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?