Julia long de vie

September 5, 2009 at 2:13 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: empty nest, food, friends, Julia Child, Julie & Julia, writing

Chrysa Smith

A friend invited me to see JULIE & JULIA.

Great, I thought, the perfect afternoon diversion from teaching a summer camp, talking about writing and working on my own new release. So, we went.  Little did I know that this decision would turn into several weeks of Julia talk, Julia cooking and an effervescent evening of celebration, that Julia herself (I’m sure) would have glowingly endorsed, with a nod, a wink and her signature signoff, Bon Appetit!

But before all the glitz and glamour, I didn’t get a break from writing. After all, Julia’s cookbooks are infamous. However, it was sure nice to know that the mother of television cooking shows and French-American cooking herself, was a many-times-over, shunned author. Her work was too complex, too large, too consuming—maybe too advanced or prolific for the dull mind of the average American homemaker. Little did they (the experts) know, as often happens, that she was actually a Renaissance woman—-a woman with vision, beyond the confines of what present day society and cultural norms dictated to her. She was, quite frankly, today’s woman—a woman with a broader mind, sense of adventure and as it turned out, visionary of what was to come, decades down the line: American homemakers cooking more complex dishes, using good, fresh ingredients.

I loved the struggle. I loved the message and I loved the relationship between the modern day Julie and the Donna Reed era Julia—the woman who would don pearls while serving, yet be so bold and brash as to question norms, stretch limits and tell others, only when absolutely necessary, where and when to get off.  I absolutely loved her. And to this day, she continues to roll around in my head as a new role model— to those of us who go for the gusto, stretch the limits, color outside the lines and refuse to be defined by others.

So, being utterly shameless, I borrowed the idea of hostessing a Julie & Julia dinner party for a group of friends—-friends who recently share something in common (besides liking to eat)—-friends who are all relatively recent empty-nesters. What better comfort to give than sharing and serving good food, good wine and good conversation?

And so it was. Seven of the twelve invited women enjoyed appetizers on the deck, then sat in my breakfast room last weekend, dining on Beef Bourguignon, bottles of French and American wine and fresh French bread. A realtor, accountant, teacher, postmaster, nurse, and two authors were united for a few hours, by a sense of loss, a sense of hope and companionship brought to them by the breaking of bread, the sharing from a bottle, the telling of stories. In fact, I believe it might have also inspired a few future dinner parties to come, because in the end, as purveyors of fine food understand, there is little that a good meal and friendship cannot heal.

Ah, la bonne vie!