Gloria Swanson's Cold Cucumber Soup

Gloria's granddaughter Brooke Anderson joined us for this special celebration.

Gloria Swanson was one of the greatest stars of the silent era. Her screen career began in 1914 and lasted until her final role in 1974. In the early part of her career she made several films for director Cecil B. DeMille including Male and Female, Why Change Your Wife? and The Affairs of Anatol. After a lengthy career in silent film, she is best remembered today for her legendary performance in the 1950 classic Sunset Blvd.

In addition to her film career, Swanson had a variety of different interests. Today it is common for actresses to become lifestyle gurus, but Swanson was among the first to blaze this trail. She was a very early practitioner of healthy eating, yoga and had a line of dresses called "Forever Young" that were sold in department stores. She helped Jewish inventors escape the Nazis and became an accomplished sculptress. In 1975 she co-wrote the book "Sugar Blues" with her sixth husband William Dufty. It warned the public about the dangers of sugar. Click HERE to read more. In 1980 she published the autobiography "Swanson on Swanson".

Recipe

In 1977 Gloria Swanson spoke at a Luncheon for the Ambassador College in Pasadena. This recipe was published in the program for the event and was given to us by her granddaughter Brooke Anderson.

Ingredients

1/2 clove garlic

1 cup chopped cucumber

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. chopped chives

2 Tbsp. chopped parsley

1 cup plain yogurt

1 cup yogurt kiefer cheese

Directions

Blend first 5 ingredients until liquified. Add yogurt and cheese and blend again until smooth. Float one slice of a scorched cucumber (with skin) on top and garnish with small sprig of watercress. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Serves 4-6 people.

Special Guest

Brooke Anderson is the granddaughter of Gloria Swanson and Herbert Somborn, founder of The Brown Derby Restaurant. She is very active in preserving Swanson's legacy and has appeared at numerous screenings and in several documentaries including Boulevard! A Hollywood Story.

Angie Schneider is a board member and curator of the Hollywood Heritage Museum and collects memorabilia on Mary Pickford and Theda Bara. She blogs at “Tinsel and Stars" and is currently writing a cookbook on the recipes of Pickfair.

Video

Final Result

I went to three separate grocery stores and was unable to find the "yogurt kiefer cheese" that was listed in the recipe. I even had three people at Whole Foods helping me with this! Alas, we couldn't find it in the store. There is a way to make it at home, but I didn't have time for that process. As best I could tell, it is actually spelled "Kefir". I just purchased some Kefir milk and added that to the mixture. It seemed to work out just fine. The soup is light and creamy. While this is meant to be a soup, I would suggest using this as a vegetable dip.

These are actual pieces from Gloria's collection that Brooke brought to share with us!

There are plenty of films starring Gloria Swanson on DVD, Blu-ray and Turner Classic Movies.

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Thank you for watching and stay tuned for more food, fun and film history.

Film historian Kevin Brownlow did an entire segment on Gloria Swanson and one on Rudolph Valentino for his 1980 documentary series "Hollywood the Pioneers".

Watch Gloria Swanson on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1950!