Life This Week: January 22, 1940

First up, there's an article about Katharine Hepburn's eccentric family. It's an interesting read if you're a big fan of Ms. Hepburn like I am. The photos are such fun, too. There's also one from The Philadelphia Story, which was on Broadway at the time. The article predicts that if the play becomes a movie, Katharine Hepburn will star in it but won't stay in Hollywood for long. I hope no one placed a bet on that prediction!

Every time I read about the Hepburns, I think I'd like to emulate their wealthy-New-England-liberal home life. I just don't want to have seven children.

From the article:

P.S. I've created a Katharine Hepburn board on Pinterest to share some of my favorite Katharine photos. Go check it out!

The Movie of the Week for this issue is The Grapes of Wrath, but I couldn't stand to watch it again, so I picked a movie that debuted in London this week in 1940: The Stars Look Down. I was really excited because it stars Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood (who were in The Lady Vanishes together; more on that Thursday). Unfortunately, it's about coal mining and when is that anything other than depressing? Even director Carol Reed called his adaptation of A.J. Cronin's novel "a gloomy little piece." Well, better luck next time on the film front.

I did make some homemade English Muffins, though, and they were quite tasty. I decided to do a sourdough version of the muffins in my 1936 edition of The Boston Cooking School Cook Book, because I have a sourdough starter and why not?

Sourdough English Muffins

For the sponge:
1 cup fed sourdough starter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups flour

To make the muffins:
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons softened butter, cut into small cubes


To make the sponge, place the cup of fed sourdough starter in a large mixing bowl. Heat the milk and water to "blood temperature" (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit) and pour over the starter. Stir together then stir in the salt and sugar. Next, stir in 2 cups of flour. Cover the bowl and leave overnight.

The next morning, stir in the remaining 2 cups of flour and work in the softened butter. Knead thoroughly and return to mixing bowl. Cover with a cloth and let stand until dough has doubled in volume.

Press the risen dough out on a floured board to a thickness of 3/4". Cut out muffins with a 2 3/4" round cutter. Cook on a hot buttered griddle 15 minutes, turning often.

12 muffins

Adapted from "English Muffins" in The Boston Cooking School Cook Book (1936).

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