Eat, drink and...watch movies

<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwSy5wWvkxV72XP1cddKDVJyWaCmgo5FoNQMjM0cc5V3Vwq6k6VcuZ3K16sc_x3H5kLbL13GvEx9BdW2d4TJzY-HcCish67SHsTLlv4v2xuArJvDswzQ7UXLR8P1zcM4BFBOmswmI-ik0a/s1600/wine-and-cheese-joeray-kelley%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwSy5wWvkxV72XP1cddKDVJyWaCmgo5FoNQMjM0cc5V3Vwq6k6VcuZ3K16sc_x3H5kLbL13GvEx9BdW2d4TJzY-HcCish67SHsTLlv4v2xuArJvDswzQ7UXLR8P1zcM4BFBOmswmI-ik0a/s320/wine-and-cheese-joeray-kelley%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">With Thanksgiving looming on the horizon,  my head has been filled with visions of food...and film. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgghDZEQlqgdLtntYkmNOhXdGXrOzDjP2l_chu24uweH9jagup1ijrSHM72IPk5FUNEmUyeUE8iuRCpPao7Kk0s8o_NA300wlKJSdN6T9Ci18m80A5pu9cHAv2zhLcD01DS9qspxVNvIal_/s1600/now+voyager.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="158" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgghDZEQlqgdLtntYkmNOhXdGXrOzDjP2l_chu24uweH9jagup1ijrSHM72IPk5FUNEmUyeUE8iuRCpPao7Kk0s8o_NA300wlKJSdN6T9Ci18m80A5pu9cHAv2zhLcD01DS9qspxVNvIal_/s200/now+voyager.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial;">When the weather turned cooler a couple of weeks ago and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Now, Voyager</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> happened to be scheduled on TCM, I started thinking about my favorite recipe for gingerbread...and how a steaming cup of hot cocoa would go so well with a thick slice of gingerbread <i>and</i> that magnificent Bette Davis melodrama.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Last weekend, M.F.K. Fisher’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>“strengthening prescription” from her book, <u>Alphabet for Gourmets</u>, found its way into my thoughts. </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Fisher, considered the doyenne of American culinary writers during her lifetime, was also a screenwriter for Paramount Pictures in 1942, and this seemed to me to add to the rightness of pairing her simple menu (from the chapter "M is for Monastic") with a movie.</span></span><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqZhkb9VWjf7ScbTgMSz8YUAHQEPEcIMpqbTQSolc5rYSfr-4r7tbqymB0XNrB_r_rrAcjrdBw639uLkxJ0z2lkx1BkZo-1UiaSt6JFH6nAzTOWVHuPeFsuihlF4C8seQ7B520uWaoZjL/s1600/noir3%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqZhkb9VWjf7ScbTgMSz8YUAHQEPEcIMpqbTQSolc5rYSfr-4r7tbqymB0XNrB_r_rrAcjrdBw639uLkxJ0z2lkx1BkZo-1UiaSt6JFH6nAzTOWVHuPeFsuihlF4C8seQ7B520uWaoZjL/s200/noir3%255B1%255D.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Her "Monastic Supper" was designed with the person alone in mind. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I began to think of films one might watch alone and, even better, movies about loners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Of course, film noir fills <i>tha</i>t bill. Something like Jules Dassin’s </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Night and the City</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (1950), with Richard Widmark scheming his way from small-time to big-time hood…or Robert Siodmak’s </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Killers</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (1946), with Burt Lancaster as the anguished victim of Ava Gardner’s dazzling charms…</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">And yet, considering the actual fare (adapted  by me) -</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1bb3yafMEwQKVEYFMxTrwSUijOr-WwjlhCfuevqOxrxhQMavSwnJGE23RVADYxNJsR8Q8o0e-m4PHVcQv3V31mRnNy4bfHh-nW2jXPRdwlYKQB6CUxMpW_cwAco_ameGKNgAVc4L_lC7/s1600/42.-I-stick-my-neck-out-for-nobody._imagelarge%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1bb3yafMEwQKVEYFMxTrwSUijOr-WwjlhCfuevqOxrxhQMavSwnJGE23RVADYxNJsR8Q8o0e-m4PHVcQv3V31mRnNy4bfHh-nW2jXPRdwlYKQB6CUxMpW_cwAco_ameGKNgAVc4L_lC7/s200/42.-I-stick-my-neck-out-for-nobody._imagelarge%255B1%255D.jpg" width="175" /></a> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">One small loaf of crusty sourdough or French bread</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">One chunk of Gorgonzola or Bleu Cheese</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">One bottle of Chianti or (my suggestion) Zinfandel or its alter-ego, Primitivo</span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 9.0pt; text-indent: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">  </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I couldn’t help but think of </span><u>The Rub<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">á</span>iy<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">á</span>t of Omar Khayy<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">á</span>m</u> and that famous phrase, “a jug of wine, a loaf of bread – and thou.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Clearly M.FK. Fisher’s “Monastic Supper” could also be applied to on and off-screen togetherness.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">A jug of wine, a loaf of bread (with cheese) and thou would work well with...Michael Curtiz's <b>Casablanca</b> (1942), that most beloved of all WWII romances starring memorably paired Bogart and Bergman…or Jean Cocteau’s unforgettably poetic, <b>La belle et la bête </b>(1946), “one of the screen’s great erotic tales” (Movieline Magazine) – no subtitles necessary!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial;">I could go on, but will save more for another day...meanwhile, I'm open to suggestions.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4M7Cjj_r5_cDpp49DG7wM8AoC_yTiXhvHebR5ljKXotMuyiBQ21gSoh7b0Kd7yXdPt6pmGCQBQQp6x_DgAWGWJ_R4jc9sWgkG7rzrH-IGnfCAXzouc1qKvSgY4XfvWjvM1RA159e51Soq/s1600/belle-bete-light%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4M7Cjj_r5_cDpp49DG7wM8AoC_yTiXhvHebR5ljKXotMuyiBQ21gSoh7b0Kd7yXdPt6pmGCQBQQp6x_DgAWGWJ_R4jc9sWgkG7rzrH-IGnfCAXzouc1qKvSgY4XfvWjvM1RA159e51Soq/s1600/belle-bete-light%255B1%255D.jpg" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div>

Food and Film M.F.K. Fisher Omar Khayyam The Lady Eve (author) Eat, drink and...watch movies

With Thanksgiving looming on the horizon,  my head has been filled with visions of food...and film. When the weather turned cooler a couple of weeks ago and Now, Voyager happened to be scheduled on TCM, I started thinking about my favorite recipe for…

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