Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking

We celebrated my friend Noel's birthday today. My partner Dale and I joined her and her friend's Caroline and Stephen for brunch at a restaurant called A Rebours in the Hamm Building in downtown St. Paul. It was an absolutely gorgeous sunny spring morning so we ate outside. From the sidewalk there's a lovely view of Landmark Center and the Saint Paul Hotel. Anyway, Dale and I gave her a copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It's been on her wish list on Amazon.com forever and with her love of so many things French I thought it would make the perfect gift. I told her how much I love my copy of it although I have to admit that my love of this book is rather bizarre since I never make anything from it - too hard and time consuming! She agreed but, remembering her mother's copy, noted that just reading it is a pleasure. I had to agree. There's also just something about the weight of it when you hold it in your hands (I have the hardcover) and the look of it (it's the 40th Anniversary Edition with a red dust jacket that's covered with those little French flower things) that adds to the enjoyment of the experience of reading it. We all noted that the French tend to view eating as a pleasureable experience while here in the States we tend to view eating as more utilitarian. I think one of the things that comes out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking is that the process of making food should be just as pleasureable as eating it.

Part of what Dale and I like most about making our Sunday dinners is the act of preparing the meal. It's a time to wind down from the day and the previous week and set the tone for the coming one. If you're looking for a way to deal with the Sunday Blues, a relaxed cooking session works wonders. We usually start by pouring drinks for ourselves. Dale is a great lover of red wine. I am too but I have a penchant for stronger booze and when faced with a choice will usually choose a Bombay Sapphire martini over wine. (I love the kick, baby!) Anyway, having a drink before and while making dinner is fun and it also slows the whole process down just a tad which is definitely not a bad thing in our over-hurried lives.

Tonight we're trying a new beef stroganoff recipe. The one we usually use is from Natalie Haughton's The Best Slow Cooker Cookbook Ever. We've always had great results with this recipe. Today we thought we'd try a new one that's from Ms. Houghton's 365 Easy One Dish Meals. Due to brunch today we weren't able to come home right away after church to turn on the Crock-Pot at the time needed so it would be done at 7:00 p.m. The untried recipe does not require the Crock-Pot. Next time I post I'll let you know how it turns out...

Notes:

Wine: Dale is currently loving a wine called La Vieille Ferme. He says it's organic and that it tastes fabulous.

Martini: I measure out the Bombay Sapphire gin by filling a martini glass with it and then dump it into a shaker. I pour a little dry vermouth in the glass and swoosh it around and then dump that into the the shaker also. I know some folks can't stand the idea of vermouth but to a purist(which I am) it is part of the drink so I always include it. Not so much into olives in the drink but love having sun dried tomato stuffed olives on the side. Anyway, I usually shake the drink until I can't take the coldness of the shaker. I heard once (can't remember where) that a martini should be shaken in waltz time. I tried it and now it's a habit. When done, I pour it back in to a martini glass. (I try to remember to stick a martini glass already lined with vermouth in the freezer to get it cold but I haven't been good about remembering to do this.)