Skip to main content

Happy Birthday, Julia Child

AP Photo

Julia Child's cooking show, The French Chef, was the first show we ever saw about cooking.  It wasn't that we were excited to learn to cook like Julia.  The fact is, we could only get three television stations, and Tennessee Public Television was one of them. Sometimes, The French Chef provided more entertainment than news or soap operas on the other stations.

During this time, we didn't get out much, and the only French food we knew about was French fried potatoes.  When Julia stood in front of the camera and flopped a big fish on her cutting board, we thought she was just putting on a show because no one would really eat poached fish.  Everybody knew fish was deep fried and served with hush-puppies, slaw, and onions. We laughed when she talked about what wine to serve with what, because we had no experience with anyone serving wine with their meals.

French food is not my favorite, but I did learn a lot from Julia during her later years.  I loved that she insisted on real butter and making her own bread.  She taught us that it was okay to lose your spatula or serving platter, just when you need them most. 

When food critics and consumers raised their eyebrows at Julia's use of real butter and cream, she responded with this:  Everybody is overreacting.  If fear of food continues, it will be the death of gastronomy in the United States. Fortunately, the French don't suffer from the same hysteria we do.  We should enjoy food and have fun. It is one of the simplest and nicest pleasures in life.


Today we celebrate the 102nd anniversary of Julia Child's birth.  I think I will have some brioche with butter in her honor.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Amish in Stantonville, Tennessee

Last week, my sis and her hub went with us to the Amish community near Stantonville, Tennessee.  It was a beautiful day, and we love driving to new places and finding new treasures.  We enjoy these mini-trips we take together, where we giggle a lot and get caught up on everything.  Also, the squirrels ate all our tomatoes, so we needed to find some to buy. You know the food you are buying is fresh when they bring it from the field while you are standing there waiting for it. Here is part of what we brought home, and it was all delicious. Stantonville is located in McNairy County, Tennessee, northwest of Shiloh National Military Park.

Holy Smoke Pie

I think it was in the late seventies that I first had Holy Smoke Pie.  It was at a party at Debra Morris Harville's house.  After we ate, Debra had to give the recipe to everyone there.  I came home and made it for my family, and it has been a favorite since then.  I always make it at holiday dinners, because I believe tradition is important.  It has become a favorite of our granddaughters. I've heard it called Chocolate Delight, Four-Layer Chocolate Dessert, and other odd things.  We call it Holy Smoke.  Here is how I make it: Chop us a cup of pecans; set aside. Add a stick of softened butter (NOT margarine) to one cup of self-rising flour. Cut the butter into the flour. Add the chopped pecans, and work it all together. Save two tablespoons of the pecans to sprinkle on top. Pour into a 9" x 12" pan that has been sprayed with cooking oil. Spread it over the bottom of the pan.  It helps to use your hands (o...

Out of the Dirt: Bragg-ing

Like every reader, I have my favorite writers. There have been so many that have stirred my emotions and made me a part of their world, and I'm thankful for that. The one is love the best, the one I cherish , is Rick Bragg. Yesterday, Rick was in our area. We were privileged to see a newly released documentary about his life called Out of the Dirt . Afterwards, he talked to us about family and roots. His first book, All over but the Shoutin' , was recommended to me years ago. Very early in the book, I was thinking, "Who is this? He is writing about me, about my family." I have never actually met anyone in the book, but they are all my neighbors and kinfolks. His other books are just as well-written. In his book, Writing for the Soul , Christian author Jerry Jenkins had this to say about Rick Bragg: I read other writers and strive to be like them. I read others, like Rick Bragg, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist, and simply surrender, knowing I will ...