Finding Julia

When I first moved to Washington, D.C., I had a list of things I wanted to do. It was like I was a tourist and only had a limited amount of time here ( I guess I didn't think I would live here for over six years). On this list, I wanted to see Julia Child's kitchen at the National Museum of American History. Within the first month, I accomplished it. If you haven't seen this kitchen, you are missing out on a charming sight (The exhibit will close January 8, 2012 ). Knowing that her husband Paul built a wall, and traced the shapes of the pans on the wall to keep her organized, just warms my heart.

There is so much about Julia to admire. I think part of the reason I love her is because as a young girl, she was tall and awkward and yet she grew into a woman who charmed people with her talent and her humor. Having been an awkward young girl myself, it was encouraging to know that life can get better as you age.

Amazon has her episodes of The French Chef from the 1960's available to view and if you are an Amazon Prime member, viewing them is free. There are seven seasons of the show and they are great. She shows us everything from scallops to pastry to Tarragon chicken. She is so charming and you can see the things she struggled with in camera (very different than cooking shows you see now.). She has great techniques and doesn't need a bunch of gadgets to cook.

The episodes are really entertaining and are inspiring me to do a little more complex French cooking. They are worth the time spent to watch the original cooking show star.

The photo shown below is a little slanted because it is a shot of my Kindle Fire while it is playing the show.