Tim and I got together on Zoom...
Here is something super cute to scoff after your Mary Pickford enchiladas! I made these in honour of HippFest Silent Cinema Festival which is ALMOST UPON US my lovelies. Have you got your pass yet? Only £20 for loads of amazing silent films with specially commissioned musical accompaniment, lots of talks by knowledgeable folks and...
Greetings to all those attending the wondrous Hippfest Silent Cinema Festival! Passes are only £20 for 5 days of fabulousness, do sign up, it’s all online! Wherever you are in the world, whatever the time difference, do grab a pass as most things are available for 48 hours so you can watch in your own...
Ahhh, it’s the final recipe from the Tessie O’Shea Slimming Cookbook! In January 2019, I pledged to make one recipe a month from Tessie’s book and what with one thing and another, it has taken me until now to do all 12, but it’s been loads of fun. Her recipes are generally a little bit...
On Wednesday I had such a stressful day I felt like my head was going to explode. I work in a film archive (well no longer physically “in” it) and stress is usually absent from my working life. But sometimes I have a humdinger of a day and I end up as Rhona Cameron once...
It was kind of unfortunate that I’d seen The Tingler (1959) just a few days before making this dish. Because I couldn’t stop thinking about THE TINGLER every time I looked at this tenderloin. If you’ve seen that movie, you’ll know what I mean. If you haven’t, I strongly suggest doing what I did and...
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 – a lovely correspondence ensues. I am all about corresponding...
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 MONTH. It is a sarnie for a special occasion, for a special brunch, cut up small...
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 to travel? The idea of going anywhere other than the postbox round the corner seems...
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, I wondered which other film stars might have done a spot...
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, it’s so quick to make a pasta dinner, why don’t...
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 appears in many incarnations in recipe books and magazines, but this version from the New York Times...
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 the 3 movie star cookbooks that offer slightly healthier options in the kitchen. I’m thinking about...
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 it keeps on popping into my head as something I really, really,...
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 spent Christmas with my parents and I am very sad about...
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 briefly with some French Toast. I had two slices of Vincent’s Herb Bread which I’d tested...
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 Price’s birthday May 27th – eek! It feels a...
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 was I was a bit moody during the first pandemic lockdown....
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 way someone can survive by their wits… it is UTTERLY MARVELLOUS! Here’s a link...
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 who need some merriment in these crazy times. Put this on your Christmas wishlist and buy a copy for...
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, it is like that Advocaat stuff. A bottle of...
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 after the UK went into a 3-month Covid-19 lockdown. In those early days, we still...
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 off a chicken and using a teaspoon to insert...
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 human contact during the week. I am not very good at Facebook...
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 her kitchen well and have great memories of spectacular...
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...
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 between me in North London and my beloved Frickster in Austin,...
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 herb garden, I am forced to buy fresh herbs...
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 am planning to make a big batch of Vincent Price’s Chili...
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 as I thought it might make me sad. Gloomy that those days...
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 a flatshare? Or you have a household of many children with...
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! The lamb I cooked to Helen’s recipe was without a doubt the...
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 & Cheese, I would say it is enough for 20-24 portions, depending how greedy you...
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, and at the weekends I can see Mr Rathbone....
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 decided to create a day. I hereby announce that...
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 this space. It’s a really fun project that involves getting your steps in each day. Here’s a clue… Melissa...
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 had of course. But we are going to have...
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 other day I got a craving for this, and...
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 collection and I found these nine. I’ve tried a couple of...
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 an hour outside every day either walking around the...
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 to me many moons ago by the lovely...
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 and my brain was in overdrive. I could buy anything I wanted, right there, right then. No...
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 few Saturdays ago, on the night before, I got...
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 police being called and you getting fined £10,000 for hosting...
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 recipe because it contained stuff I have never heard of. I am...
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 the Wind and looking for something to eat alongside? Then it dawned on me, perhaps Olivia...
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 as I was planning to test the Vodka Blush from Rosemary’s Baby...
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 LOVE this combo on a potato. Pure comfort food....
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 want to buy a huge vat of ice cream that would...
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 of delicious vinaigrette. This makes my heart burst with...
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 first night I made this, I had it with...
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 on my own five days a week for 27 more weeks...
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 is the cheddar I always buy after I had...
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 is me having my first pint of beer out in the real world....
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 the last two posts where he’ll be counting down from 20 to 1....
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 star of the immersive Solve-along-a-Murder-She-Wrote events. If you have ever been to one of these you will know that...
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 we had lots of picnic fodder. Ever since I...
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 cold beverages in a pub was on our wedding day – 20th March 2020 – which was...
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 I got the movie wrong when I did my ‘STELLA” impersonation of Marlon, but I was improvising!...
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 if she says tuna. Whenever I stop plotting and planning ways...
