Julia

A couple of weeks ago, Lorraine mentioned a book written by Julia Child called My Life in France.

I’ve adored dear Julia for years and didn’t know that this book even existed until Lorraine mentioned it. This treasure of a book chronicles her years of living in France (1949-1956) soon after she and her husband married. It was then that she got the “cooking bug” and began her life’s work.

I found the book on half.com for $1.88 ($3.90 shipping) and have been love, love, loving it. Lorraine was right. It’s one of the most pleasurable books I’ve read in a long time.

Her husband was an avid photographer, so the book is filled with photos he took while they lived there. They are utterly charming.

Here’s a happy snap of Julia and her husband, Paul. Look at the tenderness expressed there. It made me weep a little bit.

(Also, check out those gams on Julia!)

At one point in the book, Julia describes how she tried to make mayonnaise. It didn’t work. Then, she tried and tried some more but the results were inconsistent.

So, she set out on a quest to come up with a recipe for foolproof mayonnaise. After many trials and errors, she came up with the perfect recipe.

She included a photo of her typewritten mayonnaise recipe from 1950 in the book. What was I to do but immediately head to the kitchen and make it?

1 egg
½ tsp white wine vinegar
2/3 cup of vegetable oil
salt

In a stainless steel bowl over simmering water, whisk the egg for five minutes until thick.

(This is where I messed up. I think I had the bowl too close to the simmering water and I cooked the egg on the first try. Also, I had the water at a full gallop rather than a simmer).

Add the ½ tsp of white wine vinegar and a pinch of salt.

Then begin adding the oil, drop by drop, and continue whisking.

(Julia must have had the stamina of a marathon runner. I soon got tired of whisking so I chucked the whisked egg into the Cuisinart and drizzled the oil in - - it worked fine).

Oh. My. God!

I just have to say, that I’ve never tasted anything so glorious in my life. Mayonnaise! I can honestly say that I’ve not tasted mayonnaise until now. I wanted to eat the whole thing with a spoon right then and there.

Then, I tried making scrambled eggs according to her French method. Again, I’ve never had scrambled eggs like that before. Not even close.

I can definitely see how she got the cooking bug. I wanted to catch the next flight to Paris and enroll in the Cordon Bleu. (I had Thai food delivered instead)

Here is Julia, lounging in the French countryside.

Obviously, this is just how and where God intended her to be.