The Monthly Rickmanista

"Vere, dementer, graviter"

The March 1999 Issue

Photo courtesy of Suzanne

This month we are cooking!
Suzanne's back home, The Rickmanista Review was in the news, and we have two new recipes!

This Month's Contents:
An informative letter to the editor, with correction!
Two recipes:
Clorinda’s Corn Pudding
Leatha’s Welsh Scones
This month’s quote
This month's winner of the Alan Rickman Look-Alike Contest, and more corrections!
My thanks to Clorinda, Leatha, Suzanne, and Venida

Letter to the editor

First the letter of late February read, Dear Fausta,
Good News: Winter Guest video is now available to all AR fans in America and Canada for 14.99 plus 3.00 shipping and handling (US$) from Videoflicks.com. Now this, as I'm sure you will agree, is a bargain, when you compare the price of the video from other sources!
Venida

But after the Monthly Rickmanista hit the 'Net, Venida found out that
Winter Guest is available at Tower Records, and can be ordered over the Net at Yahoo! Shopping for 19.95, 3.95s/h now, I'm giving you this news with a bit of caution, as we were burned on the price before.
Venida

Clorinda’s Corn Pudding

1 12oz can whole kernel corn
2 17 oz cans cream corn
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp Instant Minced Onion
Combine 1 12oz can whole kernel corn, 2 17 oz cans cream corn and 5 lightlybeaten eggs. Add mixture of 1/2 cup sugar, 4 tbsp cornstarch, 1 1/2 tspSeason-All Seasoned Salt, 1/2 tsp dry mustard and 1 tsp Instant Minced Onion. Stir in 1/2 cup each milk and melted butter. Pour into greased 3 qt casserole. Bake in 400 degrees F. oven for 1 hour stirring once.
It's really delicious -- my boyfriend and my cousins always ask me to make it for family gatherings -- best part is it only takes about 10 minutes to prepare!

Welsh Scones

Dear Fausta,
My Grandmother was born in Abadare, M.T., Glamorganshire, South Wales, and she had a lovely recipe for Scones....now these are not the kind you boil in oil, these are Celtic soda bread cookies......and in honor of Mr. Rickman's Welsh/Irish heritage, and St. Daffid's Day, (David, the patron saint of Wales), I thought I would send this to you.

Preheat oven 375-400 degrees (depending on your oven temp.)

1 cup currants (allow them to puff up in 1/2 c. water...drain well, don’t leave them damp)
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp. Vanilla
1-2 tsp. (or as much to taste) orange peel, grated (I lean toward the 2....love the smell of fresh orange)
1/2 tsp. Soda
3 tsp. baking powder
1/tsp. Salt
1/2 cup milk (only enough to moisten the dough, be careful)
3 cups flour
5 1/2 heaping tablespoons lard or shortening (lard is preferred, but crisco works as well)

Add sugar to dry ingredients after sifting, and cut shortening into them, making sure the shortening becomes very tiny
(use an electric beater only here) Add orange rind, vanilla and 2 eggs, with a large spoon, mix well, add drained currants, and just enough milk to moisten.
Flour a surface, and roll out, do not use too much flour as it will toughen the dough, only enough to prevent sticking.....try not to knead the dough too much.
Cut in circles, using a ball or kerr canning jar lid or cookie cutter, (jar lids make large, lovely scones) and make them about 1/2-3/4 inch thick,(thin ones burn).
Place on greased (buttered) biscuit or cookie sheet (give them lots of space, they puff up and grow) and bake for 8-12 minutes (they will turn slightly golden around edges, but do not overbake......they can still be white.....test with toothpick or finger, they should not give.)
Frosting or strawberry jam may be added if desired, but they are excellent plain, with milk (for dunking) or a cup of Earl Grey......yum.
My Grandmother used to make these for Christmas, they became our family's traditional cookie for the holidays, but they could be used on St. Patrick’s day or any other celebration......with cucumber sandwiches, even 4o'clock tea time.

The Quote Of The Month

If velvet could speak, it would sound like Rickman
Sandy Bauers, Knight Ridder newspapers

This month’s winner of the Alan Rickman Look-Alike Contest

drumroll, please

Ronan Vibert, to be seen this month in The Scarlet Pimpernel, on A&E TV channel.

Now, here' the correction: I had said on March 5 that Mr. Vibert joins Leslie Howard, Anthony Andrews, Daffy Duck, and Douglas Sills as the Pimpernel.
The following day, on March 6, I received an e-mail that read,
Dear Fausta,
Please note Ronan will not be playing the Pimpernel, Richard E. Grant will. Ronan is in the cast, however. Please also note Daffy Duck played The Scarlet Pumpernickle, not the Pimpernel.
Love,
A Daffy Fan

Thank you for the information, fellow fan! In any case,

They seek him here,
They seek him there,
The Frenchies seek him everywhere!
Is he in heaven, or is he in hell?
That darned elusive Pimpernel!