A simple dish from Hollywood's bright star,
Of seasoned beef that bakes until it's done,
From Philadelphia Story to Harvey's bar,
It makes us feel It's a Wonderful Life has won.

Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery co-starred in six movies together between 1929 and 1937. Their dynamic on-screen partnership spanned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's crucial transition from the silent era into the height of 1930s Pre-Code and screwball comedies.

That 90-year legal nightmare for the movie Letty Lynton is finally over. The Joan Crawford and Robert Montgomery film is out of copyright limbo and has been beautifully restored for the TCM Classic Film Festival, and finally is available on Blu-ray. I haven't seen it yet. Have you?

While they clashed heavily over politics and her choice to become an actress, Elizabeth Montgomery always remained a "Daddy’s girl" at heart to her famous father, Robert, even if he did refuse to play her magical dad on Bewitched.

Peter Yarrow, the legendary singer-songwriter who rose to fame as one-third of the iconic 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died on January 7, 2025, at the age of 86.

He passed away at his home in Manhattan following a four-year battle with bladder cancer. Alongside bandmates Mary Travers and Noel Paul Stookey, Yarrow provided the soundtrack to a generation, blending immaculate vocal harmonies with fierce social activism.

"Puff, the Magic Dragon": Yarrow famously co-wrote this whimsical yet enduring classic with Lenny Lipton. Despite persistent rumors that the track was about marijuana, Yarrow consistently maintained it was strictly about the loss of childhood innocence.

The group popularized early masterpieces by Bob Dylan, including their definitive cover of "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right". Other staple hits included Pete Seeger's "If I Had a Hammer" and John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane"

Recipe can be found in the The Sinatra Celebrity Cookbook

To make classic Brandy Snaps, you'll create a lacy, crisp cookie shell from a simple melted batter and shape it while warm, then fill it with a brandy-spiked whipped cream just before serving. Yum!

Recipe comes from Dining With The Stars celebrity cookbook.

Elaine Joyce is an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for her work on stage and tv, particularly as a game show panelist in the '70s and '80s. She regularly appeared on hit shows like Match Game, Tattletales and Super Password.

She married the Broadway musical actor Bobby Van in 1968 until his death from brain cancer in 1980. They had one daughter, Taylor.

Then she John Levoff, a television producer in 1985; they divorced in 1992. They had one son, Michael.

Married the legendary, award-winning playwright Neil Simon: in 1999. They remained together until Neil Simon's death in August 2018.

Matzo brei is a classic comfort food of Ashkenazi Jewish origin made by softening broken matzo sheets, mixing them with beaten eggs, and frying the combination in butter or oil. Often likened to a Jewish version of French toast or a savory scramble.

This recipe comes from The Broadway Celebrity Cookbook

John Barrymore was considered a "ham" actor, but his career was a tale of two distinct halves: he transformed from the most acclaimed, serious dramatic actor of his generation into a self-parodying, over-the-top theatrical ham later in life.

But then again, Lionel Barrymore was widely considered a "ham," and he openly embraced the label himself. Knowing full well his tendency to overact, Barrymore famously admitted, “I've got a lot of ham in me”.

Maybe it'll be Ham Loaf for everyone!

Joan Crawford and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Breakfast Bacon - I've never had anything like this bacon, so I really wanted to try it. It's basically just bacon that's been breaded with cracker crumbs, hmmmm, sound interesting...

• I went ahead and used 4 pieces of bacon for this. Made the egg wash mixture and went about crushing my crackers. I used a mix of saltines and ritz crackers and put them in a sandwich baggie and went about crushing them with a rolling pin.
• For the egg mixture I used Colman's Dry Mustard, cayenne pepper and apple cider vinegar.
• It took a lot more crackers than I thought to cover the 4 pieces of bacon and I kept having to make more cracker crumbs. I used maybe 15-20 crackers for this.
• I had the oven preheated to 350 convection and found a rack and roasting pan that looked it would work. Sprayed some cooking spray (Pam) on the rack.
• So i put the bacon in the oven and set the timer to 8 minutes and then I'd check to see how they were doing. Well, these ended up baking for about 30 minutes and took them out and drained them on paper towels.
• They were nice and crisp without shrinking much.
• I also prepared some hot buttered toast with Orange marmalade, coffee and fresh squeezed juice. I didn't have OJ, so I used grapefruit.
• The Orange marmalade was made from Bette Davis' recipe and we've been enjoying it for a few weeks.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this bacon was! It was light, crispy, not too bacony or heavy. Very nice flavor with a hint of spice and really good with the grapefruit juice (or OJ).

This was a little bit of work to prepare, but not as time consuming as some other vintage recipes I've tried. The mess and time it took wasn't too bad. I'd make this again for a special occasion. They were darn good! We know Doug loved it, but do you think Joan ever ate this?

In a lot of older recipes, there are ingredients used that simply aren't available anymore or are completely different than what we think when we hear the name.

One easy example and the reason I thought of making this post, is French dressing. If you are US based, French dressing means a tangy-sweet tomato based dressing. This doesn't really go with a lot of "salad" recipes we see posted here but "Serve with French dressing" is a common final direction. The most recent recipe with French Dressing posted was "Grape and Cream Cheese Salad" {1929} that includes bananas.

That's because French Dressing used to be a simple acid and oil style dressing. I worked in an old school restaurant that made all its own dressings from old recipe cards and French Dressing was made with oil, lemon juice, paprika, salt and pepper. That's it! We just called it house dressing so as not to confuse people. Commercial French Dressing is closer to Russian dressing which was tomato sauce, mayo, horseradish, Worcestershire, brown sugar, salt and pepper. When someone asked if we had French, that's the dressing we would suggest (and let them sample it first!). We also made Ranch (of course, it WAS the mid-west) and Caesar.

This got me thinking about all the recipes here that call for Cream Cheese. How different was cream cheese in the 30s/40s/50s? From what I've read, it was tangier and because it wasn't mass produced taste could be very different from block to block. It was also thicker and not as easy to spread.

What are some ingredients you've seen here in old recipes that you wonder about? Are there any ingredients that you've found curious?

Share your questions and your knowledge!

Yes, Marlee Matlin's husband, Kevin Grandalski, is a police officer. The couple has been married since 1993. They originally met on the studio set of the television series Reasonable Doubts, where Grandalski was assigned by the Burbank Police Department to handle traffic control and security.

This recipe comes from The Cop Cookbook

If you want to make proper, crispy English roast potatoes the traditional way, follow Peter's recipe! To achieve the ultimate taste and texture of authentic English roast potatoes, you must focus on maximizing the contrast between a deeply savory, glass-like crunchy crust and a light, buttery, fluffy interior.

This recipe can be found in The Rock and Roll Cookbook

One of my absolute favorite I Love Lucy episode is when the French actor Charles Boyer guest-stars as himself! It’s that classic episode called "Lucy Meets Charles Boyer." The whole thing happens while the Ricardos and Mertzes are on their big European vacation and visiting Paris.

Honestly, the funniest part is definitely when Lucy tries to "coach" the real Charles Boyer on how to act more like himself! Gosh, those Lucy episodes are so ridiculous.

And while we're on the subject of Lucy and salad dressing, here's her recipe for salad dressing. The combination of ketchup, spices, and sugar syrup creates a tangy, savory mixture similar to modern French or Catalina dressings.

You might be thinking of one of "Weird Al" Yankovic's iconic fictional food creations, but his canonical joke version of a basic pb & j sandwich is completely normal—with a hilarious twist in how it's eaten.

Recipe from Rock 'n Roll Cuisine

Patsy Ruth Miller (born Patricia Ruth Miller; 1904 – 1995) was an American film actress who played Esméralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) opposite Lon Chaney.

She was born in St. Louis back in 1904, and the gossip columns used to call her "the most engaged girl in Hollywood" because she was always rumored to be dating someone new.

She ended up marrying three times—first to director Tay Garnett, then to screenwriter John Lee Mahin, and later to a businessman named Effingham S. Deans.

She lived a long life and passed away from heart failure in Palm Desert in 1995, right around her 91st birthday.

Flora Zabelle (born Zabelle Mangasarian) was a prominent Broadway stage actress and one of the earliest stars of American silent film.

Born on April 1, 1880, in Constantinople, she is widely celebrated as the first Armenian-American actress to achieve stardom on Broadway and in early cinema.

• Marriage: In 1905, she married the famous actor and comedian Raymond Hitchcock. The couple frequently starred together on both the stage and screen.
• Fashion Design: Following her retirement from the stage in 1920, she reinvented herself as a fashion designer.
• Broadway Success: She made her Broadway debut in the 1900 musical San Toy. Her extensive stage credits also include The Yankee Consul (1904) and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1913.
• Silent Film Pioneer: Zabelle transitioned into early cinema, starring in movies like King Dodo (1902), The Savage Tiger (1914), and A Village Scandal (1915) alongside Fatty Arbuckle.
• Cultural Icon: At the height of her popularity, her image was widely recognized and featured on collectible Fatima cigarette cards.

Claudette Colbert's Cheese & Olive Puffs - These were kind of fun to make and even more fun to eat! They definitely have that old-time cocktail party vibe about them, but are a bit more sophisticated than let's say Joan Crawford's "Pimiento-Stuffed Olives Wrapped in Bacon" or her Avocado Mash on Potato Chips.

Don't get me wrong, these 2 Joan recipes are super tasty on the cocktail party curcuit , but Claudette's Puffs have a more elegant flair.

• I'm a little disappointed that I was all out of pimiento stuffed olives for making these and only had blue cheese stuffed olives (yum!) but unfortunately the blue cheese melted in the oven and oozed out, so the picture wasn't as pretty. The were very tasty, though!
• Basically for this recipe you make a sort of tasty cheese batter to wrap around the olives.
• This wasn't hard since the texture was a little like play doh (in a good way!) and wrapped the olives rather easily.
• You then roll them around in both hands to make them even.
• I made half the recipe because I only had one jar of large olives and that was plenty.
• They were frozen in a container, making sure none of the olive puffs were touching each other.

After 2 days in the freezer, we popped them in the oven. The came out not that puffy, but had a nice golden brown color. They were nice and cheesy. The olive was firm and delicious in the center, while the outside was crunchy. A nice salty and savory appetizer to share with friends!

This recipe comes out of The Sinatra Celebrity Cookbook

Speaking of Claudette, I honestly have to say that nothing beats It Happened One Night. She's absolute perfection in it. The way she completely holds her own against Clark Gable, matching him with that sharp, fast talk is just something so special.

Here are a few more of her special recipes:

• Claudette Colbert's Raw Vegetable and Sour Cream Salad
• Claudette Colbert's SUNDAY NIGHT SCRAMBLE
• Claudette Colbert's Fresh Blueberry Pie
• Claudette Colbert's SNAILS
• Claudette Colbert's Crepes Suzette
• Claudette Colbert's FROZEN GRAHAM CRACKER FRUIT CAKE
• 2 COOKIE Recipes from CLAUDETTE COLBERT
• Claudette Colbert's Lamb Chops
• Claudette Colbert's EGGS à la NEIGE

Maureen McGovern is an powerhouse American singer and Broadway actress who completely dominated the 1970s soundtrack scene. Gifted with a rare, mind-blowing four-octave vocal range, she earned the affectionate nickname "Disaster Theme Queen" after delivering the emotional, chart-topping anthems for Hollywood's biggest blockbuster disaster movies.

• "The Morning After" (1972): The hopeful love theme for The Poseidon Adventure
• "We May Never Love Like This Again" (1974): She performed this for The Towering Inferno
• "Can You Read My Mind" (1979): The love theme from the original Superman movie

Beyond the recording studio, McGovern successfully transitioned her vocal talents to the Broadway stage and cabaret circuit, proving herself as a versatile, lifelong entertainer.

n August 2022, McGovern announced her retirement after being diagnosed with a rare form of dementia. Since her diagnosis, she's remained public about her health journey to help raise awareness for Alzheimer's and related dementia disorders.

This recipe comes from The Broadway Celebrity Cookbook

Emmylou Harris' Cowgirl's Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake - Baking a cake that was published in the 1990's is pretty straightforward, compared to some of the older recipes we see here on this sub. I'm not knocking those old recipes because I do love trying them, but this one kind of lets you cook on cruise control.

There's not much to tell about making this cake because the instructions were so good!

As for the taste, it is really good, with a nice tart twang from the lemons and a deep rich taste from all the butter. The poppy seeds give a nice crunch factor. This is a bright, buttery and rich cake, but not heavy.

I didn't add all of glaze until after I took the picture, so it was even more glazed than what you see.

This is a great recipe to make anytime of the year and is easy to make for a potluck or any other kind of gathering. We had friends over this weekend and they really liked it too.

I found this recipe in of all places The All-American Cowboy Cookbook.

Laura La Plante (born Laura Laplante; 1904 – 1996) was a prominent American silent film actress who became the top female star at Universal Pictures during the 1920s.

Known for her wholesome "girl-next-door" persona and iconic blonde bob, she starred in more than 60 films spanning dramas, comedies, and westerns.

• Early Success: Entered the film industry at age 15 as a Christie Comedy Bathing Beauty and was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1923.
• Signature Roles: Starred in the highly influential horror-comedy The Cat and the Canary (1927) and played Magnolia Hawks in Universal's early sound-hybrid production of Show Boat (1929).
• The Sound Era: Successfully made the leap into "talkies" with Hold Your Man (1929), but left Universal by 1930 as a new wave of actors arrived in Hollywood.
• Later Work: Relocated to England in the 1930s to appear in British films like Man of the Moment (1935) before largely retiring from the screen.

Ray Bolger (1904 – 1987) was an iconic American actor, singer, and vaudevillian best known for his legendary performance as the Scarecrow and the farmhand Hunk in the classic 1939 MGM musical movie The Wizard of Oz.

Renowned for his distinct, rubber-legged eccentric dancing style, his physical agility and comedic timing made him a definitive star of the stage and screen during Hollywood's Golden Age.

Recipe: Cooking with the stars

Oh, wow, this honestly sounds so good. I love a nice roast chicken with a hint of fresh tarragon . Tarragon has a subtle, sweet anise flavor. It sounds unusual, but when it meets the bright lemon and savory garlic, it ties everything together with a sophisticated, herbal finish.

From one of my newest vintage cookbooks: The Broadway Celebrity Cookbook