Screenland (May-Oct 1931)

100 SCREENLAND Jose Crespo, handsome and dashing as ever, hastened forward to bid us a cordial welcome, as we came in through the great door of the house, with its veranda which looked out over the city with its million twinkling lights. Scores of people already were in the big drawing room, but as Patsy glanced up at the graceful, winding stairway, decorated with its gay Spanish shawls, she gasped. Down its steps came a lovely, slim figure. "It's Conchita !" she whispered. "But just for the moment I felt as if we were really back in the old Spanish days of the dons, especially with Conchita wearing that billowing skirt." As a matter of fact, nobody had worn a Spanish shawl to the party, however, except Patsy ! Senorita Montenegro speaks very good English, and is brightly witty despite all the dramatic roles she plays. Dolores Del Rio was among the gay guests, looking prettier than ever since her illness. Cedric Gibbons, her handsome husband, was with her. They are tremendously in love, you can easily see. We asked her when she was going to return to work, but she said, with a look at her husband that might easily turn any man's head : "I'm not thinking of work now. I'm thinking only of love!" Then her husband finished for her: "We are still honeymooning, you see. Or maybe you might say we are just beginning to honeymoon. My wife has been ill ever since we have been married" — Dolores turned a sad smile to him. "But Dolores was a lovely bride all the time she was in the hospital," went on her husband with gay fondness. "She never did look the least bit sick." Dolores told us that she wanted her husband to learn to speak Spanish, but he said that he was afraid he couldn't learn. However, he is picking up a word here and there in spite of himself. Ramon Novarro was there, and Don Alvarado, Ramon having brought his pretty sister, Carmen, whom he won't let to go into pictures, although she has had offers, and his brother, Antonio Samaniego ; and other guests included Raquel Torres and her sister Renee, Dorothy Jordan, Alma Real, the Spanish prima donna; and two score of Spanish players now working in Spanish versions of pictures. Many guests had brought gifts for Conchita, and after she had opened them supper was served. And then it was time to cut the big cake ! What fun there was as we bit charily but hopefully into our slices, expecting to find a little good luck piece, but hoping not to choke on it ! Raquel Torres nearly swallowed her little lucky piece, which was a tiny replica of the three sacred Japanese monkeys made of amber. Renee Torres found a tiny gold cross in her cake, and Dolores Del Rio found a half-guinea English gold piece, while other guests discovered tiny rings, and somebody discovered a gold wishbone. Dolores had cut the cake, and we told her that she, being a banker's daughter, had been able to craftily page the money ! Some way Conchita disappeared, but we paid no attention at the moment, and in the meantime Mrs. Eernando Mignoni, who is a gypsy, and who deserted her clan to be wed, danced a real gypsy dance, with the only music accompanying her the castenet-like finger snapping of guests. It was weird and charming and graceful. Alma Real sang some lovely Spanish songs, and after that there was dancing. Suddenly Conchita's sister appeared dramatically with a telegram in her hand. She was very white. Conchita had gone home and was wiring that she was ill ! There was a deal of telephoning, but it was learned that nothing serious was the matter — only Conchita feared she had swallowed the little gold four-leaf-clover in her piece of cake ! Next day we met her at the studio, however, rosy and smiling as ever. ♦ Picnicking with Louise Fazenda— Continued from page 95 under side of the brown bread face and place on top of the white bread. The effect is that of a round brown face, with white eyes, nose, and mouth where the butter shows through. The only drawback to such a sandwich is that they are so interesting to look at that all eating proceedings are held up until the guests decide whether to eat them or take them home as a souvenir ! Variations to this sandwich can be had by making some of the mouths smiling, others scowling, and changing the shapes of eyes and nostrils. One sandwich that Miss Fazenda always includes in her picnic baskets is : The Sweet SaiKhvicli The following proportions will make sufficient filling for twenty little sandwiches. Yi cup soft butter Y2 cup chopped dates Ya cup chopped figs Ya cup chopped prunes 3 tbs. cream Y& teasp. salt Arrange slices of bread in pairs. Mix the chopped fruits with the butter, salt and cream. Stir until the mixture is soft and creamy. When sandwiches have been filled, wrap them in a dampened tea towel until the rest of the picnic luncheon is prepared. Of course, there are devilled eggs packed away in one corner of a basket. With them Louise likes to serve crisp crackers, or tiny biscuits. Here is her recipe for making the diminutive biscuits : 2Y2 cups pastry flour 5 tsp. baking powder • Ya teasp. salt 5 tbs. butter 1 cup milk 2 tbs. sugar Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Sift. Cut in butter with a knife until well mixed. Add milk slowly until soft dough is formed. Place on floured board and pat into small mounds. Drop on buttered pans. Mix the sugar with a little milk and spread on top of each biscuit. Bake for 15 minutes. Devilled Eggs Remove shells from hard boiled eggs. Cut in two, lengthwise. Remove yolks. For nine eggs, use the following proportion of ingredients: Y2 cup mayonnaise 1 tsp. salt Y% teasp. paprika Y2 tbs. chopped parsley Y2 tsp. chopped green pepper 3 pimento-stuffed olives chopped fine Mix thoroughly with yolks and stuff. Wrap in oiled paper. The ideal salad for picnic days is one called "The Summer Salad." Louise says it is most refreshing for outdoor serving. 3 cups shredded cabbage 1 cup shredded lettuce 2 cups diced pineapple 1 cup red cherries 2 tsp. salt Y2 tsp. paprika Ya tsp. celery salt 1 cup mayonnaise or any salad dressing preferred Mix all ingredients except dressing, which can be added just before serving. A big platter of chocolate cookies rounds off the menu. And if you would see smiles of contentment settle over the faces of your guests at this last course, Miss Fazenda suggests : Chocolate Bodies Y2. cup fat \Yi cups sugar 2 eggs 4 tbs. milk 2 squares chocolate, melted 1 tsp. vanilla 2Y2 cups flour Yi tsp. salt 3 tsp. baking powder Cream the fat. Add eggs and sugar. Beat for two minutes. Add milk, melted chocolate and vanilla. Next add all dry ingredients, which have been mixed and sifted together. Drop from the end of a spoon on greased baking pan, spacing about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle top of each cookie with finely chopped walnuts and almonds. Bake for 15 minutes in a moderate oven. In that drowsily pleasant hour between luncheon and a swim in the surf, Louise will mentally reconstruct the seashore haven where so many picnic parties have been held in the past. The new home will be under construction soon and there are many gay plans for the summer. "The kitchen will be started first," declares Louise. "I don't care how long I have to make a bivouac under the stars until my bedroom is finished. But a picnic is so much more fun if there is an honest-to-goodness kitchen stove near by to warm up a final social cup of coffee." And all the time Louise is talking she will be moving nearer the charred mass that was once a beautiful home, pointing out the proposed location of a sink there and a bedroom window overlooking the Pacific here. Her friends say that the only reason Louise doesn't simulate the phoenix more completely and lay her picnic cloth right on top of the beloved beach house site is that she is afraid the children will get cinders in their eyes and she herself prefers to include charcoal in her diet in a more subtle form !