Julia

I'm back from a few days in the Adirondacks. I was told I'd have internet access in my cottage in the woods, but alas, I didn't. That meant no blog posts, and I'm way behind on all the cancer and lymphoma research and news that's out there.

But I have to post something. So I'll honor one of my favorite ladies of all time, Julia Child, who would have been 100 years old today. I have fond memories of watching her on PBS with my father, marveling at her process for making French onion soup -- starting with roasting beef bones for hours to make stock,  continuing on to cook down what seemed like gallons of sliced onions to get about a half cup's worth. I'm sure it was delicious, and it was fun to watch, but it seemed like a lot of work for a bowl of soup.

But my favorite memory of Julia came years later, very near the end of her life. She was a guest on Emeril Lagasse's show. Emeril was the king of the Food Network at the time, with his live show on at 8pm every night. Emeril knew damn well that he owed all of his TV success to Julia -- all of those TV chefs know it. And here was Emeril, on top of the world, cooking one of Julia's recipes as she sat off to the side, saying very little. She almost seemed like more of a prop than anything. It was a little sad.

Emeril was sauteing onions, talking to the audience, when Julia finally spoke, interrupted him, saying, "I'd add a little more butter." And Emeril about tripped over himself to get to the butter. "Yes, yes," he said, scooping up a couple of tablespoons and adding it to the pan, "it definitely needs more butter." Emeril Lagasse, king of cooking shows, and he's kissing Julia's ass. It was awesome.

So to celebrate her birthday, here's another of PBS's awesome remix videos:



(I have to say, though, I like the "Sweet Child of Mine" tribute almost as much....)

Happy birthday, Julia. Thanks for the memories.

(Back to that cancer stuff soon.)