In Memory of Jane Russell: Gentlemen Prefer Blondies
Screen legend Jane Russell, perhaps best known for her starring role in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and as a pinup girl (with Rita Hayworth, Jayne Mansfield, Ava Gardner and Lauren Bacall) during World War II, passed away of respiratory failure on Monday at the age of 89. She was beautiful and dark-haired, and because the contrast between blonde and brunette reminds me of the black and white cookie or blondie vs. brownie battle, I thought I’d share my favorite blondie recipe in honor of her best-known film. In the kitchen, brownies almost always win out – but when you bite into a soft, chewy blondie, you’ll wonder why. (While you’re baking, watch the Gentlemen Prefer Blondes trailer below!)
Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Blondies
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 large egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chunks or chipsPreheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine melted butter and brown sugar; mix until no lumps remain. Add egg whites and vanilla; stir until well blended and smooth.
Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir just until the dough begins to come together. Add cranberries and white chocolate and stir just until combined.
Pour batter into an 8”x8” pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden and the edges just begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Makes 16 blondies.
You know some of the old movies with Jane, Jayne, Rita and Lauren were
were a little up dressed. However had the actress been allowed to wear comfortable clothes, reasonable shoes, Jane and all her other names would have
been great again. The Oscars were for the younger set this year. Annie Hathaway, and Franco were great but it was as if the older set wasn’t included. Betty White was in her old clothes in one of the pictures next to a beautiful starlet. We all have peo pl e we can’t stand to watch. Mine used to be Raymond and Regis. Bad jokes and poor marriages. Do writers think that kids need to be like these people. You know how they copy everything. We have had many retakes of Combine school disaster, Many retakes of the Trade center disaster from 9/11. Many criminals are on TV. We need some good to retake the world. Not religion but good folks like Beavers parents, like the Dad on My Three sons. like Nancy Reagan on “just say no.” You know she saved my kids from the scourage of drugs cause for the first time we sat them down and talked to them about drugs. It was almost too late for the oldest one but the other two they and everyone else that graduated that year had a solid ‘just say no attitude.”
Jane Russell, a beautiful girl, did that too. Beautiful girls had an inside that was just as beautiful and kind.