I was watching the movie Julie & Julia the other day and I have to start this post by saying this – I believe that film is truly inspirational.
The way Julie Powell worked her way through Julia Child’s book really showed dedication and perseverance. I know, she kind of flipped her lid at a few points in the movie and I’m sure even more so in real life, but the kind of dedication it takes to stick to a recipe let alone hundreds of recipes is seriously unheard of for the most part. Everyone I know, especially myself, add a dash of this or a dash of that to almost every recipe. But Julie did it, she followed the recipes and Lord have mercy did it pay off! One can only dream of success like that coming from starting a blog on a whim. Seriously one in a million. So cool.
However true it is, I’m not sure, but if Julia Child really didn’t think much of Julie well, I just want to say to you Julie, you are amazing. The fact that you attempted and succeeded at cooking up the recipes is in itself amazing as is everything you have done since. And hey, Julia Child knew your name! She knew who you were, even if she wasn’t your #1 fan.
As a self proclaimed home-chef, I know how hard it is emotionally when you put your all into a recipe only to have it fall flat. Like when the pasta boils or sits in the hot water too long and turns to mush, or when I baked a casserole in too shallow of a dish and the rice didn’t fully cook, or how about the time I spent over an hour “whipping together” a beautiful banana bread only to have it come out burned on top and soggy in the middle…or when I ran out of Parmesan cheese but figured I’d just shred Swiss cheese very fine and swap it out in a recipe… yeah, Swiss cheese, no matter how fine, is not Parmesan cheese. It might taste similar but I promise you it does not melt down the same. It came out more of a gluey/pasty consistency like mozzarella. Yes, I’ve done all of the mistakes mentioned above and dozens more.
Cooking is not easy, and trust me, any recipes that I share with you have been tried, tasted and tried again numerous times before they turn out lovely from all corners. Which is when I decide to share them. Unless of course the recipes are already laid out beautifully as in Julia Child’s books which I have just ordered and can’t wait to dive into.
The movie really got me thinking about how much I cook at home and how much I have to share. I already took the plunge and decided to start this blog. I might as well take all aspects of it seriously and get this recipe section rolling. I cook (at minimum) 5 dinners a week, lunches for me and my toddler every weekday, and breakfast most mornings. I will admit, sometimes breakfast is a bowl of frosted shreddies with a banana, but most other mornings I whip up some kind of eggs. I have many different recipes on this and a few I’m excited to try. Now,
BEWARE.
I am not British. I am American. I am also Mexican on my moms side and I love in equal parts American food, Mexican food, and muffins. So there will be a ton of mixed recipes on here as I recreate some of my favorite recipes from home and venture into the unknown with some British and/or French dishes.
As far as baking goes, muffins are probably my absolute favorite thing to bake. No icing mess, they don’t have to look perfect, and everyone gets their own. No cutting, no knives, no hassle. Muffins. Yasss.
So with all that said, I am excited for this journey and I can’t wait to share some of my recipes here along with the experiences I had while trying and testing them.
– Vicki