Lady Blue Eyes_ My Life With Frank - Barbara Sinatra [127]
Fortunately, I met the love of my life, a gorgeous young woman by the name of Barbara Ann. That’s when I really began to appreciate all the finer things in life, including those that came out of the kitchen. Barbara’s talents as a good cook extend to her graciousness as a hostess by making guests feel completely wonderful and welcome. The best recipe is a well-prepared meal, fine wine, and good conversation with people you know. With these ingredients you can’t miss. Barbara and I have had high tea with Anwar and Jehan Sadat in their Cairo home; sipped cocktails with Don Rickles and Bruce Springsteen at La Dolce Vita; gathered our road family after a concert for supper at an out-of-the-way Italian joint—these types of occasions are always quite special. As you sample the recipes in this book, Barbara and I hope you experience the same warmth with your loved ones and friends that we do with ours.
Printed between sketches of food by some of the children at the center and a few lighthearted anecdotes from Frank, the list of people who volunteered recipes for our book reads like the index of Who’s Who. Most of our Palm Springs, Washington, and Hollywood friends willingly contributed, as well as the chefs of our favorite restaurants around the world. Aside from Presidents Reagan, Bush Senior, Clinton, and Ford, we printed recipes from Clint Eastwood (spaghetti Western), Johnny Cash (old iron-pot, family-style chili—for which he said you could use snake meat), Sidney Poitier (the sweetest guy in the world, who gave us his recipe for sautéed broccoli), Neil Diamond (his mother’s beef pot roast), Cher (tuna pasta), Farrah Fawcett (her mother’s pecan pie), Gene Kelly (potato sandwich), Whoopi Goldberg (Jewish American Princess fried chicken), Jack Lemmon (broiled shrimp), Joan Collins (pasta primavera), and Oprah Winfrey (Oprah’s potatoes).
My son, Bobby, who’s a terrific cook, gave his recipe for linguine alla puttanesca, or “hooker’s sauce,” and Katharine Hepburn gave us hers for lace cookies. Julio Iglesias gave up his secret for paella Valenciana, which his father always claimed was what turned him into a great singer. Andy Williams divulged his mother’s recipe for rhubarb shortcake, given to him by her on his wedding day. Paul Newman gave us his Italian baked scrod, Dean Martin his delicious caviar-potato appetizers, and Elizabeth Taylor offered her spicy chicken. Frank teased that it was just as well Elizabeth’s recipe didn’t call for carrots, “because when that lady asks for carats, it could cost you half a mil!”
The recipes came in one by one, on index cards, scrawled longhand on scraps of paper, via telegram, or typed out neatly. Probably the funniest was George Burns’s offering for scrambled-scrambled eggs. He wrote:
I haven’t cooked in the last 70 years but I think I still remember how to make scrambled eggs. I’m pretty sure you use eggs; put them in a pan (it’s better if you break them first). Make sure you move the shells to one side, and then let them cook for about 3 minutes. When it’s done, forget the eggs and eat the shells.
The director and producer Freddy De Cordova suggested sardines à la Fred, which went:
Carefully open can of sardines. Pour contents on cold plate. Surround sardines with saltines. Open cold bottle of beer. Pour beer in a glass. Combine sardines with saltines. Wash down with beer. Repeat procedure as required. Serves 1.
Sharon Stone’s recipe for pomme du jour read:
Walk to the refrigerator. Open the door. Open the fruit drawer. Take out an apple. Eat it.
Perhaps not surprisingly with such an illustrious cast, the book sold very well and went to a second printing, which was fantastic. I’m not sure how well it would do these days, as everyone is on a diet and this is most definitely not a diet book, but it raised a lot of money and even more laughs.
Aside from selling the cookbook, I help