Recipes for Life (22 page)

⅓ cup raw skinless peanuts

CHICKEN MIXTURE (MIX AND MARINATE IN A BOWL)*

1½ boned, skinless chicken breasts: cut into ⅓-inch cubes (to make 1 cup)

¼ teaspoon MSG (optional)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon sugar

½ egg white

4 dried chili peppers: tear into small pieces, do not discard seeds

1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger root

2 scallions: cut into pea-sized pieces, including green part

SAUCE MIXTURE (MIX IN A BOWL)*

2 tablespoons black soy sauce

1 tablespoon Chinese Shaohsing wine or pale dry sherry

2 teaspoons Chinese red vinegar or cider vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons sesame seed oil

½ teaspoon cornstarch

Heat oil in wok and deep-fry peanuts until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Reheat oil in wok and add chicken mixture. Stir to separate pieces. Briskly blanch chicken pieces until they just turn white. Remove with a drainer or slotted spoon to a bowl.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of oil from the wok. Heat oil. Slightly brown chili peppers. Add ginger and scallions, and stir-fry until they turn golden. Stir in sauce mixture. Cook and stir until sauce is thickened. Put the chicken back into the wok. Mix well. Stir-fry briefly to reheat. Add the peanuts. Mix well and put on a serving platter. Serve hot.

*This sign means that portion of the recipe can be prepared several hours in advance.

2 cups long-grain rice: wash and rinse in cold water until water is not cloudy, drain

3 cups cold water

Use a 3-quart pot with a tight lid. Put in the washed rice and add the water. Cook over medium heat without a cover. When it is boiling, you will see that the water is very foamy, almost obscuring the rice. Do not go away! Stand by and watch it closely. You will see the water evaporating to the point where many small holes (like craters) appear in the rice. The Chinese call them rice eyes.

Put the lid on, turn heat to very low, and cook for 10 minutes. Then turn off heat, but do not remove the pot or uncover it. Let it stay covered for 15 minutes or more. (Do not peek during this 25 minutes! Otherwise the magic steam will escape; you will have half-cooked rice for not having faith!)

Remove the cover. Loosen the rice with a fork or chopsticks. Serve hot.

D
URING THE SECOND
season of
Dynasty
, the writers decided that Krystle should have a miscarriage. If that wasn’t painful enough, they added a dream sequence, during which Krystle had to give up her baby to the “Angel of Death.” I prepared myself for a long difficult day of nonstop crying.

Much to my surprise and delight, the producers thought Bunky would make the perfect Angel of Death, and they hired her for the part. Knowing Bunky always delivered, they often gave her small roles to play on the show.

I knew this would be a piece of cake for Bunky. With her long silver hair and some white makeup, she’d turn this into an Emmy Award–winning performance. I’d seen her scare all the kids at Halloween with her Wicked Witch imitation. This was right up her alley.

After hours of preparation, the stage was finally set for the dream sequence. The lights were dimmed and the mists began to rise. With my
Dynasty
family surrounding me, I stood holding my newborn baby (which was actually a little doll wrapped in a blanket).

The director yelled “Action!” and out of the mists came the Angel of Death, moving toward me. Through a blur of tears, I watched my baby being taken away from me.

Pamela Sue Martin and Al Corley (who played my stepchildren) and John all knew how emotionally exhausting these kinds of scenes could be, so they were being very supportive. Everything was going smoothly. Everyone was into it.

Unfortunately there were technical problems, too much mist for one take or not enough for another. We kept at it for hours, until everyone was exhausted.

But around take fifteen, it all came together. The director asked us to do just one more to see if we could do it even better.

Once he yelled “Action!” Bunky approached me with her arms outstretched as she always had. For all the other takes, I had made sure to keep my eyes on the baby and to not look at Bunky. But for some reason this time I couldn’t stop myself from looking up. Big mistake! The Angel of Death was making the most outrageous face imaginable. I was trying desperately not to lose it when suddenly Bunky yanked the doll out of my hands and threw it to John, who caught it like a football. Then he went right along with Bunky’s madness and ripped off the doll’s leg! Then John tossed it to Pamela Sue, who threw it to Al. The crew got into the melee, too; soon arms and legs were flying everywhere. No doll repair shop could put the doll back together.

The cameras kept rolling and I kept crying, but this time they were tears of laughter after one of the longest, toughest days of filming—but one that we all talked and laughed about for a very long time.

D
YNASTY
OPENED THE
world for me in every way. I’ve thanked God endlessly, but I owe a special thanks to Angie Dickinson for turning down the part of Krystle. Since then, we’ve become friends, so I was able to thank Angie myself.

Just like a real dysfunctional family, there was always so much drama to be had, and we had so much fun with it—especially during the famous catfights between Krystle and Alexis. The first time I read a script that had our characters fighting, I was thrilled to be back to the stunts I so enjoyed doing during
The Big Valley
. Lucky me.

I may look sweet, but don’t mess with me!

The first stunt was Krystle confronting Alexis in her cottage. It was a knock-down, drag-out fight with feathers flying everywhere. We fought our way through the entire room, knocking over everything in sight, including each other. I won!

Another one of my favorites was the lily pond scene, which we filmed at an estate in Pasadena. Oh, the magic of television. It looked like we were in six feet of water but in reality we were in only two and a half feet, and fighting on our knees! It felt absurd and we struggled all day to make it look authentic. When at the end of the day the director yelled “Cut and print,” we stood up looking like a couple of drowned rats. The crew spontaneously broke out in applause and laughter. What fun!

The audience always looked forward to these confrontations and so did I. Joan loved the verbal fights—I hated them. I loved the physical confrontations—she loathed them. We did them all—for nine years!

Take this!

A
NY UNION SHOW
always has what we call a craft services table, which is covered with all sorts of drinks, foods, snacks, and candy. What was particularly great about the people doing our craft services on
Dynasty
is that every day they made a large bowl of tuna salad and provided lettuce, tomato, and different breads so we could make our own customized sandwich. John and I would always make a beeline for it, along with half the cast and crew. We all loved it.

One day, word came down that there would be no more tuna because of budget cuts. John and I were both amazed by how upset everyone was by the news; it became the topic of almost everyone’s conversation. The show was obviously doing great in the ratings and more and more money was being spent on elaborate sets and wardrobe. So why deny the crew their tuna?

I remembered that Aaron had told me that if I ever needed to talk to him, all I had to do was pick up the phone. I did and was delighted when within a few minutes I was sitting in front of him. I pleaded our case and he kindly sympathized, but firmly stated that the accountants had to make cuts and the tuna was out.

So I told Aaron, fine, if that was the case, then from now on John and I would pay for everyone to have their daily tuna. Aaron was silent for a long moment, just staring, not looking happy. Finally he said, “You know I can’t let it get out that the stars of the show have to pay for the crew’s food.” With a sigh he gave in. We could have our tuna and eat it, too.

Aside from the tuna, one of the
Dynasty
caterers served a corn pudding that many members of the cast and crew—including me!—flipped for. They were kind enough to share it with me. This is how I make it.