Posts Tagged ‘Freddie Duke’
Wednesday, February 4th, 2015
I met him when I was 14 about to turn 15 at a place we all hung out in Roxbury Park called the teen center. Scooter soon became my personal chauffeur, my best friend and my biggest crush. Scooter was 16, about to turn 17 so on September 17th of that year, I organized a surprise party for him at his house. I don’t remember a thing about it but I imagine I made my signature onion dip, brought a bag of chips and a case of cokes and called it a party. I put the contents of the Lipton Onion soup mix into the sour cream container and stirred. I didn’t even put it in a bowl to serve. That’s how ghetto this party was. I do however remember the surprise party thrown for me just weeks later on October 12th. I thought I was organizing a surprise party – this one would be for Sol, another friend we shared from the teen center. My friend Diane and I planned a big bash at a rich chicks house on the other side of the tracks and all was going smoothly. All, except Scooter said he couldn’t be there that night. I was crushed. I lived for nights that included Scooter. He was adamant that he couldn’t change his plan. (more…)
Tags: Blue Plate Oysterette, coming of age stories, dying too young, eulogy for Paul "Scooter" Silverman, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, friends for life, friends from high school, Milos Greek restaurant in New York, RIP Paul "Scooter" Silverman, Santa Monica Seafood, Scooter from Beverly High
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Monday, January 5th, 2015
I’ve had two mothers-in-law. Neither were big fans of mine. One was the “I will not reveal my recipes to you” kind, and the other, many years ago, gave me the few recipes I still use. I think I’m kind of likeable, but maybe not if I’m married to your son? Moving on.
Cooking scares me. I’m just not that talented in the kitchen. I can dance. But I can’t follow steps. Cooking is all burners and timing and chopping and it’s something that has always overwhelmed me. So, here is what I am: a great guest. I’ll eat your food. I’ll tell you how great it tastes. I actually clap, applauding you when I’m sated.
I’m in awe of traditions that people have created. I dropped that ball. I’ve been divorced, and with blended families found it’s just not my thing. But I appreciate this quality in other people, and this Chanukah my husband and I were invited to our friends Chuck and Karen’s party.
You walked through the front door into the tantalizing aroma of potato pancakes. Like a bloodhound, I followed the scent till I was at the stove where two of my friends, now married 37 years, were hard at work. A tag team of latke makers, Richard was using a ladle to drop the round balls into burning oil. At his side, JoAnn, with a spatula, turned and removed them from the heat at just the right moment. I watched, mesmerized. I hugged them as they told me they have been dressed in aprons performing this act at Chuck and Karen’s holiday party for over thirty years. Impressive, the closeness of these longtime friends and the traditions they have built with their families. I flashed on JoAnn telling me how they all, with kids in tow, vacation together every year at the Surf and Sand Hotel in Laguna. I have great friends but we don’t do group vacations. (more…)
Tags: Beverly High, Blini's and caviar, Candlelighting ceremony, Chanukah, family traditions, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, friends for life, hiking, Latkes, mother -in-law giving recipes, mother- in-laws who don't give recipes, Poppy seed cake
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Tuesday, November 25th, 2014
I was sitting with my husband in our sorry little kitchen. It’s small. Totally old school with a swinging hinged door that closes you in. No modern open floor plan where the kitchen blends into the family room. I love our little 1700-square foot Spanish Bungalow, but I’m never sure it’s where he feels most at home — but that’s a whole other story that I may, or may not, get back to.
This night, I had thrown together a meal. I hate cooking. It’s not something I’m that great at. It’s always a struggle. And lately, I have gotten even lazier than the naturally lazy person I was when we had kids at home. So, I might make a “salad” of pre-washed lettuce that I throw in a bowl, and my husband will make fun of the little effort that went into it. I’ll serve it with a large potato that we share — and he will inform me that for now we can still afford two potatoes – though with retirement looming, we may soon have to cut back to one. (more…)
Tags: Braun coffee makers, coffeemakers, dinner's, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, living in New York or Los Angeles, marriages, mike barrie, retirement, small cozy home
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Thursday, October 2nd, 2014
I was supposed to see my friend Bob that weekend. He didn’t know it though. He would never know it because, as it turns out, the plane he was on flying from Los Angeles to San Diego, crashed. It was September 25, 1978 and Pacific Southwest Airlines first accident involving fatalities. Bob Levine would never know how deep the connection was that I felt with him. We were only casual friends.
I was in my twenties and had been visiting my mother at her house in Palm Springs. Anything for a quick weekend trip, I was always up for a vacation. I was with my lifelong friend, Diane. My mother nurtured us in the form of guacamole. No one made it better. Then we lay around in the sun, catching rays and vitamin D, even if I didn’t know it then. After our quick two-day getaway, we headed home. On the way back from the desert, I noticed something on the freeway I never had before, and that was a connecting freeway and a sign that read South to San Diego. I asked my know-everything-about driving-and-freeways friend Diane about it. I wondered if it might be a great, spontaneous idea if we switched our route and headed south to visit our old pals, Matt Browar and Bob Levine. They had moved to San Diego, a place that was chill, where they could find good waves. (more…)
Tags: Beverly Vista friends, Bob Levine, eating with friends after surfing, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, friends who died too young, Matt Browar, nicest guy from my high school, Pacific Beach Fish Shop San Diego, PSA crash of 1978, surfing buddies
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Thursday, July 10th, 2014
My mother showed up on the playground at school to deliver some of the best news in all of my ten years. We would be visiting my dad, her ex-husband, and we’d be traveling as a family on a six -week, four-country tour of Europe.
Her enthusiasm was infectious and I was jumping up and down for joy. Or, was I just relieved that my brother and I wouldn’t have to attend the dreaded summer school we were registered for? I kept jumping.
Enter an up-until-then-offstage character: Granny. Before this moment in time, I have no recollection of my mother’s mother, Granny. Suddenly, she was needed for some long overdue babysitting — only this would be for our three cats. I would understand when I became an adult the need to drop off my animals at my own mother’s house when I went off to Europe, but that isn’t part of this story.
My mother went straight to the fabric store and set to work sewing our summer European wardrobe. She made two stunning chocolate brown lace dresses lined in silk of the same color. One for her, one for me. A white eyelet dress for me. A few other matching dresses for both of us. A gold brocade jacket for herself. Evelyn Duke, more excited than I had ever witnessed her, meticulously packed us up for the adventure of our – and especially her — lifetime. I had been missing my dad and it was the most devastating loss of my then short life. He went off to London to produce a play. I’d stare longingly at his framed photo over my bed in our ghetto apartment on Olympic in Beverly Hills. The slums. I stared into his dancing green eyes and cried. Finally, I would be reunited with the love of my life. (more…)
Tags: 1963 family trip to Europe, Alan Duke, best sardine sandwich, Debbie Reynolds Eddie Fisher, Eveyln Duke, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, Liz Taylor Richard Burton, Maurice Duke, Mike Todd, scandals in 1960's, South of France, the Beatles, trips of a lifetime
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Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014
I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex and rich food.
He was healthy right up until the day he killed himself.
~Johnny Carson
I finally tuned into “Mad Men.” At least, the first show of this last season. I’m a little late to the craze. I had heard for years about the sets and the wardrobe, but what hit me most was the food. They nailed the food. And it’s what I miss most about that era.
Truth is, I still eat like that — but I’m alone. All the restaurants that serve “old school” food are dying. Everyone’s dropping gluten, dairy and sugar. We are bombarded with studies about how bad they are for you. Gluten triggers stomach problems and brain disorders. Sugar generates cancer. All three cause inflammation that will kill me. Well, kill me now, because all I really want is bread, butter, sugar and a big cold glass of milk. And I don’t want so many choices of milk that I have to read the carton. I want to live again in the late 60’s and early 70’s. (more…)
Tags: Arts Deli in Studio City, Brents Deli Northridge, Canter's Deli in Hollywood, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, Kate Mantelini's in Beverly Hills closing, Mad Men food, Mastro's Ocean Club, Nate n' Als deli, Restaurants closing, restaurants in the 1970's, The Chart House restaurant
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Tuesday, May 20th, 2014
I had one fan. I’m sort of lying. I did get a few pieces of fan mail in my life, but one wrote me on several occasions. It was the 70’s and since I acted mostly in commercials, no one knew my name or how to find me. But when I did co-star in a few TV series episodes, I finally received a few letters of adoration. My fan mail, such as it was, had grown dog-eared from me reading and rereading. I was so elated to be recognized. The letter from my one big fan was proof. I eagerly wrote him back with an enclosed 8 by 10 that he had requested. We started a long correspondence. (more…)
Tags: actresses from the 70's, Ayn Ruymen, best eggplant dish, best friends for life stories, brilliant eggplant dish for parties, DebraLee Scott, fans, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, Glynnis O'Connor, James at 15, James at16, Kay Lenz, Kimberly Beck, Where are They Now stories
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Wednesday, May 7th, 2014
First question from my husband this morning was, “Did you hear the birds?” I’m obsessed with the wild parrots that live together on Chautauqua, just a few blocks away so I asked if it might be them. “No,” he said, “big black birds.” Then I went straight for it, saying with so much conviction he was floored: “Oh, it was probably a crow funeral in a tree”.
And then I went on. Crows have this super intelligence that no other animal has. They remember the face of any human that slighted them and they tell all the other crows in the WORLD about that human’s face and then he or she is fucked (among crows, anyway) for life. Talk about a vendetta. I’m really up on crows. I saw a Ted talk about them. Am I a black crow in my grudge keeping? I used to say I have the memory of an elephant but I’m changing it to the memory of a crow. (more…)
Tags: blackbirds, crows and their super intelligence, Donna Ebsen, Donna Freberg, Donna Jean Freberg, Dr. Pepper, drinking tea with girlfriends, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, lost flocks of parrots, naked women and parrots, parrots, saving birds, Spectacular chocolate cake for July 4th
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Monday, April 28th, 2014
Forget Airbnb — what about FreeB&B? I just had the best service of my life. Door-to-door service for days in a row. Great hospitality at a B & B reminds me of the worst I’d had at one. Remind me to get back to that.
It started last weekend with an offer from my friend Lynne to pick me up and take me to a show. This performer sings about her vagina. Does anything sound better? I think not. While I hemmed and hawed because I had wanted to visit my son and his girlfriend at their new house in Marin, she invited her other friend. Guess what? Lynne’s husband, a friend since childhood, bought an extra ticket for me, and now it would be three of us. She would still pick me up and drop me off. This was turning out well. Except it would be yet another weekend that I hadn’t gone up north to visit my son. On the way to Hollywood, we stopped at her other friend’s house for a great meal she had cooked – eggplant parmesan. I brought a chunk of the favorite cake I make, a light chocolate with southern pecan frosting. The singer –- Storm Large — blew us away. You cannot get her song, “My Vagina is 8 Miles Wide” out of your head. Catchy tune. (more…)
Tags: Best Beignets in Northern California, Best friends for life, Chez Panisse Cafe, Crab Roll at Fish in Marin, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, Lobster eggs benedict at Hummingbird in Fairfax Marin, Marin B&B, song by Storm Large
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2014
In case you are not familiar with the cast of characters in my life, let me introduce you to Domy. She is the housekeeper, former babysitter to my kids. We are very close. Sometimes just a little too close. I can get on her nerves. She can get on mine. Domy is profoundly loyal to me and vice versa. We speak in a language we made up twenty-two years ago. It’s part Spanglish, part 60’s movie Chinese. (more…)
Tags: babysitters that become family, best coffee cake recipe ever, fredde duke, Freddie Duke, Freddy Duke, I love to bake cakes, speaking in Spanglish
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