Tuesday, February 1, 2011

FOREVER YOUNG/JULIE/JULIA/and ME

Now you might wonder why I'm writing about forever young with Julie/Julia.   It's because Julia Child will  be forever young, even though she's no longer here, I imagine she's sharing her cooking secrets high above, at least I would like to think so, and Julie is still young and is now an accomplished writer.

So I'm writing about them today, because they both shared a love of food, and they both set out to prove something to themselves, to fulfill a need to accomplish something in their life.

And I can't tell you how many times I've watched this film , knowing I can relate to the young Julie and all her struggles of making something out of her life, working at a job that was frustrating and heartbreaking, and knowing her friends had accomplished their goals. But Julie still hadn't found her voice in the world, and wanted desperately to finish something she started.

Also Julia, at the age of  thirty-seven, who no longer wanted to work for someone, who wanted to find something that would be self-fulfilling and loved food so much, decided to learn from the best, and write a book on French Cooking, bringing something new to the American women.  She went on to be a pioneer, having her own cooking show on television, sharing with the world her cooking expertise, and having fun doing it.

The young and old joining forces, in different times, different places, but still achieving their goals. So who says you can't learn from each generation.  And in the end, they didn't do it for anyone else, they did it for THEMSELVES.

So, now I'll share with you a two personal cooking experiences. I was newly married and we lived in a house that had a wall oven. I never saw one, since I lived in the city, and was used to the conventional type stove, you know the one that has a top and bottom,. lol.. but the house I lived in was an old country home..

I wanted to impress my new husband and cook a chicken dinner. I put the oven on the temperature required and dressed up the chicken.  I also got a few potatoes and wanted them to bake at the same time.  My husband came home around 5:00pm.  The timer went off, and I couldn't wait to show him what I cooked.  Okay, picture this. The potatoes were done, the vegetables were done, but to my surprise the chicken was SEMI-RAW.  How could this be? I said to myself, upset that my very first dinner turned out to be an utter failure.  My husband of course laughed, especially when I served the food in stages. He got the potatoes and vegetables first, and an hour and half later the chicken.

Yes this meal will go down in history. So I started cooking my meals on the stove because I didn't want to take a chance of ruining other meals.  And the fact I didn't want my husband to eat something before coming home, (and never told me, but he did).. because he didn't know what condition my food was in.  Who wants to eat dinner in stages, and have the main course at 10:00 pm...

Now it was my husband's birthday. I had invited some friends over for cake and coffee. I was so proud, I baked a cake, yes in the WALL OVEN.  I thought to myself, it's about time, I give it a try, maybe the first time was just a fluke..  So I put all the required ingredients in the cake, mixed it up and poured it into a grease cake pan. The oven was already pre-heated.  Now the wait.  When the timer went off, mind you my company was just about arriving. I took the cake out and again to my dismay the cake was as flat as a pancake.  What to do.  I had no choice but to serve it.  My friends arrived and after eating some light food, it was time to bring out the cake.  I was so embarrassed to present this cake.  Okay, they all laughed at my cake, but what I didn't know is that my friend's husband put the piece of cake in his coat pocket.

A year later when I invited them over for my husband's birthday.  My friends husband wore the same jacket, and when he reached into his pocket to get something, he pulled out out the piece of cake from last year.....He completely forgot he put it there. What a shot to my ego.

Now I I do have a good reason for all the cooking disasters.  It turned out the wall oven's element was not functioning properly.

But do you think my husband and friends explained that, oh no, they told the story over and over about how my chicken and cake were disasters, what fun would it be to tell the real reason of what happened. I was beginning to think I would never be a good cook, but over the years, I must say, I've proven myself wrong.  I might not cook like Julia or Julie but I'm not bad either.

And over the years, I've accomplished many things I've set out to do, not on a big scale, but on a scale that made me feel good, and even at my age, I still am reaching for the stars.

So Julia/Julie you will always be FOREVER YOUNG