Linda Evan’s Recipes for Life Review and Giveaway (Canada and US)

Like many people my age, I grew up in the age of Dynasty! I used to love the opulence of this nighttime soap opera and my favourite character was Krystle! I knew little about Linda Evans, the actress who played Krystle and I must admit that I didn’t follow her career after Dynasty ended. A couple of years ago, though, I was surprised to find Linda Evans in an unlikely place – I began watching a UK reality tv cooking competition called “Hell’s Kitchen”. The show pitted celebrities against one another as they showcased their cooking abilities and were voted off one by one. I found myself rooting for Linda and was pleased to see her delight when she won the show!

Until I read Recipes for Life: A Memoir, those were the two things I knew about Linda Evans – she starred on Dynasty and she appeared on the UK version of Hell’s Kitchen. Because I enjoyed her performances in these two very different series, I was interested to learn more about her life and I discovered that she has led a truly amazing life and she is really passionate about food!

In Recipes for Life, Linda includes Mom’s Hot Dog Stew, a staple her mom could serve on their limited budget to young Korean War servicemen her cousin would invite over. She also relates:

-The reluctant non-audition that landed her first acting job, a national commercial, and how the “worst reading” that a director ever heard led to her debut appearance on “The Big Valley” as Audra, the daughter of Victoria Barkley, played by Barbara “Missy” Stanwyck, who became a nurturing figure in her life and acting career and inspired the recipe for Missy’s Hobo Fillet;

-Her marriage to actor/filmmaker John Derek, and their evenings with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and John Wayne (she adds Duke’s Crab Dip), plus her long friendships with the three other ex-wives of John Derek — including Cathy Collins, aka Bo Derek, who was 15 when John fell for her and left Linda, and Ursula Andress, who joined Linda at a Playboy mansion costume party, both women dressed as boxers;

– How she ended up behind the camera, shooting dramatic footage of Evel Kneivel’s famous daredevil jump at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas;

-Breakfast with Richard Burton, who offered his guests tumblers of vodka;

-Her friendship with Nobu Matsuhisa, and why the celebrated chef credits Linda with inspiring his recipe for Hollandaise-like “egg sauce,” plus special dinners with Roger and Luisa Moore, David and Dani Janssen, Leslie and Tony Curtis (with their recipe for Lemon Soufflé with Raspberry Sauce), and others;

-A guest spot on “Circus of the Stars” that ended with the teeth of the 200-pound leopard Sheba in her chest, her somewhat less dangerous winning appearance on the British TV reality show, “Hell’s Kitchen,” working under Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White, and flying with the Blue Angels;

-How Rock Hudson protected her by refusing to kiss her deeply on “Dynasty” when he alone on the set knew he had the AIDS virus;

-The drive with her lively friend Bunky that landed her in jail, sharing her home with Bunky and Ursula Andress, whose regular visitor poolside was Sean Connery, and what happened at the White House when wild Bunky met Dom DeLuise, who was dressed like Count Dracula;

-Loving and living in the moment with musician and composer Yanni, and much more.

What I enjoyed the most about this book (other than learning more about Linda’s life – I had no idea that she’d been married to John Derek or had a long-term relationship with Yanni!) is the format of the book itself – she shares her memoirs through short anecdotes which made it easy for me to read and enjoy snapshots of her life and experiences! I also loved many of the recipes and I can’t wait to start trying them out for myself!

You can learn more about Linda on her website and ordering her book here.

There are also 3 copies of her book up for grabs here!

Giveaway: Three (3) readers from Canada or the US (excluding Quebec) will each win a copy of Recipes for Life: A Memoir (a $30 value).

Remember, you must complete the mandatory entry in order for your extra entries to count (entries without the mandatory first entry will be discarded)!

Mandatory entry:
To enter the giveaway, tell me why you’d like to win a copy of Recipes for Life: A Memoir (1 entry).

Daily Entries:

• tweet the following (please include the link to your tweet): #Win 1 of 3 copies of Linda Evan’s new memoir and recipe book! @ReviewCorner http://su.pr/1XmWe1 ends 10/28 CAN/US #giveaway
• Visit Linda Evan’s website and tell me something you learned about her! (1 entry) (please include the date you have entered in your post)

Additional Entries:

• follow me on StumbleUpon -include your user name (1 entry)
• subscribe to My Little Review Corner’s RSS feeds (or tell me you already receive them)– include the email address you used (3 entries – enter each one separately)
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• ”like” my Facebook fan page – include your Facebook name (3 entries – enter each one separately)
• put my button from my sidebar on your blog –include your website address (5 entries – enter each one separately)
• blog about the giveaway – leave a link to your post (5 entries – enter each one separately)

*Contest closes at 10:00 pm EST on Friday, October 28th, 2011 . Open to residents of Canada and the US (excluding Quebec), 18+ years of age.*