Day 193
Today was what would have been Julia Child’s 100th birthday. I say was because she was 2 days shy of her 92nd birthday when she passed in 2004.
Well, I’d say she did pretty well and got closer to 100 than most of us will.
Sam celebrated by roasting a chicken – stuffed with lemons and herbs resting nicely on a bed of root vegetables. I celebrated by making a marshmallow treat. And by making, I mean, I took it out of the wrapper and ate it.
Obviously, the apple does not fall too far from the tree when it comes to Sam’s culinary skills and my own.
Okay, I admit she fell more from my Grandmother’s tree than my own … as far as culinary skills go. My Grandma was a great cook. Me, um, not so much.
Grandma was great even before Julia came on the scene (or so I imagine) but I also imagine her skills expanded because she watched Julia so often through the years, devoured her cookbooks and was so adventuresome in the kitchen. She was not afraid of food.
When my Dad was little, money was tight (being the 1930’s and all) and organ meats were cheap. Nasty but cheap. To disguise the flavor I have no idea what Grandma did … but to disguise what they were (intestines), she came up with the name of Halloween Dainties. I’m presuming she made these first sometime around the end of October and hence the name. Anyway, my Dad and his sister gobbled up these scrumptious treats none the wiser … until about 20 years later when Grandma fessed up what they actually were. Ew.
In any case, I’m staying away from anything that has a name like that just to be on the safe side.
Julia Child is best known for bringing French cooking and cuisine to the United States’ kitchens via her debut cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and via her television program The French Chef.
She was born in Pasadena, California the eldest of three children and went on to attend Smith College, graduating with a degree in English. She was a copywriter and worked in advertising and wrote for publications before enlisting in the OSS (at 6’2″ she was too tall for the WAC’s) during WWII. Her position took her to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and China and after marrying (Paul Child) … Paris.
It was Paris that opened up her soul and spirit to French cooking. She attended Le Cordon Bleu and in the early 1950’s she joined a woman’s cooking circle and, with a friend, started writing a French cookbook for Americans and well, the rest is history.
In 2009 the movie Julie and Julia (which was the basis for my own blog) brought us not only Julia’s life story … but also her food. I have yet to make her famous beef bourguignon … but some cold, wintery day I know I will. And it’ll be as fantastic as it sounds. And quite possibly better than a marshmallow treat!
In any case … happy birthday, Julia.
And … bon appétit!