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| “I don’t think about whether people will remember me or not. I’ve been an okay person. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve taught people a thing or two. That’s what’s important.” – Julia Child |
August 15, 2012 marks what would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday. There are events going on throughout the country to honor her legacy, from special menus at restaurants to dedicated television programs.
PBS is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Julia Child's birth in August with classic episodes of her cooking shows, recipes galore and perhaps the ultimate online tribute: an auto-tuned remix.
The public broadcaster has released a video giving the legendary TV chef the auto-tune treatment, with clips from her 50 years of cooking shows set to a slow-jam beat. We challenge you not to get "Bring on the roasted potatoes!" stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
You can watch un-remixed episodes of Child's cooking shows and learn more about the 100th birthday celebration at PBS.org.
To celebrate the life of one of America's true culinary darlings, we've assembled some of Child's best quotes. These lines should hopefully make you smile, but mostly they show just why Julia Child is still so cherished today. Through her books and television programs, she demonstrated that cooking doesn't need to be intimidating and it's okay to make mistakes. The food world has evolved a great deal since Julia was starting out, and its tremendous growth is in large part attributable to her singular influence.
1. "The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook."
2. "Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon or not at all."
3. "If you're afraid of butter, use cream."
4. "The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded and whack the hell out of a chicken. Bon appetit."
5. "I think every woman should have a blowtorch."
6. "Fat gives things flavor."
7. "Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed. Eh bien, tant pis. Usually one's cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile, and learn from her mistakes."
8. "I think one of the terrible things today is that people have this deathly fear of food: fear of eggs, say, or fear of butter. Most doctors feel that you can have a little bit of everything."
9. "I always give my bird a generous butter massage before I put it in the oven. Why? Because I think the chicken likes it -- and, more important, I like to give it."
10. "I think careful cooking is love, don't you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who's close to you is about as nice a Valentine as you can give."
11. "You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces -- just good food from fresh ingredients."
12. "Always remember: If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?"
13. "I just hate health food."
14. "Learn how to cook -- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun."
Dan Aykroyd As Julia Child On SNL
As a cultural icon, Julia became fair game for TV's top comedians. In 1978, Dan Aykroyd impersonated her on "Saturday Night Live," mocking the frequent mishaps that she encountered on the show. In the skit, Aykroyd pretends to cut his thumb while cooking, and continues the show while trying to suppress the injury, refusing to stop filming.
"Julie And Julia"
Nora Ephron's film "Julie and Julia," starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, followed the lives of Julia Child and Julie Powell, a young blogger who seeks to cook all of Child's classic recipes in one year. The first major film based on a blog, "Julie and Julia" had a positive response from critics and was nominated for several prestigious awards.
Milestones
In 1993, Julia became the first woman to be inducted into the Culinary Institute Hall of Fame. In 2000, she received France's prestigious Legion d'Honneur for popularizing French cuisine and in 2002, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History opened an exhibit that displayed the kitchen where she filmed three of her cooking shows in the 1990's. She was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2003.
Paul And Julia Child: The Perfect Team
Julia and Paul worked as a team, each using their talents to contribute to Julia's vibrant career. Paul served as a photographer, manager, proofreader, recipe tester and anything else that Julia needed him to be. He reveled in her success, supporting her in every way possible.
A Lively Youth
Julia was known to be a prankster in her younger years. When she wasn't stirring up mischief, she threw her energy into various sports including golf, tennis and small-game hunting. Here, she is pictured in Smith College's 1934 yearbook.
The College Years
Though she towered above her classmates at six feet two inches tall, Julia used humor and wit to fit in. Here she appears (front row, center) with fellow Junior Promenade Committee members at Smith College in 1934.
Julia The Spy
After college, Julia pursued a career in writing without much success. When World War II began she decided to focus her attention elsewhere, and moved to Washington D.C., where she volunteered as a research assistant for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). In this position, Julia was sent around the world on assignments, liaising between government officials and intelligence officers. Here, she is pictured with OSS colleagues.
Finding Love In The OSS
In 1945, while on an assignment in Sri Lanka, Julia met fellow OSS employee Paul Child. The two fell madly in love and married a year later.
Introduction To French Cuisine
When Paul was transferred to France in 1948, Julia found herself bored as a housewife with no children. She began taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School and quickly grew passionate about French cuisine. Soon, she partnered with classmates Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle to begin teaching French cooking to American women in her kitchen. The informal school was named The School of the Three Food Lovers.
"Mastering The Art Of French Cooking"
Paul Child's position kept Julia moving throughout Europe, but she kept in communication with Beck and Bertholle, researching and testing recipes. Julia translated the recipes into English and inserted her personality into the classic cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," which was published in 1961.
A Surprising Success
In order to promote her cookbook, Julia made an appearance on a public TV show in Boston, which garnered such an enthusiastic response that she was invited back to do her very own cooking show. Julia became a local celebrity on "The French Chef", and the show was soon syndicated to almost 100 TV stations across the country.
"The French Chef" Makes Its Mark"
Over the course of 10 years, "The French Chef" won a Peabody Award and various Emmy Awards. Julia's humor was a staple on the show, as were mishaps that she incorporated into her cooking lessons. Each show ended with Julia's signature "Bon appétit!"
Becoming An Authority In The Kitchen
Like any good chef, Julia wrote a host of cookbooks following the smash success of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." She went on to pen "The French Chef Cookbook," which featured recipes that she had cooked on the show, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume Two" and "From Julia Child's Kitchen," which featured notes she had compiled on set and photographs taken by her husband. In 1980, she won a National Book Award for her book "Julia Child and More Company."
Julia Child: Celebrity Chef
Julia's TV success extended far beyond "The French Chef." She starred in various television series in the 1970's and 1980's, including "Julia Child & Company," "Julia Child & More Company" and "Dinner at Julia's." She was just as active in the 1990's, starring in "Cooking with Master Chefs, In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs," "Baking With Julia, and Julia Child," and "Jacques Pépin Cooking at Home."
The Later Years
"Retired people are boring," was Julia's motto, so even in her 90's, she was working on her next endeavor. Julia's final book "My Life in France" was published after her death in 2004 with the help of her great nephew, Alex Prud'homme. The book chronicled Julia's life with her husband in post-World War II France, and eventually became a bestseller.
All information found on the Huffington Posts website.
Sneak Peak at Julia's Kitchen
August 15 – September 3
First Floor, East Wing More on Julia Child’s Kitchen
As part of the National Museum of American History’s celebration of Julia Child’s 100th birthday, her beloved Cambridge, Mass., kitchen will be back on display for a limited time, Aug. 15 through Sept. 3. The kitchen contains the hundreds of tools, appliances and furnishings arranged exactly as they were when Child donated the kitchen to the museum in 2001. Child died in 2004, and details of her biography and legacy will also be on view during this special celebration.
New and better views into the kitchen, which Child used as the set of three television shows and as the testing ground for many recipes featured in her cookbooks, offer a sneak peek at its new home in an upcoming exhibition where Child’s kitchen will join other artifacts and stories revealing changes in food in America.
Julia Child Google Doodle Honors Chef's 100th Birthday!
How are you celebrating Julia's Birthday!
