Friday Night Date Night - The Julia Movie

Today was a very special day!  The Julie & Julia movie came out and... of course it just happens to be "Friday Night Date Night" too... so the combo was the PERFECT night!  Joining Joe and I on our Friday date night ritual were 2 other couples, which was bonus fun.  

But ummmm.... how can I possibly, honestly, and objectively rate this movie?  I don't think I can be objective.... I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!!.... I swooned through the entire movie, crying in parts where I'm sure no one else thought it a teary moment, but... for me I was just so touched by the story.  I was truly just overcome with the pure joy of watching the movie.  I think Meryl did a stupendous performance, one that I'm sure Julia herself would have been honored to watch.  But mostly I laughed through the entire movie.

Amy Adams also gave a wonderful performance, but the character in general grated on my nerves just because the kitchen just isn't a place for prissy pants or pissy fits.  The movie could have left out the whole Julie blog part and filled those cut out parts with more of Paul and Julia's lives, up until their deaths.  No offense to Julie.... I'm doing the same thing you did with the cooking my way through Julia's cookbook and blogging about the experience, and I'm glad that I feel you did become a better person because of your experience and inspiration with your Julia Project, but I'm twice your age and have been cooking twice as long as you and I just don't fear anything about cooking anything, therefore, I have no patience for the waste of energy on temper tantrums because something didn't come out like you wanted/expected.  You just deal with it, fix it, or .... do over.... simple as that.... as someone once said... cleaned up version!  Ha Ha!  "Pooh happens!!".    

Beautiful summer night... good friends... much anticipated movie, meeting and/or exceeding expectations... tasty nibbles and delightful conversation at pub after movie... Friday night date night with the one you love!.... PRICELESS!!!!!!

Priceless Treasure Discovered

OMG!!!!  Just by reading Julia Child's book "My Life In France" yesterday, led me to find a truly unique and priceless treasure of my own.  She mentions a book that a 'true French native' lady gave to her to study by, which Julia refers to as her 'cooking bible'.  As soon as I saw the title of the book and the description of the book, I literally gasped out loud and thought... 'I think I have that book'.  So I dashed to my cookbook library and yep......there it was!  A priceless treasure that I just thought was a really cool and really old cookbook and had actually displayed it on my recipe rack just for decoration.  I am thrilled beyond words!!  It's like going to a yard sale and buying a painting you really like and finding out it is really a Da Vinci!! However... it isn't really a 'priceless artifact' to the average person, just to me because of my fascination with Julia.

The book I'm reading, is about her life in France during 1949-1954, and is so interesting because she is seeing and experiencing France still war torn and fraggled.  Julia and her husband Paul spent many weekends just jaunting around the back streets and discovering all of Paris's off the beaten paths and secrets, and of course their wanderings took them to places like Lyon and Marseille as well.  Joe and I have been to many of the places she talks about in the book, but the way she describes France while living in it during it's time of recovery after the war is simply fascinating!!  

During the time Paul and Julia lived in France, they wrote many letters to Paul's twin brother (Charlie), who lived in the United States.  They described in great detail about all of the places they had visited, the foods and wines they were experiencing and what daily life was like in France.  Charlie saved every single letter and the idea of the book came from a family member when they found all those old letters.   Paul's Great-nephew (Alex Prud'homme) co-wrote this book with Julia, by having many conversations with her, and from the words in their letters to Charlie.  

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in France and/or Julia Child.  It's a mini-history book, travel guide, and love story, all rolled into one and written in a delightful 'diary-ish' style.  It's the most intimate and personal view of her life that Julia Child ever gave to the public.  And.... it's just such a witty and charming read even if you aren't interested in France or Julia Child.  

Oh and..... THANKS BUNCHES to my Mom and Aunt Edie who rescued this book from the yard sale for me!  What a treasure you gave me!  HUGS, HUGS, HUGS!!!!  

Julia vs Chef V

I just started reading "My Life In France" by Julia Child.  I'm only in the first chapter and already I can't read quick enough to satisfy my current unquenchable thirst to know more about this truly amazing woman.  And already I see how similar in nature the two of us are, yet, there are vast differences in us as well.  I guess that is why I have such a fascination with her... I so completely understand and relate to who she really was... Gosh I sure wish I could have had an opportunity to meet and dine with her.  Other than my husband and my girls, no one has ever inspired me that way Julia does.

We both have height challenges... she was 6' 2" and needed cooking stations adjusted for her height to allow ease and comfort during her long hours in the kitchen.  I am 4' 11" and also need stations adjusted for my height, yet on the other end of the yard stick... literally!!!  Can you imagine the two of us side by side in the kitchen?  If I were in her kitchen, the tippy top of my head is all you would likely see behind her work station!  And if she were in my kitchen, she would be on her knees!!!  

We both are absolutely passionate about cooking, following the 'rules' of cooking, while keeping our minds completely open to 'tweaking' recipes or trying different versions of any recipe.

We both married the loves of our lives, men who shaped us into the women we are and both our husbands encouraged us to follow our cooking quests with as much zeal as we can muster on any given day!  Probably because both her husband Paul and my husband Joe have (had in Paul's case, since he died in 1994) highly developed taste palates and enjoy good food and wine from all over the world.  They both truly appreciate the labor and love of good food.  Both our husbands took us traveling abroad and introduced us to other foods and cultures.   Both our husbands encouraged us to go to culinary school, however.... I've cooked all my life, Julia was 37 before she first entered a kitchen.  

I must admit I am obsessive, compulsive and passionate... I do not think this is a disease or a disorder, and instead of being labeled "OCD"(Obsessive, Compulsive Disorder), I prefer to refer to myself as "OCP"(Obsessive, Compulsive, and Passionate).  Julia was definitely anything but OCD.  I think she was just OP.... obsessive and passionate in learning anything and everything she could about cooking and the French culture... she was not compulsive nor was she 'anal', in fact she was a 'mucker' (Vickie verbage meaning, a sloppy frump). I have a reputation for being quite anal... I just like things neat and orderly at all times.  Chaos is not in my language.  Chaos drives me absolutely crazy!  Chaos makes me quite cranky actually!  

Both Julia and I are quite adept at turning 'mistakes and/or flubs' into something presentable so that none of our eating guests would know the difference.  Neither of us have any fear in the kitchen and both of us have that 'go with the flow' attitude.  Rarely is anything we cooked so disastrous that it needs to be tossed and started over, yet... if it needs to be tossed and started over, we both would gleefully do so without a thought about it.  Cooking is unpredictable on any given day and flubs lead to new creations and ideas... and flubs should be expected and should be thought of as nothing more than a really good lesson.  I heard a quote once (by whom I can't recall) that said failures are only lessons to be learned and Thomas Edison made over 100 light bulbs before he got it right, but if you give up and have not learned from the mistake, it truly is a failure.

Julia describes herself as a large, loud and an unserious Californian.  I would describe myself as a tiny, yet loud, unserious Southern Girl, who would rather go barefoot any day than to have to wear shoes!  Both our husbands are milder in manner, quieter and more serious in nature, but always making us laugh with their priceless constant humor.  A perfect blend for both of us!

I'm sure to find many more similarities and differences as I continue reading this book, but I find I'm very comforted by the similarities in our nature and personality.  I'll never be the legend Julia Child is, but whenever I am compared to her, I will consider it the highest of compliments!  I would love to inspire just one person the way she has inspired millions.

The 3 Ladies

Last night I had the 3 Ladies for dinner.  Steak Diane, Potatoes Anna and Crepes Suzette. While dinner was DELISH, there were several lessons learned in today's cooking session.  

Steak Diane is actually a very simple and uncomplicated dish to prepare and can easily be made in 1/2 hour for a quick dinner.  It is made with rib eye steak that gets pounded to 1/8th inch, quickly sauteed in butter to 'rare' doneness, then taken out of pan and put aside while you make the sauce in the same pan.  Sauce making took all of ummmm 5-10 minutes, then you dip the steaks back in the sauce, cook for 5 minutes or less (depending on how well done you like your meat.....it is supposed to be medium rare in the center) remove steaks to platter, pour sauce over steaks, top with some chopped parsley and viola...a very tasty dinner is served!  One ribeye steak easily feeds two people made this way.  

The potatoes Anna were truly DELISH, but....very buttery and greasy....similar to very softly fried potatoes with a crispy top.  The potatoes started stove top to brown the bottom potatoes, the dish is layers of thinly sliced potatoes between layers of drizzled melted butter and salt and pepper, repeat for 3-4 layers.  Then take the potatoes off the stove, cover them tightly and bake in oven for 20 minutes, remove cover, drain off some butter and bake in oven for another 20 minutes uncovered.  After removing from the oven the 2nd time, unmold potatoes by flipping the pan onto your serving dish, so that the top is now the bottom and vice versa, making the crunchy bottom now the crunchy top.  This dish is really good but really greasy,... however the potatoes went very well with the Steak Diane.  

I had a light salad to accompany this meal (not a Julia recipe, just something I threw together) and I made my own bacon/mustard vinegarette for the salad.  I also took a couple of thin slices of the cranberry bread I made the day before, brushed them with some olive oil, sprinkled some kosher salt on top, toasted them in the oven for a few minutes and served them with the salad.  Better than croutons any day!   

Moving on to the Crepes for dessert.  The crepes themselves were perfect, the orange butter sauce in which the crepes were cooked was perfect.....but then.....came the flambe part, which actually went well as far as flaming the liquor and the presentation....however.....me thinks Julia liked the flavor of the liquor more than Joe, Jessica and I did.  It was VERY strong in alcohol flavor....TOO strong....as in burned your throat strong ......tasted like you just took a shot of cognac!  So......this recipe is also a 'do over' to be repeated with using less than 1/2 the liquor for the flambe.  

Lesson 1...my daughter Jessica came over yesterday to play in the kitchen with me on her day off from work.  We always start out by watching Julia cook from the DVD, usually the show where she cooks what is on the menu we have planned for the day, and Jessica happened to see her make potato pancakes and thought it sounded good to make for lunch.  Julia is very careful to specify the type of potato needed for each recipe because a baking potato is starchier and mashes better, where a boiling potato holds it's shape better.  Jessica was in charge of the potato pancakes, this was her dish to make and play with.  Taking great care to get the correct potato, she got them confused and used the wrong one, she used a boiling potato, but the recipe requires a baking potato and she chopped the guyere cheese instead of grating it.  The pancake tasted absolutely delicious, but they stuck to the pan and were a mucky mess to look at.  So the lesson from this dish is the correct potato really makes a difference, and you really need a non-stick pan which at the time I didn't have, but ran up to Kroger and bought one immediately, and the cheese melts better if it is shredded vs chopped.  Julia's big thing is flavor and taste, so for flavor and taste Jessica still gets an A.  This recipe is a repeat, do over also, but next time will go much easier and will come out of the pan much easier with the non-stick pan, thus looking prettier.  The potato pancake would also have been a good side dish for the Steak Diane.  

Lesson 2....it took about 6 crepes before I mastered the technique of getting the batter into the pan correctly and then tossing them.  But.....once I mastered it, it was easy from there on out.  It is a feel thing, that you have to keep doing til you get the feel right.  I made sure to have plenty of batter to practice with.  Jessica also mastered crepe making.  We had lots of fun trying to learn how to toss them....a few ended up on the floor, a few ended up in a muddled mess in the pan....but then....you figured out the correct flip of the wrist and viola!  The instant you 'get it', each crepe magically comes out perfect.  And the whole experience caused much giggling between Jessica and I.  

Lesson 3... I am not known for sharing my kitchen space well.... or 'playing nicely' in my kitchen!  LOL LOL  But I'm really and truly working hard on doing better!  I love having company while I cook to chatter with... that is... as long as they stay out of my space!  LOL  I promised Jessica that the next 'kitchen play date' we have she can be the Executive Chef and I will be her Sous Chef, since apparently I was quite bossy yesterday! Sorry Jessica!!!  MUAH and HUGS!!!  Here's the thing....I know what I am doing in my kitchen, I have it all planned out in my head and choreographed like a dance, and usually no one else knows the steps to my dance, therefore, I'm always stepping back on someone, I need to get in the drawer right where they are standing in front of, I try chopping and don't have enough elbow room....the list goes on... but if you have ever tried cooking and have a flow going, just one mis-step can throw the whole routine off...it's all about timing and once the dance has begun... just stand back out of my way.  

When cooking, I spin around from chopping board to stove to throw ingredients into pan, I shuffle down the counter to reach for this or that, I back up to the sink to drain this or that...it is constant movement and I just hate anyone being in my way, especially when I have to say....excuse me, I need in that cabinet, excuse me, I need in that drawer, excuse me I need in the frig,... watch out!... hot pan!!, etc.... what I really want to say is GET THE HELL OUTTA MY WAY!!!  LOL LOL  But.....people just wanna help and I understand that so I just grit my teeth and keep excusing myself to move them from spot to spot.  I have also learned to have everything possible done ahead of time before anyone arrives so that in the case of those who wander into my space to peek in my pans, try to nibble a bite of this or that or just to stand and chat, I can accommodate my dance around them.  

And... speaking of peekers, nibblers and wanna be stirrers.... don't you cooks just hate that! Don't lift my lid or open my oven unless I ask you... sometimes lifting a lid or opening the oven at the wrong time can deflate whatever is cooking, and... keep your nibbling fingers out of my ingredients/dishes and to yourself because everything is exactly measured... and last but not least...never ever stir my pots!  EVER!!!  I have had my dumplings ruined several times by well meaning folks who wandered in my kitchen, saw a pot simmering on the stove and they just had to stick the spoon in and stir it about, which is the one thing you NEVER do with dumplings!  So see......I definitely have kitchen sharing issues!  Or as my family loves to say.... I have control issues period!  LOL LOL  Which... is true.... I do!  But... I also make really good food that people like to eat and for food to be good, one must have complete control!  LOL LOL  I think maybe I should just write a 'proper kitchen etiquette for guests' book! LOL LOL  

Tonight is my night off from cooking because we have tickets for the Reds game tonight.  The past two days of all day long cooking has been more fun than I can remember, but I'm glad to have a night off too.  Tomorrow.... I plan on making beef and chicken stocks.  Not sure what is on the menu for tomorrow night yet, but I'm sure something will inspire me.  Until then....other house chores are calling!  

"Sisters Under The Skin"

My goodness.....whew..... I'm elated, excited, exuberanted, and exhausted.  I was VERY productive today.  Didn't intend to be quite so productive, but... one thing led to another and... so forth.  It started with the homemade sandwich bread and the cranberry bread that was supposed to be raisin bread, however, I didn't have any raisins, but I did have dried cranberries, and I thought the switch would be a better choice anyway... and it was!  WOW!!!!!  Now THAT'S bread!!!!  AMAZING!!!!  I hope to NEVER buy bread again, but hope to always have a homemade loaf on hand.  It wasn't that hard, it did take all day, but there were long spurts of rising time in between.  I was watching the bread episode of one of  Julia's earlier shows and as I was waiting for the bread to rise, I watched another episode which was "Queen Of Sheba Cake"... so I made that cake while the bread was doing it's first rising... then I saw another episode that was on vegetables and all 4 recipes looked quite easy and tasty, then I saw the episode of "Sisters Under The Skin" (Coq Au Vin-Stewed Chicken in Red Wine Sauce and Chicken Fricassee-Stewed Chicken in White Wine Sauce)... so I dashed off to the store to gather ingredients.  By the time Joe got home for dinner, I had made both Coq Au Vin and Chicken Fricassee (because in her episode Julia suggested when you are learning this technique you should do both at once to see how both chickens are cooked in the same method, yet with completely different flavor profiles), I also made braised carrots, french green beans, a loaf of sandwich bread, 2 loafs of cranberry bread, and a chocolate cake.  All were beautiful plated up... bright colors in the green beans and carrots... sauces were perfect texture and thickness, both chickens were 'fall off the bone' tender... but the breads and the cake are the bombdiggity and absolutely wonderful!  I truly think Julia would be sooooo proud of my enthusiasm and efforts, as well as, my results.  I think I even managed to impress my husband, which is really hard to do because he has been used to my cooking since the day we said "I do" and has seen/tasted the difference in my cooking skills ever since I started attending MCI (Mid-West Culinary Institute), so... impressing him is definitely a measurement of success.  

It was a really, really, really good day!!!!  What fun!!!!  Lots of pots, pans and dishes messed up!  I forget that Julia had a staff to wash up after her after all her cooking performances!  LOL  And as always....the more I cook the more I want to cook.  It is a pure addiction!  I'm sitting here typing this and noticing that I smell like butter and thinking I can tackle french bread tomorrow and while I'm waiting for it to rise, I saw an episode on braised lettuces and steamed artichokes that look like lots of fun to do.  I think I'll have the '3 Ladies' for dinner tomorrow; Steak Diane, Potatoes Anna and for dessert, Crepes Suzette!  

First "Official" recipe

Woo Hoo hooty hoot hoo!!!  I can say I officially started on my Julia Project today!!!  The journey has truly begun!  It was a simple dish, and one that my husband had Friday night at that quaint little French restaurant where we dined with our traveling abroad friends, Kay and Steve.  The dish was mussels cooked in wine (lots of it), butter, fresh herbs (fresh picked from my garden moments before their bath with the mussels) and shallots.  The mussels were snarfled up in less than 10 minutes by my husband Joe, daughter Jessica and son-in-law Winston.  Lest one forget... I am... picky Vickie... not a fan of mussels, but I watched the others enjoy them, and enjoy them they did!  It was Winston's first mussel experience... he was instantly addicted.  I am quite pleased that my first official recipe was a HUGE success... but honestly they pretty much cook themselves.  All you have to do is measure the ingredients in a big pot, bring to boil, add mussels... cook for 5 minutes covered... occasionally shaking the pan to cook mussels evenly.  Then... VIOLA!  Perfectly cooked mussels in 5 minutes flat!  Sprinkle some fresh chopped parsley (again fresh from my garden) on top and serve with some good bread for sopping up the juices and you look like you cooked all day.  

Tomorrow my plan is to tackle homemade bread.  Sandwich bread!  From scratch!!!  I focus most of my attention on cooking and very little on baking.  I bake the annual Christmas cookies and the occasional pan of brownies or a pavlova in the summer... but other than that, I rarely even think about baking.  But I'm not the least bit intimidated because I bought plenty of flour and yeast and plan of making bread til I get it right.  Once you get it right, it's a breeze!  You just need to know how it is supposed to look and feel.  Feel being a keyword.  I'm so excited for really good sandwich bread, it's been a long time since I have eaten good sandwich bread.  I have no clue what they have done to the standard sandwich loaf, but no matter what brand I buy, the bread has a flat flavor and too firm of a texture... nothing like I remember from my childhood.  I think they have changed either the recipe or technique on how they bake bread today.  Maybe they add more chemicals now to prolong the shelf life more than they did back in the 20th century...  I grew up in the 20th century, and bread was really good back then... as in... I could easily eat an entire loaf in one sitting, just because it tasted good and was soooo soft!  If nothing else... the house sure will smell good tomorrow with all that rising yeast and fresh baked bread!!  

Bread or bust!  Bon Appetit!

A touch of France in Evendale OH

Last night my husband (Joe) and I went to dinner with our dear friends and traveling abroad buddies (Kay & Steve) to a tiny little french restaurant that sits at the end of a strip mall, called  'La Petite France'.  On the outside, it looks unassuming, but the inside has bits of France everywhere.  It is a small family owned/run establishment with several absolutely gorgeous custom made stain glass windows.  The largest window has over 4000 pieces of glass and depicts an actual small town from where the owners lived in France.  The food was authentic and DELISH!!!!  I think we just stumbled on and found our new 'favorite' place!  

The four of us have been traveling abroad for the past 6 years, and we decide where our next destination/adventure will be each Jan 1st, then the men plan the trip for the next few months.  The four of us get together during the year several times to discuss site seeing options, lodging and such.  Mostly... the men plan it, Kay and I tag happily along and enjoy each day as it unfolds and presents itself.  The men plan the trips down to the tiniest detail and typically these are more like working vacations than relaxing vacations.  But... there is always soooo much to see and do and try to squeeze in 10 days, so we hit the streets in comfy walking shoes starting at 8:00am and walk an average of 10+ miles a day... SERIOUSLY!!!!... and finally plop into bed each night around midnight totally exhausted but completely satiated from lots of site seeing, exercise and really good food and wine.  These trips are always PRICELESS!!!!  

Last night's dinner was to finalize our upcoming trip to the south of France in Oct.  Which of course you should do so in a restaurant that serves foods similar to what you will be experiencing on the trip.  OMG!!!!!  The food last night!!!  AMAZING!!!  I now want to go do an internship with this restaurant.  Isn't it funny how life can seem so... well... coincidentally orchestrated?  My passion with Julia right now perfectly coincides with our trip to France in a few months.  Which is another reason why I am so anxious to get started on my Julia project so that I can have an idea just how I am doing compared to authentic french cooks/chefs.  By the time we go on our trip to France, I will have had 8 weeks of cooking with Julia, then I can get a real sense of comparison when we are traveling and I am eating true typical french fare.  How cool is that!?? Joe and I are also studying the Rosetta Stone - French CD's before we go.  This is the first time we are studying a language of the country we are visiting.  We may not speak it well and certainly won't be able to speak it fluently but hopefully we can get the basic questions down that will help us on our journey.  I'm sure to find myself in places that perhaps Julia herself visited and browsed around in, and you can be sure I will have my eye out for all sorts of cooking utensils and gadgets I hear her talk about and mention often in her cooking shows.  

Anyone in the Evendale OH area, please check out the "La Petite France" restaurant.  The food was tongue slapping your brains out good and the service and hospitality was wonderful too.  Enjoy... Bon Appetit!