According to Jeanette MacDonald’s cousin, Katherine Rice Pickins, Anna MacDonald (Jeanette’s mother) was a “very good cook.” Katherine recalled visiting her aunt at the house on Arch St. in Philadelphia: “I remember going there for dinner and they had chicken pot pie…. Whatever you were going to have for dinner she put on a blackboard in the kitchen so you knew ahead of time what you were getting. She was the only person I ever knew who did that.” (excerpted from the book Sweethearts).

We don’t have Anna MacDonald’s recipe for chicken pot pie but we do have her tapioca pudding recipe. Here it is:

Anna MacDonald’s Cream Tapioca Pudding

Soak 3 tablespoons tapioca in warm water for two hours, then stir it into one quart of boiling milk. Let it boil fifteen minutes. Beat together the yolks of four eggs and one cup of sugar, stir them into the pudding and flavor with vanilla. Pour into a warm baking dish. Beat the whites of the eggs with three tablespoons sugar to a stiff froth. Spread this over the pudding and bake five minutes or until top is brown.

Nelson Eddy’s Rice Pudding

1/2 cup rice
1 quart milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs (yolks)
1 tsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Cook rice in 1 cup of water very slowly until rice is soft, drain well. Place in baking dish and add sugar, butter, milk, salt, beaten egg yolks and vanilla; mix well and bake in a moderate oven (325 degrees) very slowly.

Raisins and diced dates may be added. The egg whites may be made into a meringue, spread lightly on top of the pudding, placed back in oven for a few minutes until the meringue is a light brown.

Jeanette MacDonald loved ice cream and made her own at home in a variety of flavors although peach was a favorite. Here is the basic recipe:

Philadelphia Ice Cream

Prepare and chill fruit mixture which consists of 2 cups (or 1 1/2 cups) mashed fruit and 1 cup sugar.

Partially freeze a mixture of 2 beaten eggs, 2 cups coffee cream, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup sugar, about 7 minutes. Then add fruit mixture and freeze for another 7 minutes, or until electric freezer begins to labor.

The above quantity makes 2 quarts. If you are not serving the ice cream immediately, remove the paddle and repack with ice and salt. Be sure not to get salt in ice cream mixture. Be sure to put plenty of salt with the ice cream when packing.