We saw a terrific movie this week, Julie and Julia. Ordinarily, I would have passed on this movie because it seemed like a girls flick. I usually go to the movies recommended by the grandkids so I can keep up with them. The grandkids would definitely have passed on this one because of the lack of violence and explosions and it didn’t include monsters or fantasy figures like vampires and such.

This movie is a true story and is really two parallel stories. One is about Julia Child the great disciple of French cooking who wrote a famous book on the subject and had a TV show teaching America the art of French cooking. The story was about her life in France learning to cook, then writing her book. The second story line was about this young lady who was bored with her job as a secretary and took to writing a blog at night based on her love of Julia Child and the art of French cooking. She wrote a blog about the preparation of the recipes. She and her blog became famous. It was a great story and Meryl Streep does a fantastic job of playing Julia Child.

I now have a craving for some of the delicious sounding French dishes. Having grown up in East Texas, I was never familiar with French food. As a kid the only thing French I knew was French Fries and I’m not sure they are a French invention. As a young adult I had French Toast and French Onion Soup. That was about it for me. When I would see something on the menu of a fancy restaurant like Baguettes, Bouillabaisse or Ratatouille I was scared away by the pronunciation and didn’t order the stuff for fear of looking stupid. I never order Quiche because real men don’t eat Quiche, it’s a sissy food. Crepes may have been okay but they are just a very thin pancake and I like mine thick with a lot of maple syrup.

I’ve changed my mind after the movie and plan to try some of the exotic French stuff if I can find a place in Austin that serves it. We may try making some of the recipes at home but the grocery stores around here don’t have all the fancy ingredients. I ‘m embarrassed to ask for some of the ingredients in the store because I still don’t know how to pronounce the names of the stuff and if I did, the grocery man would just think I’m some sort of nut or a homosexual. I may have to just be satisfied with staying on the porch and eating French Fries and French Dressing on my salad. Anyway, I highly recommend the movie.