SUNDAY – DECEMBER 14, 2014

A FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIE

I love films from the 1940s more than anything, and Christmas in Connecticut is one of the very best.  It all the elements that makes a great movie.  A great story, a loveable cast,a beautiful location, comedy, romance … and Barbara Stanwyck was never more beautiful. 

In the 1945 holiday film, Stanwyck brilliantly played Elizabeth Lane, a single food writer living in New York whose fictional articles about her Connecticut farm with her husband and baby are admired by housewives across the country.  Her publisher is unaware of the charade and convinces Elizabeth to host a Christmas dinner for returning war hero Jefferson Jones (Dennis Morgan). Facing being fired, she agrees. In desperation, Elizabeth agrees to marry her friend John Sloan, who has a farm in Connecticut, even though she has never loved him. She also enlists the help of her friend and chef Felix Bassenak who has been providing her with recipes for her articles.

 

At Sloan's picturesque Connecticut farm, Elizabeth meets Nora, the housemaid, and a neighbor's baby that they will pretend is their baby. Planning to marry immediately, Elizabeth goes upstairs to freshen up, just as Judge Crothers arrives. However the ceremony is interrupted when Jefferson arrives. Together Jefferson and Elizabeth take care of the baby and then after dinner spend time together in the barn, and they soon fall in love.

 

I’ve never seen Barbara Stanwyck look as beautiful as she does in Christmas in Connecticut.  Her long, flowing hair and the outfits she wears add to the whole feel of the film.    And Stanwyck is an amazing comic!   And all the characters keep the laughs coming.  

 

I recommend buying this and adding it into your rotation of Christmas films.  You’ll be glad you did year after year!

Steak a la Barbara Stanwyck

Barbara Stanwyck, like her Character Elizabeth Lane, couldn’t cook.  She ate steak three meals a day to keep her weight down (must have worked because she looks GREAT).  Her recipe is extremely simple in its preparation, yet quite sophisticated in flavor.

1 cup soy sauce

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 Tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon olive oil

The best steak you can fine, about 3/4 -inch thick

2 tablespoons butter

Mix soy sauce with brown sugar, pepper and olive oil, pour into shallow pan.

Put steak into sauce and spoon a little sauce over top; marinate 30 minutes and turn several times.

Heat a large heavy skillet; add butter and when very hot, add the steak to skillet and cook to desired doneness.  Serve immediately on a well heated platter.

 

Mr. & Mrs. Robert Taylor --

Although they were divorced,

they remained the love of each others lives

for the remainder of their lifes.