julia child

Frankly, I think this is awesome.

Meryl Streep is in talks to play Julia Child in a film adaptation of Julie Powell's book Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen. Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle) will write the adaptation and will direct as well. Amy Adams is signed on to costar.

The story will follow "a frustrated temp secretary who embarks on a yearlong culinary quest to cook all 524 recipes in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She chronicles her trials and tribulations in a blog that catches on with the food crowd."

A food blog, eh? I can't wait to go see this movie with my favorite foodie blogger, YumSugar. What do you think about this casting news?

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Although the anniversary of her birthday is just two short days away, on today's date three years ago, the legendary Julia Child died. One of the first celebrity chefs, Child played an incredibly influential role in the culinary world. She personally introduced the classic French cooking techniques through her popular television series, The French Chef, and her 1961 cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She was born in 1912 in Pasadena, California and worked as a member of the Red Cross during World War II before her culinary revelation in 1948 post-war Paris.

She studied at the famed Le Cordon Bleu and shortly afterwards began to encourage mainstream Americans to adopt the sophistication of French cuisine. Her long career as a culinary icon lasted 40 years, and was glittered with prestigious awards including an Emmy and the George Foster Peabody Award. Let's celebrate the extraordinary life of the first female to be inducted into the Culinary Institute Hall of Fame by making something French in the next couple of days!

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A few years ago, while facing her 30th birthday, Julie Powell decided that even though she had no culinary background, she was going to master Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. So she built herself a blog and gave herself a year to complete every single recipe inside. There were ups and downs, but over the course of 365 days not only does she learns how to make a clafouti, but she learns a lot about herself. While reading the compelling memoir, entitled Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment, you'll have the opportunity to step inside one gal's attempt to change her life.

Personally, I found the journey to be wonderfully heartwarming and a pleasure to read. Powell's prose is witty, provocative and had my stomach growling, my heart aching and my mind enthralled. I'll have to warn you though, if you're looking for a book about French cooking, you're going to have to keep searching. While it is definitely sprinkled with food, the memoir is really a vehicle for what the author was going through during that period in her life. You may not find the secret to unlock your inner Julia Child, but you will find a really entertaining read.

This week I decided to bake something French for travel week. I originally thought I'd make a classic creme brulee, but after flipping through Julia Child's wonderful Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I landed on a clafouti instead. The anniversary of Julia Child's birth is approaching and in order to celebrate, I thought it was time to try mastering something new.

So what is a clafouti (pronounced kla-foo-tee)? It's a custard-style baked French dessert, traditionally made with cherries (but you can substitute most any fruit). The batter is similar to pancake batter, but the result is more like a flan. It's wonderfully delicious served warm with powdered sugar on top, and is ridiculously easy to put together. To make this tonight, read more.

When I was in Nice, France, I was mildly surprised to see that a large chunk of the salads on menus were Nicoise salads - especially because Nicoise is a French phrase that means "as prepared in Nice." Dishes a la Nicoise generally include tomatoes, black olives, and garlic. The quintessential salad contains these basics and additional tasty, fresh ingredients like green beans, tuna, and hard boiled eggs. Traditionally the salad is made with anchovies, but you can omit them if you like. The recipe also calls for a homemade vinaigrette, but you can easily substitute your favorite oil and vinegar based dressing if you are short on time. This hearty salad is a meal on its own - one that is perfect when paired with a French white or bubbly. To get the recipe, read more

Last week both YumSugar and I had the pleasure of attending early screenings of the new Disney/Pixar movie Ratatouille . After watching the fabulously fun tale about a rat in a Parisian kitchen, I left the theater craving the show's namesake dish. Ratatouille is a Provençal dish consisting of fresh summer vegetables slowly simmered with fragrant olive oil to form a stew-like meal. It's versatile and can be served warm or cold, or as a side dish, appetizer, or main course. For a little taste of France, and the dish that inspired last weekend's best selling movie, read more

Remember back in February when the Food Network held its first annual Food Network Awards? Well set your Tivos, the Emeril hosted awards are finally airing this Sunday at 9pm/8c. When I heard about these awards, I thought it would be one big Food Network self-pat on the back love-fest. However, judging by these categories, the show is completely different than my initial impression. Instead of being self-congratulatory (there are no categories like Best Iron Chef, Best Travel Show, etc), the categories are things like Delicious Destination of the Year, Edible Entrepreneur of the Year, and Favorite Food Combo. What I want to know is, if Grilled Cheese and tomato soup wins the Favorite Food Combo Award, who's going to accept the award on its behalf? I guess we'll find out Sunday. Oh and spoiler alert, we hear that the first Food Network Hall of Fame award will be a posthumous one for Julia Child.

Check out Food Network's website for a full list of categories and nominees.
Or check out pictures of all your Food Network faves on the red carpet.

"Some people like to paint pictures, or do gardening, or build a boat in the basement. Other people get a tremendous pleasure out of the kitchen, because cooking is just as creative and imaginative an activity as drawing, or wood carving, or music."