Category Archives: Christmas

If God is made gloriously manifest in nature, then what the hell have we been doing?

December 10, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Existential: of, or relating to, human existence…our red-hot word for a Sunday… I know a lot of you come to this site for something uplifting, seasonal, or revealing about Hollywood history. Yet, I find it increasingly difficult to be upbeat when friends across the state are caught up in a catastrophe. What’s been going on in California is a tragedy, and because of venal, greedy, stupid, short sighted leadership our world is in peril. Our governor, a scholar and a […]

Categories: Architecture, Art, Christmas, Culture, Design, Film, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Memoir, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized, Weather • Tags: #resist, California is burning, California wildfire, climate change, climate crisis, Ignatius of Loyola, Jesuits, paris climate agreement, what you lose in a fire are your links to the past

1. Never quit. 2. Be yourself. 3. Don’t put too much flour in your brownies…Katharine Hepburn and another recipe for the holidays

December 6, 2017 by Vickie Lester

…The day of our appointment was gray and wintry. Walking the long blocks to Turtle Bay, my father and I didn’t speak much. It felt as if we were about to meet the Queen. Miss Hepburn greeted us warmly. With casual hauteur, she provided us with tea and some of her famous brownies. Though she was in her 70’s, she had a youthful look, enhanced by her girlish clothes: a turtleneck, a black cardigan and shabby khaki-green pants. We talked […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Christmas, Cooking, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Friendship, Gastronomy, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, New York, Photography, Story, Theater, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: be yourself, brownie recipe, Christmas, immanuel kant, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn's brownie recipe, recipe, rules for happiness

Ready to bake some pies? This one has nothing to do with Mildred Pierce, but it’s perfect for the holidays

November 19, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Mama Gabriella’s Sicilian Christmas Pie (Lemon Ricotta Torte) Lighter than a cannoli, kind of like a Southern Chess Pie but more delicious… You can use your favorite flaky pie dough recipe, or make a sweet dough that’s more like a cookie under a custard ricotta filling (sweet dough recipe will follow). Filling 1 1/2 pounds of dry ricotta cheese (place ricotta in a sieve over a bowl and set in fridge overnight to drain, or tie ricotta into a bundle […]

Categories: Architecture, Christmas, Cooking, Culture, Design, DIY, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Friendship, Gastronomy, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Recipes, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: Butterfly McQueen, holiday baking, holiday dessert, Jack Carson, Joan Crawford, Joan Crawford as Mildred Pierce, Lemon Ricotta Torte recipe, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving in Los Angeles

Vickie Lester makes a silent star’s fruitcake in November so it can get tipsy by Christmas

November 15, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Hello, poppets! This weekend I will be stirring up a fragrant, delicious, decidedly old school recipe that evokes the spirit of a spicy warm holiday, and that means fruitcake. Never fear, there will be no disgusting green cherries, or sickly sweet lumps of candied pineapple. My recipe will make two loaves of cake. The longer you age it the more mellow and scrumptious it becomes. Some people place the cakes in a tin, in a cool place, for up to […]

Categories: Christmas, Cooking, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Friendship, Gastronomy, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Marriage, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Recipes, Story, Thanksgiving, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: baking, Christmas, comedienne, cooking, Favorite Recipes of the Movie Stars, fragrant, fruitcake, fruitcake recipe, good cook, Grandmother's fruitcake, Hal B. Wallis, heirloom fruitcake recipe, Hollywood, Louis Fazenda, no disgusting green cherries, Old Hollywood, philanthropist, producer, recipe, silent movies, Vickie Lester makes fruitcake

The Shop Around the Corner…at Christmas

December 25, 2016 by Vickie Lester

A.O. Scott of the New York Times makes a glowing Christmas pick: . In a second I’ll tell you why this particular film fills me with a sense of Christmas well being… It is near the close of the film, Christmas Eve, as the stage is set for the wonderful resolution you saw above… But, if you listen very carefully, before the tender ending, as Stewart and Sullavan prepare to lock the doors and shut off the store lights… You […]

Categories: Art, Christmas, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Humor, Los Angeles, Movies, Photography, Relationships, Writing • Tags: "The Shop Around the Corner", A.O. Scott, at home on set, behind the scenes, best wishes from Vickie Lester, Christmas, Christmas Film Pick, Classic Movies, comedy, director, Ernst Lubitsch, film, hear direction, history, Hollywood, James Stewart, keep rolling, Los Angeles, Margaret Sullavan, Movie Classic, New York Times, photography, romance, sparkling dialogue, tender, well being, when behind the scenes ends up on film

“I’ve been waltzing through the doors of perception more years than you’ve been alive.” Things I’ve heard that have ended up in my novel…

January 12, 2016 by Vickie Lester

If you want to know the truth, just about every novel written — on some level — is a roman à clef. You may think you’re writing noir fiction, or something picaresque, but in the end everything you type is informed by your perception of the world. In the broadest sense my perception of the world is based on where I live, and while that’s not on a studio lot, movies and Hollywood have a lot to do with how […]

Categories: Advertising, Art, Audio, Blogging, Books, Christmas, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, History, Hollywood, Literature, Los Angeles, Movies, Mystery, New York, Palm Springs, Photography, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #abookatbedtime, #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, #pipparathborne, doors of perception, five star murder mystery, Hollywood, Hollywood insider, industry gossip, our audio gift to you, roman à clef

Time to get swept up, chapter 1 of #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, read to you by Pippa Rathborne

December 24, 2015 by Vickie Lester

* HAPPY HOLLYWOOD, BEGUILERS! AND A MERRY NEW YEAR! Compliments of the Season, from Pippa of London & Vickie of Los Angeles! Look for Chapter 2 (the slightly saucy one) on New Year’s Eve… .

Categories: Art, Audio, Books, Choreography, Christmas, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Movies, Mystery, New York, Palm Springs, Photography, Story, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #abookatbedtime, #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, #pipparathborne, Hollywood, noir fiction, our audio gift to you, start me up, twas the night before christmas

“The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” Audrey Hepburn

December 23, 2015 by Vickie Lester

Categories: Art, Christmas, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, History, Hollywood, Photography, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: Audrey Hepburn, caper movie, how to steal a million, Peter O'Toole, The best thing to hold onto in life is each other

‘Twas the night before Christmas in Vickie Lester’s Hollywood…

December 22, 2015 by Vickie Lester

(a holiday excerpt from my Hollywood novel in progress) …He looked up from The Wall Street Journal. Since the days of white-hot celebrity were behind him he had become increasingly interested in managing his money. The television in the library was always on a channel with a constant scroll across the bottom displaying the financial news. He made frequent calls to his cousin Silvio about investments that Billie assumed were extremely speculative. She had overheard conversations ranging from restaurants to […]

Categories: Art, Books, Christmas, Culture, Design, Entertainment, Fiction, Film, History, Hollywood, Literature, Los Angeles, Movies, Photography, Story, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: #amwriting, #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, Archangel, Beverly Hills, Borgia, Christmas Eve with Hollywood royalty, Ketamine, Merry Christmas, stepchildren, twas the night before christmas

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