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.