bon apetit! - wild about julie and julia

never have i been more inspired to cook and write about it... not since Julie and Julia...yup, it is a movie i saw yesterday when the boys were out and i had some quiet time to myself.  been meaning to watch that movie for ages, ever since it was showing in the cinemas but missed it, got a dvd from the ex like a month or two back and finally watched it yesterday.  and i totally and utterly enjoyed the movie.

a summary before u lost me - Julie and Julia is based on two true stories and is actually culled from two different books. one tells the story of Julia Child who made a transition from a bored wife of Paul, a diplomat stationed in France, to a student at the famed Le Cordon Blue school (when she wanted to cook french cuisine but could not find any french cook books in english) to a cooking teacher and ultimately cookbook author and star of her own tv show.  the second book is written by Julie Powell, a New Yorker who back in 2002 held a boring cubicle dwelling job with a government agency, and decided soon after moving to Queens with her husband to do something different in her life by cooking all 500 plus recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" over the course of 365 days.  having a history of not completing things, she was encouraged by her very understanding and level-headed husband to blog about it.  and thus the start of julie's daily adventures in the kitchen, which included trying repeatedly to poach eggs (i must try that and see if i can get it right), killing lobsters that sent her running out of her kitchen for safety, having meltdowns and practically crying in the kitchen (i get those kind of meltdowns as well when i am trying something new and it turned out to be such a challenge... but so far i have yet to burst into tears.  just got as far as wanted to throw everything i was doing and give the hell up).  despite all the meltdowns and one big argument with her husband (where he then walked out on her, but came home not long after... have to say that incase it gets a little too depressing there), she found a strength of spirit she didn't know existed until she followed Julia's lead.

oh by the way as i am writing this, a colleague of mine is right now at Borders, The Curve trying to get me the books "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" volume 1 and 2, yippeeeeeee....  it seems they found volume 2 but is now trying to find volume 1.  i cannot buy only one volume, it is a horrid thought to actually purchase something incomplete. you must now think i have a certain obsession or something. i do actually, at this point let's call it "julie and julia" obsession?  or is it "i have to get the MAFC books" obsession?  or "i have to try out Julia Child's souffle recipe" obsession? 

enough of that.  shall we continue on with Julie and Julia?  Julia is played with so much gusto by the ever amazing Meryl Streep who made me laugh with all her antics and her easygoing nature in the kitchen.  Stanley Tucci played her doting husband and i cant help but envy her, she loves to eat and cook, and she too adores her husband very much.  Amy Adams (who shot to fame in "Enchanted") is lovely as Julie, who struggled to find herself in a world where some of her friends are successful and pretty cold hearted, and could not care less about how she was doing.  and Chris Messina played Eric, her husband who was loving and funny, and always so supportive of her. 

i fell in love with the movie not just because of the food but also the charming and strong female characters and their lovable men... they (the characters i mean) give me hope that there is always true love out there.  i have to admit though that watching it inspired me to try all sorts of dishes and never give up even if i fail the first time, or two... or three? erkkkk... ok, stop there. anyway what i wanted to say is watching it definitely made me want to run into the kitchen and cook beef borgougne.  and the fact that Julia Child knew what to do with a flipped over and out of the pan omellette or was that something else... putting it back together again and serving it anyway, with flair and without apology is the best thing of all. 

i just got a text message to inform me that Borders has only the volume 2 and they could not find volume 1.  i have asked for it to be put on hold until they find the first volume. i am determined to get the books soon and i intend to try out the recipes.  let's see what happens next.  in the meantime as Julia would say... and what she always said... Bon appetit!