Christmas in Connecticut

This time of year I love to go into my gleaming kitchen and pop in a tape of Christmas in Connecticut. Watching Barbara Stanwyck try to fake her way through a career in food writing lifts my spirits, and my bread dough seems to enjoy her capers. It always rises to this occasion. In another life, I actually had my Christmases in Connecticut, and none of it looked like anything depicted in the film, but who wouldn't be drawn to a horse-drawn sleigh and a home with a fireplace taller than the Christmas tree? I've never had a boss like Sydney Greenstreet - the publishing lions just weren't that entertaining - nor an Uncle Felix who owned a restaurant around the corner who could bring me mushroom omelets while I worked.

Sigh, I love this black and white and tinseled version of the holidays. Christmas always looks more beautiful in black and white, I don't know why.

Just the other day I was taking a whirl at making a pain de mie I'd seen Julia Child do on television. To get the loaf rectangular, or sandwich-shaped, Julia placed a cookie sheet on top of the pan and a brick on top of that to keep the dough from rising in the oven.

For this I knew I better watch Ms. Stanwyck try again to fool the public with her Martha Stewart expertise. As dough cleaved to my fingers, I heard her say "I took crisp lettuce, romaine, and crinkly endive from my own garden for my husband’s favorite salad. For this I made a rich, creamy blue cheese dressing." Oh my! She was growing her own salad greens, just like we encourage today. This isn't a new concept. And it was during the war years, so rationing made gardening a good idea.

Oh wait, she wasn't really doing it, she was inferring she was doing it. Barbara, Barbara. You don't really have a horse-drawn sleigh at your beck and call either, do you?

Some of the lines in the movie get past me, for example, I have no idea what a potage Mongol and a roast goose Bernoise with walnut stuffing are - and that's for a Connecticut Christmas dinner. I did a swift search on the web and found a blog called "Cooking With the Movies," and Leischa! What do you think? They've got a good overview of all the dishes mentioned in Christmas in Connecticut.

Why did I show an image of my Christmas cactus on top of my sister's skater skirt (really from Christmas in Connecticut), instead of Barbara Stanwyck flipping flapjacks on Christmas morning? Because images of Hollywood stars, whether they are real housewives who cook or not, are rights protected.

I gotta dash. I think there's a horse-drawn sleigh outside with a driver, some jingle bells and a quick exit strategy. I'll be back, though. I have more favorite holiday movies to flip through.