Celebrating Julia Child – Part I

Julia Child Birthday
Rouen, France – Novembre 1948

Please join me as I re-create Julia Child’s very first meal in France, one that she experienced with her husband Paul Child. The story takes place in Rouen, France in November of 1948. I originally wrote this post back in 2007. I resurrect it every year in August, with some minor changes, to celebrate Julia Child’s birthday. She would have been 101 on Thursday.

The text is as she describes her meal to us in My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme, published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2006. The re-creation photographs are ones that I have taken on my travels; some are from France, others from California, a couple are shot in my own home. I use the sepia tone to give the images the feel of a single place some 65 years ago.

Come, let’s travel back in time and enjoy French food and revel in its perfection via Julia…

Julia Child’s First Meal in France

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Loup de Mer à la Provençale #CookForJulia

loup de mer julia child
Loup de Mer à la Provençale
Prepared in Honor of Julia Child’s 100th Birthday

Crispy Skin Mediterranean Sea Bass
Provence-Style Salad with Anchovy
Roquette, Green Bell Pepper, Red Onion, Tomato, Cucumber, Olive
Herb Garlic Vinaigrette

Original Photo by Paul Child

“Simca, Paul, Patricia, and I… penetrated into this beautiful courtyard and were seated at a little white table beneath a leafy trellis. It was a splendid lunch, moving from apéritifs to pâté of fresh duck livers and truffles, thick slices of pain brioche, a timbale, tomatoes and a green salad. But the real reason we were there was for the loup de mer.”  Julia Child, My Life in France

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In Julia Child’s Kitchen (A RE-Creation) #CookForJulia

 julia child caesar and salmon en papillote
Julia Child – Caesar & Salmon Dinner

In Memoriam
JULIA CHILD
August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004

chef, mentor, heroine, author, television icon, inspiration, nonagenarian, friend

✘O✘

An adaptation from Julia and Jacques Cooking At Home By Julia Child and Jacques Pépin

“Today we are going to make a delightful dinner, Caesar Salad and Salmon en Papillote.
Of course, cooking
en papillote does not have to be fancy –
it’s a fine method for everyday cooking too.”

Julia Child Caesar Salad
Julia’s Kitchen: Caesar Salad

“I am probably one of the few people around who saw the real Caesar Cardini making his salad.
I was about 9 when my parents took me to Tijuana, just the other side of the border from San Diego. 

They were so excited when big jolly Caesar himself came to the table to make the salad, which had already been written up and talked about everywhere. And it was dramatic, I remember most clearly the eggs going in, and how he tossed the leaves so it looked like a wave turning over.”

Continue reading “In Julia Child’s Kitchen (A RE-Creation) #CookForJulia”

In Julia Child’s Kitchen

 julia child caesar and salmon en papillote
Julia Child – Caesar & Salmon Dinner

In Memoriam
Julia Child
August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004

chef, mentor, heroine, author, television icon, inspiration, nonagenarian, friend

“Today we are going to make a delightful dinner, Caesar Salad and Salmon en Papillote. Of course, cooking en papillote does not have to be fancy – it’s a fine method for everyday cooking too.”

Continue reading “In Julia Child’s Kitchen”

Do you remember the first food blog you ever read?

Julia Child Floribunda Rose

the color of different shades of butter

photo taken in my garden today 8/15/2010 at 5:23 PM


Do you remember the first food blog you ever read?

I do. It was Champaign Taste. I was about to host a Julia Child themed dinner party and decided to get inspiration from the internet. It was then I discovered Lisa’s Champaign Taste and her first annual Julia Child Birthday Celebration in 2006. I was especially excited to read her post as I had attended the University of Illinois and had lived in Lisa’s hometown – Champaign, Illinois for four years.

Dear Lisa:  Best wishes for continued success on your delightful long-running blog! Thank you for the initial inspiration and for holding your very special annual tributes to Julia Child for the last five years. It continues to be my absolute favorite event, big or small.

Julia Child writing about 1949:
“On August 15, I turned thirty-seven years old. Paul bought me the Larousse Gastronomique, a wonder-book of 1,087 pages of sheer cookery and foodery…By now I knew French food was “it” for me. I couldn’t get over how absolutely delicious it was.”

Continue reading “Do you remember the first food blog you ever read?”