Finding Yourself In a French Cookbook

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I really, really loved this book! Lately I seem to have really embraced the "food" genre - ranging from books on growing to cooking to eating food and the role that food plays in both our physical and emotional health. JULIE AND JULIA is a great addition to the shelf. It reminds me a bit of EAT, PRAY, LOVE, but without all the self-righteousness and religious stuff. I liked that book a lot, but JULIE AND JULIA is much more my (snarky) style.

I can totally relate to the author, an early-thirty-something trying to find a meaning in her life once she hits that post-20's "you mean, this is it?" realization. Julie Powell manages to get through that existential crisis by finding a new purpose in channeling Julia Child and spending a year conquering some really intimidating recipes. Perhaps I'm doing a bit of the same by trying to find more control and substance in my own life through cooking and, hopefully soon, growing healthier food. (And hopefully I'll find an Eric of my own someday!)

Plus, Julie Powell endeared herself to me completely in the cheesy end pages of the paperback edition, once you get through the reading group guide and the usual interview with the author. She gives a list of other books that might be of interesting, and they include the usual cookbooks and biographies of Julia Child. But there, at the very end, she reveals herself to be not only a die hard fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but also a devotee of Max Brooks and his Zombie books! She's like my soul sister. :-)


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