“We should enjoy food and have fun. It is one of the simplest and nicest pleasures in life.”
It should come as no surprise that a one Mrs. Julia Child spoke those words, our very own Lady of the Ladle. Was it a pure love of food that encouraged Julia to a life of cookbooks and public television? Yes- the woman liked to eat and admitted that falling in love with cooking was due to “always [being] hungry anyway.” However, she didn’t even know how to cook by the time she was married at the age of 34, an astounding truth back in 1946.
Instead, finding the man of her dreams also led to a special discovery that her hometown of Pasadena, California didn’t afford- a passion for French cuisine. Her husband, Paul, was a food buff and was more than happy to introduce his bride to the delights of French food when his job took them to France in 1948. On their way to their new home, her very first meal in Rouen changed her life, and American cooking, forever.
Thank goodness our dear Julia did not stay in government work.
The Julia in the kitchen America came to know did not transpire right away. It took Julia a bit of time to find her way in France as Paul focused on his career. While all the women around her were happy to stay at home and be housewives, Julia needed something else. The couple had no children (a fact they didn’t much talk about except to say that they would have welcomed children, but they just didn’t happen) and though she was a doting wife, she needed more. She needed passion.
Turns out, her passion was cooking after all. After a season at Le Cordon Bleu, she found her niche- teaching cooking classes of her own to Americans in Paris and collaborating on a cookbook. Julia spent nearly a decade testing and perfecting recipes before the cookbook that was to become Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published. She faced rejections from publishers, encountered struggles with her collaborators, and moved at least five times. But she worked hard at her passion, even when there was no promise of success, because she loved it. She believed in it.
It remained a bestseller for five straight years.
Her entrance onto the public television scene essentially sealed her fate as America’s unlikely sweetheart once her congenial, good-natured personality entered living rooms across the country. She was simply herself, happy to be cooking and making no apologies in the kitchen. The woman challenged to find clothes to fit her towering 6’2” frame, who made no fuss about her looks or the thoughts of others, became a beloved icon.
Julia just adored her husband and delighted in life while opening a nation’s eyes to a different way of cooking because she loved it. And we loved her right back.
recommended reading to check out:
mastering the art of french cooking
Natalie Soldano is a freelance writer who earned her Creative Writing degree from the University of Washingon, beginning by creating stories on the family typewriter and submitting them to her first editor- her mother. In the rare moments she is not writing, she can be found devouring whatever book is in front of her, on the hunt for a great cup of coffee, or trying not to burn dinner. She would be in a musical if anyone would let her. Her passion for Christ and heart for encouraging young women in their faith often go hand-in-hand. She lives with her husband and five chickens in Seattle. Natalie can be found blogging at This Chickadee and on Twitter.