Dinner and a Movie – Yield to the Night (1956)

I was wondering what to do with all the Edam I had left over from the Diana Dors Cheese and Sweetcorn Pasta Salad I made the other day, and Diana herself had a suggestion in the X-Cel Diet cookbook. 

Caesar Salad.  It’s salads all round at the moment because we are in the grip of a heatwave here in London.

I say this with caution, as I have been laughing all week about the brilliant podcast Hello Internet made by Brady Haran and CGP Grey.  The latter (an American) was losing his rag over the Brits CONSTANTLY complaining about the heat and calling it a heatwave, when, in his opinion, it is just SUMMER…

It has caused me to chuckle to myself every single day since I heard it because it has taught me something about myself I didn’t know before.  Every day and I mean every single day, when I get to work and sit down at my desk, the first thing I say to my work colleagues is ALWAYS a comment about the weather.  Every day.  Every single day.  I am compelled to do it.  It is automatic.  It is usually, “Bloody hell it’s hot!” or “Man alive it’s freezing!” or some kind of variation on the two.  I am really going to try and be a bit more original from now on…

I might end up like Reggie Perrin in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin who comes up with ever more bizarre excuses for being late for work each day.

But back to the salad.  Diana’s book is currently AWOL.  It’s a small book, and like Cooking Price-Wise by Vincent Price often goes missing in my messy flat.  When it turns up somewhere totally unexpected I will post the actual recipe for Diana’s salad, but for now, from memory, it contains the following: lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, mayonnaise, Edam, a hard-boiled egg and two anchovies.  It was DELICIOUS.  I guess sometimes simple is best.  

I am going to make this again, probably quite a few times as I still have a massive chunk of Edam in my fridge.

This is up for sale on eBay at the moment, I am tempted…

But if I bought it, I would also have to buy this…

and I am trying to get rid of stuff, not bring more in…

I’d promised myself a treat if I got to my writing target during Camp NaNoWriMo and I decided to watch Yield to the Night while I scoffed my Caesar salad.

Man, that is a GREAT film.  Highly recommended if you don’t know Diana’s work.  She was in a lot of daft movies, but this one really shows her acting skills.  I love it.

I made myself watch it properly, with no other distractions so no knitting, no tidying up at the same time, no tippy-tapping on the laptop, just watching the movie.  It was such a different experience.  It reminded me that this is how you SHOULD watch a film.  Giving it your full attention.  I should definitely do this more often.