Thursday, 24 November 2022

Number 4 24 November 2022

 

Julie and Julia

Julie and Julia – the movie about Julia Child and Julie who was inspired by Julia. Oh, my word! I get carried away. I should start at the beginning. And the beginning is Number One. I mentioned Julie and Julia right at the start. Some of you might be familiar with this movie; some not. I was not familiar with this at all. I was only aware of Julia’s cookbook; have seen an original at a restaurant in Morningside, Sandton. And I paged through it and decided it is not my scene. That was a couple of odd years ago. And people change over time; and did I.

My one friend and her husband went to France for her work’s sake and he to wander around in Paris. And she joined him wandering around. And they ended up in a second-hand bookshop and they got lost in there. When they emerged, she had the 1983 edition of Julia’s book in her hands. She made a dish from it for a church function. I ate a portion. And got in touch with her to get the recipe; she shared it with me.

My wife then told me part of the story of Julie & Julia; and I was mesmerized by it: 524 recipes in 365 days. Can it be true? Is it possible? Is it practical? Remember I am a lawyer and I can cross-examine you till the end of time [I cannot dance otherwise I could have said: I will dance you till the end of time]. We watched a youtube documentary featuring the actors and the Julie herself. Yes, is it true. Yes, she really did it in 365 days; she cooked 524 recipes in 365 days.

Some of my photographer friends took on the challenge of taking 365 photos every day one photo at a time. Another friend challenged me to make doodles for 365 days a doodle a day. I declined.

And then I started thinking. I created my own challenge: 31x blog write-ups for 31 days. That is more in my line of thinking. Perhaps not so daunting as for 365 days! The write up on this link: “The bestselling memoir that's irresistible....A kind of Bridget Jones meets The French Chef (Philadelphia Inquirer) that inspired Julie & Julia, the major motion picture directed by Nora Ephron, starring Amy Adams as Julie and Meryl Streep as Julia. Nearing 30 and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, Julie Powell reclaims her life by cooking every single recipe in Julia Child's legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking in the span of one year. It's a hysterical, inconceivable redemptive journey -- life rediscovered through aspics, calves' brains and cre me brulee.”

At 72 years of age, I am a fairly young cook – started more or less 2015 and haven’t cooked for about 12 months.

Sometime ago I invited a friend for supper with specially cooked oxtail.

He declined. “I don’t eat oxtail.” Understandably!

Oh well, “What about ox-tongue?”

“I don’t eat ox-tongue.” Also, understandably!

Oh, my word, what does he eat?

Me: “Tell me, do you eat chicken eggs?”

He didn’t think it was funny. No comment! Understandably so.

So, we skipped the invitation or maybe my wife cooked some chicken for supper, chicken with rice [basmati rice that is] – cannot remember.

And now, from Julie & Julia to 31 blog write ups. I don’t want to commit to more.

Goodbye for now, I am off to my art classes coupled with a show of frivolity, gaiety, laughter, hatred for certain music, loooove for other movies, music and sometimes something about art. And discussions about fashion, fabric and what irritates you the most! Wish me luck! 


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