Zuzu’s Petals: An Interview with Karolyn Grimes,
and Racing with Bagpipes, The Celtic Solstice Five-Miler

Happy Christmas Eve!  Yep, another Christmas is almost upon us! I love Christmas, and one of my favorite things about the holiday is all of the wonderful seasonal movies that there are to enjoy!  At the top of my list of yuletide-watching is Its a Wonderful Life. If you have never seen it, give yourself a Christmas gift and watch it this Christmas! This 75-year old film still stands up today, and  has a heartwarming message.

At the top of my list yuletide-watching list is Its a Wonderful Life (1946).

One of the young stars of this 1946 holiday classic is Karolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu.  It is little Zuzu who broken-heartedly asks her daddy (played by James Stewart) to paste her fallen rose petals back onto the stemmed rose that she has won at school that day.  And, it is she who delivers that unforgettable and iconic line at the end of the film..
.’teacher says, every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.’
It gets me everytime!  (For my previous post with information about this movie, go here.)

Little Zuzu sadly asks her daddy (played by James Stewart) to paste her fallen rose petals back onto the stemmed rose that she has won at school that day.  

The two photos above are of an esteemed family Christmas ornament purchased from
Ms. Grimes’ website years ago, here.

Earlier this week, Ms. Grimes graciously granted me a phone interview!  She had just returned home after several engagements related to her association with It’s a Wonderful Life, including a recent appearance in Seneca Falls, New York. This little town transforms itself into Bedford Falls (The town in the movie) for the month of December. See a short piece from the Today Show on Seneca Falls, the movie, and a short interview with Karolyn Grimes, here. 

​

My 1996 It’s a Wonderful Life ornament

Ms. Grimes shared with me, that the It’s a Wonderful Life set was a fun set filled with good memories.  There were other children there to play with; the other child actors playing the Bailey children.  She said that she particularly enjoyed Mr. Stewart, who she described as nice, and the director Frank Capra, who she said was also nice, and would get down to her eye-level to speak to her and direct her.

The back of my 1996 ornament, with a small bell inside the base.

Ms. Grimes also spoke about her part in another one of my favorite holiday classics, 
The Bishop’s Wife, where she played young Debby. She said that Cary Grant was her favorite to work with.  He liked children and talked with her, read stories to her, and hung out with her when time allowed.  When Grant practiced his ice skating on the set’s rink, he pulled young Grimes around on a sled!

Grimes played Debby on The Bishop’s Wife (1947)

Two other prominent actors that Ms. Grimes worked with were Bing Crosby and John Wayne.  
She mentioned that when starring with Bing Crosby in Blue Skies, that he was very nice and often he, and his friend, actor Jerry Colonna, would include her in their daily chats.  

Grimes described Bing Crosby as nice.
An article discussing Bing Crosby, from Carolyn Grimes’ website, is here.

She said that she remembers John Wayne, while staring Rio Grande, as tall and masterful.
Wayne would call her Little Miss Carol.  :o)

Karolyn Grimes starred in Rio Grande with John Wayne.

I was surprised to learn that Ms. Grimes has written three cookbooks in conjunction with 
It’s a Wonderful Life.  I only knew of her first one, which I own.  When asking which recipe from her cookbook that I should share with my readers, she did not hesitate.  She immediately said,
“Mrs. Martini’s Creamy Linguine“.  Don’t you just love the name?!  I set out immediately to make this dish.  It was yummy! The recipe is below.

Karolyn Grimes’ first It’s a Wonderful Life Cookbook

A big thank you to Karolyn Grimes for sharing her time and memories with me!

Related It’s a Wonderful Life Stuff

It was recently announced that Turner Classic Movies has showings on the big screen of 
It’s a Wonderful Life on their December 2022 schedule!  View the schedule, here.  Sign me up!

If you want some fun trivia about It’s a Wonderful Life, try The It’s Wonderful Life Trivia Book, written by Tommy of the movie/Jimmy Hawkins along with another child star, Paul Petersen (Petersen was on the The Donna Reed Show, and Donna Reed was a star in It’s a Wonderful Life.)

The Recipe

In my haste to eat, I forgot to take a photo of the finished product (OOPS!),
but I do have this photo (below) of the ingredients that I used in this recipes.

Ingredients needed for this recipe

The Celtic Solstice Five-Miler

I enjoyed posing for a photo op with this magnificent Irish Wolfhound. 

Let me first begin by saying that I am not a runner, or at least, I wasn’t.  
It was in July of this year that I began… easing into the running world, using the walk/run method training program developed by Jeff Galloway.
My motivation? An upcoming 10K at Walt Disney World in 2022.  

In fact, in April of 2019 at Walt Disney World, I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Mr. Galloway.
 I expressed an interest, at that time, in possibly walk/running in the future, and he encouragingly said, “You can do it!”.  :o)

I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Mr. Galloway in 2019.

On December 18, 2021 I ran (technically walk/ran) my very first race, a five-miler.
For those of you who have been following I’m Annette for awhile, you may recall that I participated in a virtual 5K A Christmas StoryRun in December 2016, but I walked it with my son. 

I walked in a virtual 5K A Christmas StoryRun  on December 3, 2016 with my son.
Read about that “race” here.

Anyway, I digress…
I actually finished last Saturday’s race, and lived to tell about it!  I survived!  I did it!  
By my side the entire race was my friend, Joanne, patiently encouraging me throughout.  
Thank you, Joanne!

At the finish line with my friend Joanne, who patiently encouraged me throughout the race.  
Thank you, Joanne!

I would like to share with you the sights and sounds of The Celtic Solstice Five-Miler 2021 .
Well, technically, I guess, I am sharing just the sights, and not the sounds , but there sure were some fun things to see!  Take a look!

The pretty and intricate emblem on the back of my race top.

Enjoying the pre-race activities

Upon arrival we were greeted by wonderful Irish music!

Kilts, and Bagpipes, and Running Costumes, Oh My!

Bagpipes and kilts,

Kilts getting coffee,

Couples in kilts,

Funny sweatshirts, like this “Scott-ish for hire”variety,

Kilts at the start of the race,

Kilts at the finish of the race,

Celtic capes and festive hats,

Running trees,

Happy elves,

Buddy elves,

And a racing Santa.

AND…

There were racing officials in holiday attire, with a popular racing spot in the background.  :O)

There was very delicious, barley-filled vegetable soup awaiting hungry and thankful race finishers,

Thanks to this soup meister!
He stirred up 100 gallons of his secret recipe,
for this race.
Thank you!
Yum!

Worn out from the race?  :o)

I did it! :o)

Cooking with Gammy

 

Christmastime is filled with many wonderful treats, including gingerbread men and brownie reindeer.

Gingerbread men and Brownie Reindeer

Both of these are easy, simple treats that are fun to decorate, using pre-made Little Debbie treats.

Pre-made Little Debbie treats

Gingerbread Men

Gather pre-made gingerbread man cookies, canned frosting, sprinkles and colored sugars.  Allow your little ones to frost the top of the cookie, and then decorate with sprinkles and/or colored sugars.

Frost with canned frosting.

Decorate with sprinkles and colored sugars.

Enjoy!

Reindeer Brownies

Complete instructions for these cute little reindeer are here.

Enjoy these related blog posts, below, including ,
 one about a 5K several years ago,
several with Christmas movie suggestions,
and mouth-watering Christmas recipes!
Just click “here” after the blog title, and enjoy.  :o)

A Christmas Story Christmas, December 2016, here.
Information about the holiday movie, A Christmas Story and about the related 5K.

What’s Slumgullion, December 2018, here.
Information about It Happened on 5th Avenue, and its featured dish, Slumgullion.

Growing Up in Disneyland:  A Conversation with Author, Ron DeFore, July 2019, here.
An interview with the son of actor Ron DeFore, star of the Christmas classic,
It Happened on 5th Avenue.

Have a Sweet Christmas, December 2019, here.
Includes the recipe for Reindeer Belly Buttons.

Christmas Cheer, May 2020, here.
Includes the recipe for Peanut Butter Cups.

It’s Christmas Time!  Enjoy These Often-Missed Yuletide Movies, December 2017, here.
Features several Christmas movies

Procrastination and Merry Christmas, December 2015, here.
Information on the Christmas classic, A Miracle on 34th Street.

Christmas in Black and White, December 2014, here.
Information on Christmas movies, including It’s a Wonderful Life.

Counting the Days Till Christmas, December 2013, here.
Information about Christmas movies and the recipe for Peanut Clusters.

12 Days of Christmas…Goodies, December 2020, here. 
Recipes for several Christmas goodies and instructions for Reindeer Brownies.

Thank you for reading I’m Annette!

May your days be blessed, and your taste buds happy!

Merry Christmas!

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