Julia Comes To Visit

Inspiration comes from sources likely and not. A truly awful book connected in some slight way to Julia Child got me to thinking about the woman whose voice we still hear now and again, channeled through the minds behind Prairie Home Companion, a voice usually enjoining the listener to add more butter.
I had gotten for the shelves both volumes of Mastering The Art, so I went looking in the New Book Pile and rooted out Volume One. A daunting volume in size, the writing is clear and the recipes are well organized. It made quite enjoyable bedtime reading for a number of days, and then one day, knowing that I would be grilling for dinner, I reached for the book to try out a recipe or two.
I noted the instructions that were relevant for grilling, and with those in mind, I looked at the directions for garlic potatoes. Both ingredients are a favorite of mine, and combined and prepared a la Julia, the results were staggeringly marvelous. The accompanying grill and steamed artichokes made for an altogether lovely dinner, albeit one that had soaked up half an afternoon in preparation, as well as a staggering quantity of butter.
In the days that followed, I turned to Julia now and again for guidance, though not for an entire meal. And then we went to the Land Of Many Subgum, a land where Julia is not an option, at least not in a traditional Chinese kitchen, which ours is.
However, when Thanksgiving rolls around, which it shall again soon, and we know we'll be spending the whole day in the kitchen, I suspect I shall revisit those glorious pages for inspiration and guidance to add a soupcon of French cuisine to our American groaning board.