My Life in France



I am in the middle of this beautiful beautiful book, written by one of my new idols, Julia Child. She wrote this book in her last year of life (age 92!) from the comfort of her Montecito home -- so close to where I grew up in Santa Barbara . . . The stories are spun from letters she and her husband, Paul, wrote to family members in America during their time in late 1940s-50s France.

The thing I find so remarkable about Julia's outlook is her passion for all things to be fun, her acceptance of a scatter-brained existence, her strength she derived from her capable and eccentric husband, and lastly -- her late arrival to her passion, cooking. She did not begin to cook in earnest until she was 37 years old. For someone who's name is so synonymous with delicious French Haute Cuisine, this fact staggered me... Reading about someone who tried many things and took her time to arrive at her most beloved endeavor, de-mystifying the ever-mystical French foods, is so inspiring. It's as if her voice and her experience affirms my own many interests and passions and my desire to pursue them all. Sometimes I feel there are just too many ideas floating in my own scattered mind that it's hard to decide on one focus. These are the times I spend most of my hours in the kitchen -- finding comfort in the soothing chop of a green onion, inviting smells of garlic and onion sauteing on the stove and the sheer mad alchemy of my tiny yellow nook.

Julia -- I am just one of your many admirers, but am feeling so lucky to hear about your life, in your own words.

Get this book, people!

1 comment:

  1. I've had my eye on this book! Now i KNOW I must get it :). Great write up too!

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