The Rachel-Julia Project

Jonathan and I watched Julie & Julia a while ago. It's basically the story of a bored woman who hates her job and turns to cooking every dish in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It also tells the story of how Julia Child learned to cook in France. Julie Powell wrote a blog about how her experience, and eventually became rich and famous and they made a book, then a movie of her life. Yay. They conveniently left out the part where she cheated on her husband throughout the entire experience and how she was whiny, crass, and vulgar. But that's the movie business. (Fans of A Beautiful Mind may be disappointed to know that Nash had a three-year-long affair that resulted in a child, and he abandoned both mother and child when the mother found out about Alicia. Alicia divorced him in 1962, although they did remain friendly.)

Anyway, inspired by the movie, and ignoring the boring and sordid details, Jon and I bought Julia Child's cookbook. Some of the recipes, such as solution for canned mushrooms, which is intended to make them taste more natural, seem a little outdated and impractical. Others sound really difficult to make. And others sound tasty. So earlier this week I made French onion soup. It turned out surprisingly well. If I had a name that made for a snappier sounding title, maybe I'd repeat the Julie-Julia Project, only without the whining and affair.