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Culinary jewels found
inside old celeb mags

It was while cleaning out his late Aunt Edna's garage in 1974 that the nameless creator of hollywoodcookbook.com happened upon a stockpile of vintage celebrity magazines of decades past. These relics, which dated back to the 1920s, contained hundreds of recipes of Hollywood stars of yore.

The magazines sat in his garage for another 30 years before he decided to share it with the world and, in his own words, "help preserve a part of our American heritage that is too precious to lose."

At the site, you'll find nearly 200 recipes from more than 150 famous actors, actresses, TV celebs, musicians and comedians, from Eddie Albert of "Green Acres" fame to Johnny Zell, trumpeter with the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, whose effortless, no-fuss recipe for Cherrystone clams could be a hit with bachelors of any generation.

To enjoy "Johnny Zell's Cherrystone Clams," simply place a dozen clams in 1 inch of water and boil until all the shells have opened. Serve them on a plate garnished with parsley and butter and add pasta and marinara sauce as you see fit.

Another easy recipe is "Bill Cosby's Favorite Fried Chicken," which requires only chicken for eight persons, 2 cups buttermilk, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, a half teaspoon pepper, and a half teaspoon paprika. Dip chicken into buttermilk, let soak for one hour and dip into flour and fry.

There's "Cary Grant's Steak and Kidney Pie," "Vincent Price's Chicken and Seafood Gumbo," "Burt Reynolds' Beef Stew," "William Conrad's Gazpacho Valenciana," "Roger Moore's Spud Pie," and dozens of other intriguing recipes from stars of the '20s through '70s.

You'll also find recipes from the entire cast of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," including Moore's "Real French Onion Soup," "Betty White's Chicken Wings Pacifica," "Georgia Engel's Oatmeal Icebox Cookies," "Ed Asner's Cream of Carrot Soup," "Gavin McLeod's Mushroom Barley Soup" and the late Ted Knight's recipe for pierogis.

Hollywoodcookbook.com suggests renting a DVD featuring these classic stars with culinary creations pulled from the Web site. "Imagine how much fun it will be to watch 'Casablanca' while enjoying Humphrey Bogart's personal recipe for Spaghetti Loaf," says the Web site. "Aren't you glad Aunt Edna saved all those old magazines?"

Note: Web sites mentioned in this column were active at time of publication. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin neither endorses nor is responsible for their contents.

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