Marilyn Monroe’s Stuffing Recipe Stars in a Remake

Posted On November 11, 2010

A new book entitled “Fragments” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux; $30) collects assorted letters, poems and back-of-the-envelope scribblings that span the time from Monroe’s first marriage in 1943 to her death in 1962.

Not known as a “foodie”, a recipe for either chicken or turkey stuffing was found scrawled — haphazardly — on stationery with a letterhead from a title insurance company.

It sounds as if this recipe is written out in descriptive form … not like a science experiment, with precise ingredients in precise amounts but in the same way that you or I might throw a well known dish together in our own homes.

I read the article in the NYTimes about the recipe, and it sounds a little fussy, actually. For me, one of the things I love about stuffing (besides eating it) is that it’s dirt simple to prepare. Marilyn’s had 11 ingredients, 3 different kinds of nuts, 5 different spices, a bread loaf soaked in water, wrung dry and shredded, and nothing really to bind it together.

Her “back of the envelope” scrawling shows a fundamental familiarity in the kitchen, and of cooking. When one thinks of the glamorous and tortured Marilyn Monroe, you don’t think Norman Rockwell as much as Loaded Bombshell. But even she cooked!!

The actual recipe is in the book, and I almost want to buy the 30 dollar book JUST FOR THE RECIPE. That’s sick, I know, and I also know that the publisher is counting on silly people like me to do just that. 🙂

Marilyn Monroe’s Stuffing Recipe Stars in a Remake – NYTimes.com

For more information: Click here to visit Will Clower’s website.