Thoughts: Happy Birthday to a Great Inspiration!

For those of you who aren't aware, today would have been the 100th birthday of a true pioneer in household cooking: Julia Child.



Aside from the wide array of cooking skills I learned directly from countless hours spent at my grandma's and mom's sides when I was little, I suppose I used Ms. Child to fill in the blanks when I'd watch old black and white re-runs of "The French Chef" on PBS.  I learned some very important lessons from her:

1. All great dishes stem from very basic recipes: everything is a variation from the basic form. 
2. There is no substitute for butter.  Butter is butter, and nothing else is even remotely sufficient. 
3. Sometimes mistakes happen when cooking.  No need to stress.  Be patient, go with it, and get creative if necessary.
4. You don't need fancy kitchen tools to get the job done.  Sometimes you just need to think outside the box, like getting around not having a double boiler. I don't have one, so I nest saucepans and it works just fine! 
5. (...and this is my favorite, which I'm certain was never explicitly stated, but I maintain that Julia Child taught me anyway) French cooking is the center of the culinary universe.  I've decided this based on lessons 1 and 2, listed above. :-)

My parents, ever supportive of my kitchen ventures, gave me "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," written by Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle for my 22nd birthday.  This has probably been the most useful birthday present I have received to date.  It is so much more than a cookbook.  Aside from fabulous, authentic French recipes, the book is filled with explanations behind the recipes, technical tips, and step-by-step guidance with diagrams for some of the more extravagant endeavors.  It has become a standard reference in clarifying points of confusion as well as in attempting to reinvent traditional dishes. 

I must also give praise to Ms. Child's having paved the way for cooking shows as we know them today.  Without her quirky show as precedent, I shudder to imagine my world without the Food Network and my personal idol, Giada de Laurentiis.  So thank you, Ms. Child, and I promise to bake a belated gateau in your honor when my home isn't bursting at the seams with sweets.  Perhaps a genoise or dacquoise?