"I carried a watermelon." -Francis "Baby" Houseman

I cannot look away from this movie. The ladies know the truth of which I speak. Baby, finding herself in the Catskills with her parents and sister in tow, feeling glib about the sheer, devastating melancholy of her situation, wanders off to the "staff only" area of her summer lodging only to stumble into a stunningly sensual dance party featuring a young and briny Patrick Swayze by way of carrying a watermelon. Dirty Dancing! Yes!

We all fell in love with this film and the accompanying music instantly. It has all the trappings of the perfect "chick flick": Beautiful scenery; unlikely romance; character transformations; the vibrant burden of the hair and makeup of 1987 making its way anachronistically into the mix; the very idea that a naive future "economist" falls in love with a bad boy, learns to dance the mambo so effectively she partners with him for a stage show at a neighboring hotel (I know, I know, she didn't do "the lift"), and leaves "all grown up" is just what the doctor ordered on a hot July night.

I decided to take Baby's watermelon and transform it into a grown-up watermelon salad.

Fresh organic watermelon, tomatoes, goat cheese, red onion, and aged balsamic. Add a sprinkle of coarse salt and drizzle with oil. I made an infused oil using plenty of fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil. Oh, and you need this: