Julia Child--for real

This is a photo of Julia Child and her husband Paul that is hanging in the Smithsonian museum in Washington D.C. The photo below is of her kitchen which has been rebuilt there in the Museum of American History. The display also included TVs playing some of her shows, and other items related to her career.

I really wanted to see this display after watching the movie "Julia and Julia" ---- which is coming out on DVD tomorrow! I hope that all of you who didn't see it in theaters will be sure to see it at home. It's a amazing job of character creation by Meryl Streep who plays Julia. I also read both of the books on which the movie was based--I highly recommend Julia Child's book about her life in France. It fills in a lot of the blanks left by the movie and continues to build the impression that Julia was a delightful woman with a great zest for life.

I re-opened my old copy of "The art of French Cooking" and made some of the recipes, and then I bought a newer book of hers called "The Way to Cook." I've studied it for ideas for a number of the things I made for Thanksgiving. I've loved making leek and potato soup--(I grew leeks in the garden this year.) It's so simple and yet so delicious and warm!

I have been thinking about cooking in a different way since seeing that movie and reading those books. Cooking can become so routine and slap dash--after all, 3 a day for 40 some odd years is a lot of meals! Plus a lot of the cooking shows and recipes in magazines are just about fast and easy. Sometimes I want to make a dish or a meal that is a work of art, and this is what I'm learning from Julia Child---there is something very satisfying about taking time, using the best ingredients, cooking carefully and displaying beautifully. Not for every meal, of course, but from time to time.

Pumpkin Cranberry Scones

Can you stand one more pumpkin recipe? These scones are great for fall and winter. Not very sweet, they are great with a cup of hot chocolate or herbal tea. They are from the "Once Upon a Tart" cookbook.

4 cups flour
1 Tbs baking power
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 lb plus 6 Tablespoons (2- 3/4 sticks cold butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup cold buttermilk
1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree (or butternut squash puree)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsley chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsley chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins (or any raisins)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheets with aprchment paper or silpats.

Measure dry ingredients into bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade and pulse to mix.
Add butter and pulse until there are no chunks and mixture looks like moist crumbs. Be careful not to overwork. Remove blade from food processor, and dump crumbs into a big bowl.
In another bowl whisk the eggs to break up the yolks. Whisk in the buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla. Then stir in the cranberries, walnuts and raisins.
Pour the wet ingredients on top of the flour mixture. Stir with wooden spoon until the mixture comes together, then stop.
Scoop batter out and plop it onto the baking sheet about 1/2 cup each. Leave 2 inches between scones.
Bake in center of oven for about 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.
Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes, then transfer to a rack.
Serve fresh out of the oven or at room temperature.

(B.J. shuddered at the thought of so many fruits in baked goods--but those who like fruit filled scones really enjoyed them.)