Bon Appetit!

"The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking

you've got to have a "What the hell?" attitude."

- Julia Child

I never have wanted to cook French food in my life. I've never wanted to browse through a Julia Child cookbook, even though one has been in my Mom's kitchen for as long as I can remember. I didn't know much about Julia Child, and that was fine with me. Well, watching "Julie & Julia" changed all that. After watching this movie, I was on a high. All I wanted to do was cook! And not just cook- cook FRENCH food! From Julia's recipes! I can only imagine how many people went out to buy her book after watching the movie. I'm such a sucker for good marketing. John and I were going to watch half on Saturday, half on Sunday, because sleep is a precious commodity now. But I was so into the movie that I ended up watching the whole thing in one sitting, even though John was finding it hard to make it through the end. :) First off, Meryl Streep is amazing in this. I loved how the story took you back to when Julia Child didn't know how to cook anything. She seemed very charming, witty, and bursting with life. Very inspiring. Amy Adams character was very believable, and her goal for herself- 1 year to cook through Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", in a tiny NY apartment- kind of hit home with me. Not that I want to do that. No way am I cooking calf's foot. But I just liked the whole idea of challenging yourself with a project that you pour yourself into. And I could relate to cooking in a small kitchen! It's been part of my new years resolutions to cook more, and challenge myself making new recipes, and now I think I have to add to that and branch out a little bit more, and perhaps, just maybe, try a few recipes from Julia. The Beef Bourguignon (yes, I had to google it to find the spelling. And I won't even try to pronounce it.) looked particularly delicious in the movie. So did the Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms and Cream. AND- it turns out that I, too, have been cooking mushrooms wrong my entire life! Don't crowd the mushrooms, people! They won't brown! So, as you can see, the movie got me fairly pumped up about a new style of cooking and a new teacher. And just plain being inspired. Cooking is such a great creative release and there is always something new to learn, always a new recipe to try. "Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it" says Julia. True words, folks, true words.