One Good Reason to Love Julia Child

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Back in February I mentioned that my husband and I had been reading Julia Child's My Life in France. Because we don't get to spend as much time reading together as we'd like, we are still working on it, only about half way through.

We've been entertained by her humor, inspired by her intense dedication, and left salivating over her descriptions of French food. Yum. Again I will warn you if you decide to pick it up- do NOT read on an empty stomach! It would be torturous!

This weekend we watched an episode of The French Chef about how to roast a chicken. It was so fun! Julia's antics are epic and hilarious. You can watch the intro here, we saw it on Netflix.

But I have one really good reason to like Julia Child. She gives you instructions (as do most cookbooks), but unlike a lot of cookbooks I've read, she explains WHY.

Cut out the wishbone before you roast your chicken. WHY? Because it makes it easier to carve! (My husband can attest to the truth of this instruction!)

Don't crowd the pan when you are browning meat. WHY? Because it steams the meat and prevents browning!

We learned how to tell the age of your chicken and if it has been pumped with hormones (true story!).

I'm the sort of lazy cook who, if a direction seems tedious to me, and I don't see or understand the reasoning behind it, I ignore it. I never let my eggs get to room temperature before making cookies, I mix all of the ingredients for pancakes or muffins in a single bowl (wet and dry), and I often start things baking in an oven that hasn't been preheated.

I like short cuts and often skip steps.

When cooking with Julia, I can no longer be so lazy, because she fully informs me of the dangers of short-cutting and the purpose behind every. single. step. I like that.

Because if something makes sense, I will do it.

Here's to Julia, and the WHY behind cooking!