People looking to Oscar nominees for inspiration on what to cook for an Oscar party Sunday night can draw from many sources this year.
Nine movies have been nominated for Best Picture. Interestingly, nearly half of them ("The Artist," "War Horse," "Hugo" and "Midnight in Paris") have a French connection, so French cuisine is a natural choice.
For the exotic, consider Hawaiian cuisine to match the setting of "The Descendants." Or stick close to home with Southern food to match the Mississippi setting of "The Help" or Southern or Texas fare to go with "The Tree of Life."
Or you could do as I did the other day and leaf through two new cookbooks of celebrity recipes.
"Loukoumi's Celebrity Cookbook" by Nick Katsoris (Dream Day Press, $19.95) deals with much more than actors and actresses. It also is tied in with Katsoris' series of children's books that feature Loukoumi the lamb.
As might be expected from an author of children's books, Katsoris sought out favorite childhood recipes from celebrities, so many of them will appeal to children.
Recipes include corn fritters from Oprah Winfrey, chocolate crackers from Taylor Swift, Beanie Weenie stew from Matt Lauer and peanut-butter balls from Paula Deen.
The book also includes plenty of illustrations of Loukoumi and her friends.
Sadly, I didn't find a current Oscar nominee among the recipe contributors, and this book didn't spark any particular Oscar images. On the plus side, it might be a good vehicle for getting kids into the kitchen. Also, a minimum of $2 from every book sale goes to support two nonprofits: Chefs for Humanity and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
More Hollywood-esque to my mind is Frank DeCaro's "The Dead Celebrity Cookbook" (Health Communications, $19.95). You won't find any current Oscar nominees in this one, either, because, well, all of the celebrities are dead. But in addition to recipes, you also will find stories about many a Hollywood legend.
DeCaro, a columnist and movie critic known to many for his appearances on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," clearly warms to his subjects, dead though they may be.
DeCaro has a sense of humor, and he also has a real love of movies and television. The bios and anecdotes about the stars that accompany the recipes are what make the "The Dead Celebrity Cookbook." Along with Agnes Moorehead's lobster mousse recipe, DeCaro tells us that Moorehead was much more than the goofy mother-in-law in TV's "Bewitched"; she had serious roles in classics such as "Hush ... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" and "Citizen Kane."
Lucille Ball's six recipes are accompanied by a list of her "Top 10 Food Fiascos," including the famous candy-factory scene from "I Love Lucy" and scenes from the same series where she smuggles an enormous cheese on a plane and where a huge amount of popover batter explodes out of an oven.
DeCaro includes some lesser-known celebrities, such as German singer Klaus Nomi, whose lime tart is in the book, and some nearly forgotten stars, such as Dolores Del Rio, one of Hollywood's first Latin stars, a native of Mexico whose enchiladas are in the book.
Other recipes include Anthony Perkins' tuna salad, Katharine Hepburn's brownies, Frank Sinatra's barbecued lamb, Gregory Peck's ratatouille and Dom DeLuise's Doodlewoopers, pecan cookies whose name is as funny as the comedian who contributed this recipe.
Reading stories about all of these stars of yesteryear got me excited about watching the Oscars. It also made me hungry.
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