On Julia Child's 100 Birthday
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On Julia Child's 100 Birthday



Today marks what would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday. She's a bit like America's culinary mother, the woman who encouraged and cajoled us into the kitchen to be become better cooks, with her humor and her can do attitude. I wish I had a great personal Julia Child story, but alas, I don't.  I can only share that like so many others, I have collected her cookbooks, cooked many of her recipes and thoroughly enjoyed watching her on TV.

Right now I am in the midst of reading Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child, the most comprehensive biography of Julia Child, written by Bob Spitz, someone who not only knew her, but admits to having had a crush on her. It's over 500 pages long and includes lots of anecdotes but it's really her character that shines through in the book and makes it such a good read. You can read an excerpt online.  

Also on my nightstand is a children's book that features Julia Child. Minette's Feast has illustrations that are somewhat reminiscent of Maurice Sendak. The book is short, perfect for bedtime reading. It incorporates tidbits and quotes from Julia Child, but it's really just the backdrop for a fictional story about her cat. It's light and fluffy (kind of like the cat!), and it will definitely please very young children more than adults, unlike Bon Appetit: The Delicious Life of Julia Child, a children's book for slightly older kids, that I believe all Julia Child fans will relish. 


Julia Child has been the focus of many of my blog posts over the years, both before her death and afterwards. Feel free to peruse them: 

Julia Child's Ratatouille recipe  and a review of Bon Appetit: The Delicious Life of Julia Child Julia 

Child Panel Discussion with great personal stories from those who knew her 

Julie & Julia, the movie an inside look at the making of the movie and the food scenes

Happy Birthday Julia!  includes her crepe recipe

Julia Child's Clafouti recipe


Thank you, Julia Child my personal tribute to Julia Child, a day after she passed away

and don't miss Jacques Pepin's charming recollection of Julia Child, it was published in the New York Times, yesterday.







- Julia Child's Ratatouille Recipe
Next month will be the celebration of Julia Child's 100th birthday. Her publisher is marking the occasion with Julia Child Restaurant Week, weekly recipe reprints and a charming new book called Bon Appetit: The Delicious Life of Julia Child. ...

- Interview With Nora Ephron
Have you gone to see Julie & Julia yet? I saw it in a preview screening, but I'm eager to see it again, especially for all the Julia Child scenes and all the food. While I missed out on an exclusive interview opportunity with the stars of the...

- Julia Child Contest
I am still savoring my Summer edition of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture. It was an entire issue devoted to none other than Julia Child. There are interviews, remembrances, stories, poems, songs and even a picture of Julia in the bathtub...

- Thank You Julia Child
Everyone knows who Julia Child is. Not only a national treasure, she is a cultural icon. And though she passed away this morning just missing her 92nd birthday, her impact on American cooking will long continue. It's hard to remember a time before...

- Julia
Most of you probably already know that Julia Child died yesterday just days from her 92nd birthday. Eulogies have appeared, and will continue to appear, in newspapers and blogs around the country and even the world. Alaina provides nice coverage of these...



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