Recently the movie about Julia Child's life in France along with Julie Power's blog of cooking her way through Julia's French Cookbook opened and has made a big splash.
Ron and I went to see the movie shortly after it premiered and enjoyed it very much.
I had been reading her memoir "My Life in France" so it was even more fun.
This made me remember my own special experience of meeting this legend of the food world. I wrote about it and sent it in to our Natural Gourmet newsletter for publication. I have included it here as it seemed relevant to the buzz of the movie.
Enjoy!!!
On August 15, 1912, Julia McWilliams was born. On August 20th, 2002 we celebrated her 90th birthday and incredible life, in the Nation’s Capital. When Julia Child left her Cambridge home several years ago to live in California (where she was born and raised) her famous kitchen was donated to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D. C. as a national treasure. This past week in honor of her birthday the permanent exhibit of her Cambridge kitchen opened for all to see. Julia came to Washington for the opening of the exhibit and there were many gala events in her honor She was interviewed on radio and TV, dinners were given in her honor at the Four Seasons, and at 1789; she also did a book signing for Sur La Table in Pentagon Row, Arlington, Virginia.
Last October I took a position with Sur La Table as the Culinary Program Coordinator of the cooking school at the Sur La Table in Pentagon Row. As soon as I found out about Julia Child’s kitchen exhibit I was on the phone to our Promotion and Event planner at Sur La Table. I begged her to see if Julia would be up for doing something - anything at our store. Many months later we got the news. Julia had consented to come to our store for a book signing and lunch at the Ritz Carlton. I had left my position at Sur La Table as head of the cooking school in June before going to Italy with family. I left the position on good terms and still work for the school and teach classes. I was honored and thrilled to be a part of the book signing event for Julia.
I knew that I would be working the day of the event in some way -but several days before the event our store manager asked me to make the 300 cupcakes that would be given to the customers in honor of Julia’s birthday (someone had canceled). Of course I consented.
That Saturday I started testing recipes. They needed to be made the day before and be able to stand up to the heat of our Washington summers and no refrigeration. Further, they needed to be small and of course beautiful. After two days of testing I had the perfect cupcake- I was ready for production. I went into the kitchen at the store and started. Carl, a pastry chef, and Robin, a graduate of California Culinary were helping out. We got the first double batch in the oven. Big problems! The cupcakes crowned and looked and tasted like muffins! We deduced that someone had put bread flour in the wrong bin. Still problems on the second try - the batter was not thin enough. Of course our hot disgusting weather may have had something to do with it, not to mention that it was Monday and the store had not had any air conditioning since Friday - and Julia was coming! We forged ahead though - no excuses. By 7:00 PM we had 285 cupcakes that looked beautiful. White butter frosting piped in stars and swirls with candied flowers on each one! We were all tired but happy with our work and looking forward to the next day with Julia.
The store had already sold over 200 of Julia’s books on Monday and at 8:30 am when I arrived at the store people were lined up around the block and waiting for her. It was getting hot outside and even hotter inside. No AC still. No one cared - we had a fun day ahead of us. People were all very excited all waiting to see their Julia, everyone had a story about how she had changed their lives and their cooking. There were children, men, women, grandmother’s and grandfathers, home cooks - professional cooks, press and politicians all waiting to see her. They were all very patient and happy - we kept them that way by giving them bottles of water, lemonade, cupcakes, and later some of the area restaurants handed out appetizers. We let people in the store to buy books and then it was back outside again to get in line for the book signing. Julia arrived at 10:00 am - a half an hour early. They greeted her like a rock star - cheering and yelling, then as she came in we all sang Happy Birthday to her. Then it began, she started to see each one - they told her they loved her, they told her thank you, she spoke to them in French and German, they took pictures. They were all happy.
Julia had been to two days of events and earlier that morning she was on TV. She was not feeling well, but she did not show it. She would not attend the luncheon at the Ritz. The Ritz culinary staff came over to the store and honored Julia with a cake made for her. After 2 ½ hours of signing books she needed to stop. The people left would not leave - they just wanted to see her. She promised all of them signed book plates to be sent to them after she returned home. In all she saw about 700 hundred people.
Julia had been seated on a stage in the kitchen for 2 ½ hours - it was now time to leave. I had never met her before or seen her in person. I watched her as she greeted people and signed books, she has such a sense of humor, and seems to really like people and has a way with children. She was quiet this day, her assistant doing a lot of the talking. She uses a walker and needs help to stand. She looks her 90 years, but her eyes have a twinkle and shine of a child. We helped her down off the stage, I held her walker for her and she strolled out to her car smiling at everyone. What was she thinking of all this? People hung around for a long time, talking with new acquaintances they met in line - just trying to make the experience last a little longer. Those of us invited to the Ritz walked over to a beautiful lunch in the Ritz Carlton Presidential Suite with a fantastic view of Washington - you could even see Georgetown - where Julia and her husband Paul lived for some years. We looked out at the view and gave a champagne toast to Julia. Julia was back at her room in the Four Seasons having a really good tuna salad sandwich with tomato and lettuce - something I am told she enjoys - as long as there is no pickle.
Julia Cupcakes
Ingredients:
2 cups organic unsalted butter
2 cups of organic evaporated cane sugar
3 cups of organic all purpose flour
2 tablespoons of arrowroot
2 1/1 teaspoons of baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups of organic cultured buttermilk
1 cup filtered water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 drops of lemon oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cream the butter and sugar ( this will take about 5 minutes). Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder salt and arrowroot onto a piece of parchment paper. Add these combined ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture slowly with the mixer on stir. Combine the wet ingredients together and then add slowly only mixing until well combined. If the batter does not pour easily into the cupcake papers add more liquid. Fill the cups ¾ full. This batter does not have a high rise - but it does produce a flat surface. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Cake should spring back to the touch and have a golden color. Cool for several minutes before taking the cakes out and placing on a cooling rack. Wait until completely cool to ice.
Butter Frosting - This is not my ideal frosting but it holds up well in the heat, pipes well and looks nice.
Ingrdients:
1 lb. Confectioners sugar
½ cup ( one stick) organic unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 drops lemon oil or one tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons of milk or buttermilk
In a mixer beat the butter, add about one third of the sugar at a time. Beat well for several minutes until the butter and sugar are light (low speed) finally add the milk for consistency for piping and the vanilla and lemon. Place in a piping bag and pipe on the cupcakes with a star tip in little stars or in a swirl. Place decoration in the middle.
