One week ago today T and I were enjoying a stroll around Georgetown.
A few years ago, we had been in Georgetown and found Julia Child's house on Olive Street NW. It was in a state of disrepair but today the yellow house looked brand new. What a facelift!
Julia and Paul Child bought the house in 1948. It was the first house they owned after they were married. Not long after they bought it, they rented out the house because Paul was assigned to Paris, where he worked for the U.S. Information Agency and Julia discovered her love of French cooking.
I didn't watch Julia Child on TV but I have read about her and have a couple of her cookbooks. A few things that I have taken away from those readings:
1. Learn by doing. One of the things that I discovered about Julia early on was that she worked hard. Really hard. She made everything look easy – part of that was that she truly loved everything that she did – but behind the casualness was a determination to learn as much as she possibly could about everything that interested her. And she was boundlessly curious.
2. Take time and care. Julia gives credit to Chef Bugnard, her beloved teacher at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, for telling her that if she wanted to get the best ingredients at the market, she had to “take time and care”. I’m guessing that the reason Chef Bugnard took special interest in Julia and that their relationship lasted years, was because Julia always took time and always cared.
3. Have fun! Julia loved life and her joy was contagious. She had that joie de vivre.
The last I knew, the kitchen from her house in Massachusetts, was on display in the American History Museum. Her work was on the leading edge of teaching not just ingredients, but technique in "cookbooks." I understand there is a YouTube channel with all of her shows back to back.
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