Julia Child - Then and Now

Julia Child – Then and Now

Post published:04/14/2022
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Here Julia Child (Sarah Lancashire ) is preparing for her first TV cooking show. You can see Russ Morach, glaring, arms across his chest, watching an event that he is sure is going to bomb. He was wrong, and she persevered. This program got off to an ordinary start in 1963 and Julia was ready to teach people how to cook!

That was the beginning, and Julia spent 10 years working with Russ Morach. By that time everyone knew Julia Child – and the book Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle and Julia Child. I speak from experience. I was quick to buy that book. It was followed by Volume Two Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child and Simone Beck.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volumes One and Two

In 1963 I had three young children, a new house and new neighbors. I had always liked to cook, and I found that my new friends also liked to cook. We made up four couples and organized a monthly dinner party group. We did not use Julia’s cookbook every time, but you can bet we sang out Bon Appetit! at every dinner.

Although the JULIA program closed after 10 years, Julia did not stop writing more cookbooks, and she also worked with other cooks – like Jacques Pepin.

French Chef Cookbook 1968 – and From Julia Child’s Kitchen 1975

I used all of these cookbooks and tatter shows a bit.

Julia was a great teacher, and she enjoyed working with other Chef/friends.

Julia and Jacque, what a couple! I watched their programs on TV. They were just marvelous.

I owned this book, and used it for some time. One day I was talking to one of my new Greenfield neighbors, Wendy. We were talking about Julia and Jacque and she told me a friend of hers had put this book together including much of the writing!

Thrilling! As far as I know this was the final Julia Child book. It is a great book with lots of how-to photos. This book taught me how to prepare Salmon en Papillote. They gave direction and each one, Julia and Jacque, gave their ideas about this recipe, and all the other recipes in the Cooking at Home book.

Salmon en Papillote – This is where I learned to make this dish.

Today we walked over to Fosters to buy a few things including a grater (for potatoes) and ham. Henry explained how much ham he wanted as the woman prepared to cut a nice, but small piece of the ham on display but there were a lot of decisions about the size. I couldn’t help laughing as they went at it. The lady cut the half sized piece and wrapped it for Henry. I was still laughing when she handed it over and I explained. It’s a Julia Child recipe. The lady sent us off with a cheerful Bon Appetit!