I saw Julia and Julie Tuesday night. It was amazing watching Meryl Streep transform herself into Julia -- not by the costumes (although they were authentic) -- but rather by voice and posture. The juxtaposition of Julia's and Julie's experiences are interesting, but frankly as someone who had cooked my way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking myself (in 1970), the Julie part was less impressive.
I confess I didn't feel compelled to cook everything -- or to do it all in one year. But there was the six weeks when I baked my way through the dessert chapter and then had a dessert party (remember them?) featuring six of Julia's torte's and a bowl of chocolate mousse.
You could hear the entire audience sighing when the Beef Bourguinon appeared -- that used to be standard dinner party fare for all of us, thanks to Julia.
Julia was special to everyone in that audience. I remember inviting six of our gourmet friends to a special dinner party in honor of Julia's 80th birthday and cooking a dinner entirely out of her cookbooks. We did fine until we got to the Chocolate Mousse -- it puffed beautifully, but I was serving it out and I didn't manage to get eight portions so I had to be satisfied with a spoonful from my husband's plate. We made another one the next night!
The movie made me hungry -- not just for the food - which I still cook -- but for all those lunches and dinner parties and the friends we shared them with. Time to do it again, I would think.
We felt the same nostalgia. Especially for the boeuf bourginion Eleanor served for at OAC party when it was in Philly. But I love Amy Adams, and identified with her as well - in our earlier ages of cooking as well as eating. hope all is well.
Posted by: HLM | August 20, 2009 at 10:16 AM