Julia Child--In Memoriam

[Music]

I never had the honor of meeting Julia Child in person, but she has always been an inspiration to me, a nonprofessional who has loved to cook at home since high school. I want to thank all of you who did know her personally for your posts and links to articles. Your stories add so much to the standard obituaries.

Thanks, Maybelline, for remembering the book "Spies, Black Ties and Mango Pies," and to Gifted Gourmet for posting the link to Amazon to order the book, which I have done.

I also plan to cook to honor Julia this weekend. I haven't yet decided what to cook -- there are so many choices!

Rest in peace, Julia -- I'll never forget you.

[Mabelline]

Yesterday, Jacques Pepin said something that touched a chord with me:"I was so jealous when I read the manuscript of her book; it was everything it needed to be," then he went on to explain, PRE-JULIA, there were no fresh mushrooms, no leeks, no shallots in the markets. It was on "Aisle 5" meaning it was in cans. Younger folks do not fully grasp the immense influence she had on America, and indeed the world. But like previously mentioned, she stayed true to her principles, and did not market anything but her books. She supported PBS all her long career, and that's class.

Edited August 14, 2004 by Mabelline (log)

[Squeat Mungry]

Yesterday, Jacques Pepin said something that touched a chord with me:"I was so jealous when I read the manuscript of her book; it was everything it needed to be," then he went on to explain, PRE-JULIA, there were no fresh mushrooms, no leeks, no shallots in the markets. It was on "Aisle 5" meaning it was in cans. Younger folks do not fully grasp the immense influence she had on America, and indeed the world. But like previously mentioned, she stayed true to her principles, and did not market anything but her books. She supported PBS all her long career, and that's class.

Pepin was just brilliant talking about Julia. I loved it when he said she was the "anti-snob"!

[Gifted Gourmet]

Time Magazine's covergirl 1966

This I love!

[Mabelline]

Total food BABE!!!

[Pickles]

I saw that SNL, and I'd never seen Julia before except in the briefest of glimpses. Dear Lord, it was funny, if only because I knew he was nailing it.

To cheer us up ever so slightly, and since Julia liked it:

The Ackroyd Skit

[jo-mel]

LOL! Thanks for the Ackroyd skit. I hadn't seen it. Too funny!!

I just checked my Volume 1 of Masters. Its coverleaf was long ago protected with sticky transparent paper. V2's cover is tattered and folded neatly inside the book.

Volume1 opens up, by itself, to pages 154-155 - "Gratin de Pomme de Terre et Saucisson". I obviously love that recipe, and tomorrow -- on The Great Lady's birthday -- I will make it.

Bon Appetit, dear lady!

[project]

The best life will include all the butter Julia calls for.

[Really Nice!]

From volume 1 I'm making her master recipe for oven-roast chicken and peach tart.

I thought I'd take a look to see what tributes would be on http://www.juliachild.com.

What a horrible hijacking of a url.

EDIT by moderator: I'm going to do something we almost NEVER do--which is insert a notice into a user post. The reason being that the URL indicated above seems to lead to a site which tries to install and run a Java application. Now I can't tell you offhand what this application will do to your PC, but I want to warn our users that very frequently this is how Spyware gets onto your PC. So my advice is to take Really Nice's word that this isn't a legitimate Julia Child site and don't click on this or otherwise visit this URL. If you DO, please answer "No" or "Cancel" to any questions they may ask about installing or running anything.

Edited August 15, 2004 by jhlurie (log)

[Jinmyo]

From volume 1 I'm making her master recipe for oven-roast chicken and peach tart.

I thought I'd take a look to see what tributes would be on http://www.juliachild.com.

What a horrible hijacking of a url.

That's shocking.

[lilyspence]

You know, maybe the message here is everytime we cook, until the day we die, we will honor her memory and be grateful for her spirit.

[Phatlouie07]

I am reminded of a song that was written when Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash in 1959. Someone wrote and recorded a tribute song to them and with apologies to the author I'd like to paraphrase a couple of lines:

"Julia's cooking for God now,

a banquet in the sky,

Gee, we're going to miss you

Everybody sends their love."

See will be missed.

i wish i have gotten to meet her. a legendary woman amongst a male dominated buisness. anyone who has gotten the chance to have met and known her..you are extremely lucky. while she is cooking for god up there...i hope that she is joined not only by her husband, but by other lumenaries such as escoffier, james beard, the late gilbert le coze and jean louis palladin. Julia, you will be forever missed.

[Gifted Gourmet]

From volume 1 I'm making her master recipe for oven-roast chicken and peach tart.

I thought I'd take a look to see what tributes would be on http://www.juliachild.com.

What a horrible hijacking of a url. 

That's shocking.

I imagine that were Julia present to see this, she might well laugh it off .. she was incredibly diplomatic and made everyone around her feel totally comfortable .. a gracious woman, to be sure!

[bigbear]

RIP

[FistFullaRoux]

Thinking back on it, I remember someone reporting that she supposedly dealt with people she was annoyed with by answering their questions with another question.

Looking back at the Larry King interview (link posted upthread), she must have been a little ticked at ol' Larry there. She never really did that with Pepin or Lagasse.

[mrsadm]

From volume 1 I'm making her master recipe for oven-roast chicken and peach tart.

I thought I'd take a look to see what tributes would be on http://www.juliachild.com.

What a horrible hijacking of a url.

EDIT by moderator: I'm going to do something we almost NEVER do--which is insert a notice into a user post. The reason being that the URL indicated above seems to lead to a site which tries to install and run a Java application. Now I can't tell you offhand what this application will do to your PC, but I want to warn our users that very frequently this is how Spyware gets onto your PC. So my advice is to take Really Nice's word that this isn't a legitimate Julia Child site and don't click on this or otherwise visit this URL. If you DO, please answer "No" or "Cancel" to any questions they may ask about installing or running anything.

Anybody can get any available url on the net. A couple of years ago I noticed there was no "juliachild.com" and I thought about requesting it myself and then contacting her staff, because it really should have belong to her and not be available to just anyone.

Here is the "whois" registered information for the url:

____________________________________________________________

Whois Server Version 1.3

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered

with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net

for detailed information.

Domain Name: JULIACHILD.COM

Registrar: IHOLDINGS.COM, INC. D/B/A DOTREGISTRAR.COM

Whois Server: whois.dotregistrar.com

Referral URL: http://www.dotregistrar.com

Name Server: PENDULUM.MAXIM.NET

Name Server: NS.NNW.NET

Status: ACTIVE

Updated Date: 08-aug-2004

Creation Date: 07-aug-2002

Expiration Date: 07-aug-2005

______________________________________________________________

Iholdings.com and Dotregistrar.com are internet web services providers so it doesn't tell us who really owns the web site.

Of course, her estate could sue to get back the url ... that's the way it's done.

[bloviatrix]

In addition to their obit, yesterday's NY Times had a lovely appreciation for Julia.

Additionally, they have created a special section devoted to her memory.

[rosebud]

I can only ditto what everyone on this site has said. At least I have had to opportunity to visit her kitchen at the Smithsonian. It's just about the only thing I have ever envied of anyone. It is homey and unpretentious and SOOO inviting.

Her authorized biography, "Appetite for Life," was rather mercilessly panned by many reviewers; however, I found it fascinating and a very good read. One reviewer complained because it didn't have enough recipes!!! Like her cookbooks aren't all in print.

I made her French Onion Soup from "Mastering Vol.1" for a frenchman who had just moved to DC. He was THRILLED!

While we are all giving thanks for her life, I would like to remind everyone that one of her early crusades was to get supermarkets to quit chilling their tomatoes. I can remember buying those hard, pink, rubberball-like, plastic-wrapped horrors in the refrigerated produce section.

Every Saturday when I shop at the local farmers' market, and when I visit the fresh produce section of any supermarket, I give thanks to Julia for making this possible for all of us. Because she insisted on it, so did we.

How do you thank someone for giving us a lifetime of good food shared with good wine and good friends?

[Pickles]

I don't think it's been mentioned in this thread, but Julia triumphed over breast cancer, in addition to all the other fantastic and strong things she did. Did you know that she and Paul were in a horrible car accident the day before they were wed? And yet the ceremony went on...she with a bandage on her face, and her body (according to her) full of broken glass. I think the most touching thing I have read about Julia was when Paul died of coronary atery disease in 1994...at the age of 92, ironically. Julia was of course there when his ashes were scattered in the sea. They did not want religious services, neither subscribed to any church.

"So long, old boy.." she said. And then it was reported that someone heard her whisper "Goodbye, sweetie..."

I hope there were plenty of people at her memorial service. Does anyone know how many close relatives she has left? I know she had a sister, and I think, a brother as well?

[Tengrain]

Folks - don't be sad for Julia, she would not have wanted this. We need to celebrate Julia's life, not mourn it. Julia was nothing if not about living to the fullest!

I remember hearing her take questions from the audiance at an event years ago, and so many people asked her if they could substitute milk for cream, margarine for butter and so on, and she replied something like, "Of course you can, but it won't be the same, and you will regret it."

So this weekend, in honor of Julia, we cooked from her recipes, and did not spare a drop of cream, or a pat of butter. We served wine with everything and had gin martinis and toasted Julia'a life.

[cigalechanta]

You are right. Her cousin said you removed her oxygen mask and closed her eyes.

She did it her way, AGAIN!

Someone posted an url to the L.King inrerview? I must be having a senior moment. i can't find it, HELP!!

[NulloModo]

Wow, I must be too young to understand her impact. I never realized supermarkets ever stored tomatoes chilled, nor that they didn't always carry a variety of fresh mushrooms or produce... I will have to do some research into her work.

[FistFullaRoux]

Someone posted an url to the L.King inrerview? I must be having a senior moment. i can't find it, HELP!!

Here's the link again

[bryan]

Julia also fancied cats. Her cat was by her side when she passed.

Kitty's name was Minou - does anyone know the meaning?

[cigalechanta]

True like me, who loves cats, and like her, dislikes cilantro.

Milou means kitty