This month marks the 70th anniversary of the debut of "I Love Lucy"!
Lucille Ball is one of the most beloved comedians in television history. The "I Love Lucy" show debuted on October 15, 1951 and ran for 181 episodes. Right now Lucy is everywhere! She is the "Star of the Month" on Turner Classic Movies for October 2021, the topic of the new TCM podcast "The Plot Thickens" and is the topic of the upcoming film "Being the Ricardos" starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. Lucy even has her own podcast entitled "Let's Talk to Lucy" based on her 1964 radio show where she interviewed a number of showbiz luminaries.
The Recipe
This recipe is from the magazine TV Program Week Feb. 26th - Mar. 4, 1955.
Ingredients
1 egg
1 cup firmly packed sugar
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
1 3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup walnut meats
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Directions
Beat the egg, then add brown sugar and melted butter or margarine. Sift together the flour, baking power and salt. Add this to the egg mixture. Chop nut meats fine and put them in. Next, add vanilla extract, mixing well. Shape in rolls about 2 inches in diameter, and wrap in waxed paper. Chill until firm, then slice thin. Bake on greased cookie sheets in moderately hot oven (375 degrees) for 5 minutes or until brown. The recipe makes about 4 dozen walnut crisps. The dough, however, will keep several days in your refrigerator and you can bake the crisps fresh as needed.
Special Guest
Rick Carl is a recently retired Advertising Art Director with over 40 years experience in film entertainment. Working with studios such as Warner Bros., Universal, MGM, Disney, Miramax, Dreamworks, New Line Cinema and many more, Rick honed his skills on film titles such as BOOGIE NIGHTS, AMERICAN BEAUTY, TITANIC, FARGO, CASINO, NOTTING HILL, TO WONG FOO, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, JULIE NEWMAR, JURASSIC PARK, LIAR LIAR, WEDDING CRASHERS, ELF, SHREK, THE LORD OF THE RINGS and many others.
In television, Rick worked on various titles including THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, ELLEN, THE VOICE, MOM, THE BIG BANG THEORY, THE KOMINSKY METHOD and much more.
Rick has been a longtime classic film and television buff but in particular, has admired America's favorite comedienne, Lucille Ball, since his early youth in St. Louis, Missouri. Well-known in the ‘Lucy’ world, he has illustrated hundreds of images of the redhead over the years, including three book covers; LUCY, RICKY, FRED & ETHEL-THE STORY OF I LOVE LUCY, THE I LOVE LUCY QUIZ BOOK and THE OFFICIAL I LOVE LUCY PAPER DOLL BOOK. Rick has contributed material to magazines, DVDs and documentaries on Lucy and in recent years was hired by CBS Studios to be the color consultant for the colorized “I Love Lucy” specials. He was also involved as an illustrator and providing prop material for the upcoming Lucy-Desi feature film, “Being The Ricardos."
The Final Result
The cookies turned out well. I would suggest cooking them about 8-10 minutes. You can make them thick or thin depending on your preference. If you watch the video, you'll see that I ate several of them on camera.
Thank you to my special guest Rick Carl for brining over a mid-century tablecloth and Franciscan Ivy stoneware dishes like the ones that were used on the set of "I Love Lucy".
I also made sure to wear my navy blue polka dot day dress from the 1940s as a fashion tribute.
I accidentally dropped some mixing bowls and the dough proved a bit sticky, which led to my kitchen now being a huge mess. I think Lucy would be chagrined at having to do the clean up, but I think she would have approved of the cookies and the tribute!
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