IN MEMORY OF FARRAH

Farrah Fawcett was an icon of television and film.  From Charlie’s Angels to her many made-for-television movies, she was always loved as the perky star who never seemed caught up in her own beauty.  She seemed like the all American “girl next door”. Someone you'd giggle with, play tennis with, go shopping with.

One of my favorite movies is Somebody Killed Her Husband(1978), which starred Farrah and Jeff Bridges.  The publicity says “Somebody Killed Her Husband” is in the tradition of the comedy mysteries of the 1930s and 1940s. It sure is.  It’s a Thanksgiving/Christmas themed film and perfect for this time of year.

The story takes place in Manhattan (New York City), where Jeff Bridges is a clerk in the toy department at Macy's, who dreams of becoming a famous writer of children's books, and Farrah Fawcett-Majors comes in with her baby son.  They all discuss caterpillars for a while and, what with one thing and another, Jeff and Farrah and little Benjamin have lunch together in the park.

 Bridges falls, of course, instantly in love with Ms. Fawcett-Majors. But she's married and has a child, and so seems forever out of reach.

That's until Jeff and his date and Farrah and her husband are having dinner across the room from each other at Maxwell's Plum, and the date stalks out, and then Farrah stalks out, and then Jeff races after her, and after a few laps around the mulberry bush, they declare their love for each other.

Then somebody kills her husband. The crime has something to do with stolen jewels. Jeff and Farrah panic. They decide they're the prime suspects, and so they stuff the husband in the freezer and try to solve the murder themselves. They do so, a long time later.

 

Farrah loved making two of her favorite pies at holiday time.  Her best friend, Alana Stewart, shared how that was a holiday tradition for them when she told the heartbreaking story of Farrah’s losing battle with cancer.  And in memory of her, I am so happy to have her two pie recipes (Pecan and Coconut Cream) to share with you. 

FARRAH FAWCETT’S PECAN PIE

2 tablespoons butter or margarine , melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs , lightly beaten

1/2 cup pecan halves

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup pecans , chopped

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

1 cup white corn syrup

Combine all the ingredients and pour into a pastry shell.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temp. to 350 degrees.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the filling edges are firm and the centre is slightly soft.

FARRAH’S COCONUT CREAM PIE

1 frozen ready-to-bake pie crust (9-inch)

3 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons of corn starch

1 can unsweetened coconut milk (13.5 ounces)

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 325.  In a medium-sized bowl whisk eggs thoroughly. Whisk in whole milk slowly to thoroughly combine. In another medium-sized bowl, whisk the sugar and corn starch together.

Whisk in the coconut milk. Whisk the egg/milk mixture into the coconut mixture making sure the combined mixture is thoroughly smooth and there are no lumps.

Place the frozen pie crust on the bottom rack of the preheated oven. Carefully add the combined coconut mixture. Top with 1/2 cup of the flaked coconut.

Bake for 30 minutes. Carefully move pie to the top rack of the oven and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of flaked coconut. Continue baking for an additional 30 minutes until the pie sets and the coconut flakes on top turn golden brown.

Carefully remove the pie from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

 

Farrah's Ktchen

Farrah shortly before her death