Back To The Books

I know, I know, this is a blog about books, not travel or movies or sock monkeys. (For actual sock monkey sites go here or here or here.) I brought two books with me on the trip. One that I had already started and read a little of on the plane. The other was more apropos to the location -- My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'Homme. Julia moved to Paris with her husband in 1949, she was 37 and didn't speak french or know how to cook very well. She fell in love with the city, the people, the language, the food. Before I read this book I knew very little about Julia Child except that she was into french cooking, wrote a large and formidable seeming cookbook (Mastering the Art of French Cooking) had a PBS cooking show and that Dan Aykroyd did a great skit on SNL about her that we can all picture and hear in our minds... Her story in this book inspires me a great deal. She was 37 when she came to Paris learned to speak french and learned to cook traditional french food. She was passionate and gutsy and jumped in with both feet. I am a great believer that people have the capacity to change and grow and learn at any age. Julia is a great example of that. She was put into a situation that was foreign and probably a little frightening -- new country, new city, new language, new culture, new food -- and just gave it her all and then reaped huge benefits that she never would have imagined. She didn't even own a TV when she was ON TV for the first time! Reading this book (and having just been in Paris) also made me want to try some of the recipes in her great book. Two recipes that are right up top are Garlic Soup and Moules -- Mussels. I love the mussels! I'll report back. (I know I know, it is also not a blog about cooking...)