March 21
Roseann O'Donnell's Birthday
 

.Rosie hugs Madonna in A League of Their Own     Rosie O'Donnell's film career started out auspiciously when she stared in her first movie, A League of Their Own (1992); about a 1940s all-women baseball league. The film's director Penny Marshall told People magazine, "The part was originally for a hot, sexy girl, but I liked Rosie so much we changed the story to suit her. She can make anything funny." O'Donnell added, "If there's one thing I can do better than Meryl Streep and Glenn Close, it's play baseball." O'Donnell also stared as Meg Ryan's best friend in Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and as a leather-clad dominatrix in Exit to Eden (1994) after Sharon Stone had turned down the role. Then came her TV super success when The Rosie O'Donnell Show premiered in 1996 to the highest ratings of any daytime talk show in the decade. The Washington Post dubbed it Rosieville, "a place where every chat is a lovefest." In its first year, the show closely tailed Oprah Winfrey in the ratings. After being crowned the "Queen of Nice" by Newsweek, O'Donnell won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host, beating Oprah. While she didn't take home the award for Outstanding Talk Show that year (Oprah won the honor for the fourth year in a row), Rosie dominated both categories in the coming years winning Outstanding Talk Show host for six consecutive years and Outstanding Talk Show for the next four. In 2006 Rosie replaced Meredith Viera on The View, and stirred up ratings with her ultra-liberal political views. She started on-air feuds with Kelly Ripa and Star Jones. Then came the mega feud with Donald Trump, co-owner of the Miss USA pageant, over Trump giving title holder Tara Conner a ''second chance'' after raunchy pictures surface of her kissing Miss Teen USA Katie Blair surfaced. Trump called Rosie O'Donnell a "slob" and a "stone-cold loser." The feud continued for weeks, boosting the show's ratings.  That was followed with an on-air blow-up with co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, after which Rosie decided to take take a  early leave from The View. even though her contract had three weeks remaining. In November 2009,  "Rosie Radio",. a daily two-hour show,  premiered with Sirius XM Radio on which Rosie admitted that her five-year relationship with Kelli Carpenter had ended two years prior when Kelli moved out of their home . Rosie later signed on with the Oprah Winfrey Network  (OWN) to return to daytime TV with a talk show in fall 2011 which was quickly cancelled in an attempt to trim the projected first year losses for OWN. Since Rosie has a chain of roses tattooed on her ankle, a perfect way to celebrate her birthday is with a rose mousse which we suggest garnishing with rose petals. Rose petals are the most versatile of culinary flowers. They can be added to batters for cakes, pancakes, muffins, etc. Try freezing petals in ice cubes for a special cocktail.  In preparing rose petals for cooking or for this dessert, wash them carefully to remove any insecticide and trim off the white portion at the base of the petals.  For her birthday movie, we suggest Exit to Eden (1994) for which she won the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. The film is a hoot and the image of Rosie in a black leather  dominatrix costume will haunt your dreams forever.

Rose  Mousse

Ingredients   1/2 cup sugar, firmly packed 1 TB rose hips* 1&1/2 tsp sweet white wine 1&1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin   1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice 3 drops red food coloring 2 cups whipping cream petals and leaves from 6 roses for a garnish   Instructions   1. Blend orange juice, brown sugar, rose hips, wine, gelatin, orange juice, and food coloring in a saucepan and cook over     medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches a slow boil and gelatin dissolves. (about 10 minutes). 2. Strain mixture into a small metal bowl. Place bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice and whisk until mixture cools and     begins to thicken  (about 3 minutes). Set mixture aside. 3. Whip whipping cream in a large bowl until stiff. Fold in orange/rose mixture. Spoon mixture into 6 dessert glasses.     Tap glasses gently on counter to remove air bubbles. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.   Serves  6 * available in health food stores and on the internet © 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes