From peas with sugar to burgers with Brando to guggle-muggle.
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As she explains, I eat when Im nervous.
(Well, I also eat when Im not nervous.)
We invite you to follow her breadcrumb trail.
Ellipses nearly always hers.
The cake, on the other hand, Barbra has been searching for ever since ….
The closest shes come, she later revelas, are Fischers cupcakes.
See also,chocolate blackout cakefrom Ebingers, a German bakery near her apartment building in Brooklyn.
Barbra has never seen anything like it before or since.
The butterfishs shiny gold skin tasted great.
(An egg cream is a mix of milk, seltzer, and Foxs U-Bet chocolate syrup.)
Alsopeanut butter and jelly on white.Previously, she had been used tobologna and Velveeta cheese.
These peas were delicious, and Barbra can still taste them.
Then I was placed inside a hot oven.
Oh, the agony of it!
I began to melt.
But I didnt realize I would quickly become stiff and solid … misshapen … paralyzed.
Here I was, stuck on a tray with other cookies, waiting to be eaten …
Aaargh!!!!
Barbra thinks it was one of [her] best pieces of work.
The Pam Pam also had a great medium-rare hamburger.
(p. 61)
Guggle-muggle,a concoction made (or invented?)
by Diana Streisand of warm chocolate milk with a raw egg, used to fatten Barbra up.
(The New YorkTimes, Barbra notes, called her a vibrant-voiced gamin [sic].)
(p. 62)
Egg-and-lemon soup (avgolemono) and spanakopitaat the Greek place.
Alsocorned beef and cabbageat one of those Irish places on Eighth Avenue.
You have to have a little something to eat until you get to the next country.
(p. 99)
Swansons TV dinnersandSara Lee pound cake, for dinner with Elliott Gould in their apartment.
Swansons fried chicken was the height of culinary goodness, as far as I was concerned.
(p. 108)
Cheeseburgers and French frieson her honeymoon with Elliott Gould.
So they move to a nearby motel, stopping for cheeseburgers at a diner along the way.
Room service cannot supply it.
For ten days, every burp reminded me of that bouillabaisse.
(p. 219-220)
Seafoodon the water with Omar Sharif while filmingFunny Girl(the movie version).
I had to keep eating as we talked.
At that point I just had had enough, and said, I cant do this.
I didnt scream or raise my voice.
I love ice cream, too.
I had ordered mums in pink and white, but these were rust and yellow!
I called the plant place and said, These flowers are the wrong color.
The man said, Oh, the nursery didnt have pink and white so we got these.
I said, well, didnt it occur to anyone to ask me before you planted these?
Besides, I didnt want to kill the poor things by throwing them out.
I said, What?
I never changed them.
She said, Well, theyre pink and white now.
I couldnt believe it.
How did rust turn to dusty rose and yellow to white … just what I wanted!
I immediately called the plant palace to see if they were a special kind of mum that changes color.
No, was the answer.
Then I called Deepak and asked him, Whats going on?
How did those flowers change color?
He said, Well, you clearly havent read the book I gave you.
No, I told him.
I havent had a chance yet.
Well, look at the chapter about desire.
So I looked at the book.
And sure enough, it was about how desire can manifest change.
Had the flowers changed color because I wanted them to?
Oh my God, they were the greatest.
They had walnuts in them!
Now, I understand why people dont make brownies with walnuts anymore, because of nut allergies.
But brownies without walnuts?
If Im ever given plain ones, I get some walnuts and push a few into each brownie.
Although I admit I probably had more than two (maybe six … they were little!)
She was a lovely lady who lived to be 101.
Peach pie,at the Hamptons home of herThe Owl and the Pussycatco-star, George Segal.
It was the best Ive ever tasted, with fresh peaches and homemade whipped cream … not too sweet.
Barbra was dismayed at the tapioca.
I hate Jell-O and I couldnt eat junket (ugh!
), but every so often my mother made tapioca, which I loved.
But when the tapioca arrived, I was aghast.
The normally pearly white beads were bright red, because they had been cooked in red wine.
I prefer my tapioca the traditional way, straight from the box.
And it should only take a minute to cook (its not called Minute Tapioca for nothing!).
(p. 322)
Delicious lunch of oyster stew, back at Pierre Trudeaus official residence.
(He gave me all of his oyster crackers, which made me like him even more.)
(p. 324)
Milk and Mallomars,alongside Pierre Trudeau, for his nightly bedtime snack.
Barbra pulled off the chocolate-covered marshmallow top because I only wanted the graham cracker bottom.
I had cha siu bao for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
(Why not?)
God, they were delicious.
When the two werent discussing lighting, we were discussing Chinese food.
Let me be clear.
Im grateful to my fans.
They have supported me for decades.
But sometimes I just want to finish my spare rib.
Whenever Im intensely concentrating on something, I get hungry.
I suppose a therapist would say its an anxiety suppressant, but for me its more basic.
When Im working, I need food!
The yeshivabucher (kid) in me always felt guilty.
But when I was told about a certain commentary in the Talmud, it kind of relieved me.
It said, If a Jew is put in prison and forced to eat pork … Now thats the kind of attitude I can relate to!
And no raisins in the scones like!
As the pilot was revving up the engines, I called, Stop the plane!
The scones had arrived but not the cream.
Once we were in the air, I walked down the aisle and served everyone.
Im not making it sound good, but trust me, it was really delicious.
I can still taste it now.
Before that moment, Id only give my last bite to my son!
(She declines.)
She sings a few bars, freezes, and stops.
Dianas way of showing love was giving me food.
The daughter declines, explaining, my mom says it isnt good for you.
Will there be an almond or a kumquat inside?
(p. 879)
Potatoes with caviar, added to the wedding menu at the last minute.
(p. 957)
