This weekend we went to our "local" museum and saw the Julia Child exhibit that I've been dying to see since I first found out about it earlier this year. It was quite interesting, though I'm not sure I got to enjoy it to it's fullest extent, since we had the 3 littles who are still working on public etiquette in tow. Not only learning about one of the most recognizeble cooks of my generation (one that I remember watching with my grandmother and/or babysitter after school) but being able to read about her to my kids as they are trying to figure out what is so great that we had to all trek out on a Sunday afternoon (calm down kid, it was raining anyway) to see these pictures and things from "so long ago" made my heart joyful. Sharing my intrests with my children is something a lot of parents don't have the time or opportunity to do and I am grateful that I am able.
On the way out they had a poster for the movie Julie and Julia. I had wanted to see it when it originally came out and never had the chance. Kevin suggested we find it on Amazon and watch it that night after the kids went down. We both enjoyed the movie and Kevin urged me to "do that" (meaning cook my way through Julia's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"). I told him it has already been done, gesturing at the screen. He told me that he knows I would have a different twist on it and it would work, just have faith. Especially since I would have to find gluten-free alternatives to be able to do it. I suggested I do it with one of the cookbooks I already have, seeing no need to add to the collection of cookbooks already gathering dust in the cupboard above my stove.
Undeterred by my humble objections, he ordered not only the first volume but both volumes of the book (and I'm sure he would have ordered all the way up to the 15th if that were a thing) before the end credits had even started rolling, and I am now the proud owner of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, vol 1 & 2".
While the idea of cooking my way through an impressively large cookbook like these is admittedly exciting, my circumstances are quite different than the one of Julie in the movie. (*Spoiler Alert*)
Julie is a married city dweller with a typical 9-5. I, on the otherhand, am a married, suburbanite mother of three, two of which I will be homeschooling this year, with 2 self driven carrers (read "no child care while performing").
Julie lets her marriage suffer at the hands of "The Julie/Julia Project" (her blog that takes her through the whole 1st volume in 365 days, totaling an average of approximately 1.5 recipes to be completed per day). I grew up and am still a Christian who was taught the order of things is "God, Spouse, Children, Job/Projects". And while I am seeing the importance of letting my children see me work towards something (especially the older two as part of their homeschooling), I see more and more each day the importance of the order of the first two, above everything else. Long story short, I will never put my marriage in jeopardy for a project.
Julie, being a city dweller, has access to fresh ingredients that most people could only dream of having. Count me with the dreamers.
I know this sounds like a list of excuses, and maybe it is, but the more I learn about these books the more excited I am to take on this task. I think, in another lifetime, Julia may have been like me, since the New York Times gave the criticism "Learning French cooking from Mastering the Art of French Cooking would be akin to learning to drive a car by having the workings of the internal combustion engine described in full detail." It just warms this engineer's heart and sets my thoughts ablaze. This is exactly how I want to run this page. Teach new things and get into the nitty gritty detail of it, for those who care to read.
I hope to create a place where I can share my projects, hobbies, carreer aspirations, and the learning journies that my children lead me down as I lead them to being bright, curious, strong, courageous and productive citizens for the future. So stick around for new (or old) recipes, projects, and learnings, because variety is the spice of life... right?
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