Happy 100th Birthday, Julia Child.

One hundred years ago today, Julia Child was born.  If you are interested in reading about Julia, check out My Life in France in which she writes about the development of her love for French food and cooking.  It's a terrific book.

In addition to My Life in France, I use a number of Julia's cookbooks.  But if someone said to me that I could have only one cookbook to use for the rest of my life, I would probably select a book by Marge Poore called 1,000 Mexican Recipes.  With terrific recipes and clear descriptions of techniques, this is my go-to book for both everyday cooking and fancy dinners.  I love French food, but I love Mexican cuisine more.  Poore's book has a ton of flavorful dishes that use ingredients that are easy to find.  If you like to cook, check it out.

Cooking something today with Marge Poore's book, or your favorite cookbook, would be a great tribute to Julia.  Julia Child reminded us that food should be delicious and we should seek out and relish quality meals; Julia's genius was in telling and showing us that we could prepare wonderful food at home.  On her birthday, let's commit to cooking and eating well.

Borders Book Deal

Borders is running one of its book deals in which you buy one from a specific collection of books and get 50 percent off a second book from that group. The deal lasts until June 8, 2009.

The selection of books in this sale is pretty good. Current best sellers are in the mix, including Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

Two from the group have been listed as recommended reads at this blog: My Life in France by Julia Child and White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

There is one offering which is a definite clunker, in my opinion, Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell. This book was irritating and juvenile. I understand that it is going to be a motion picture. Figures.





(Via Dealhack)

Food and Drink

These delicious apples were grown at Weston's Antique Apple Orchard and purchased from the Weston's last Saturday at the Dane County Farmers' Market in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Weston's location at the Market can be found by using this interesting, interactive map at the Wisconsin State Journal site.

At the Market now, there is fresh, wonderful garlic to be found. It makes the stuff sold at the grocery store seem like plastic.

To celebrate the fresh garlic season, we attended a party where all of the food served used garlic as an ingredient. I baked spicy cheese bread with garlic for the event. The garlic I used came from Tad Gedko, who sells at the Dane County Market and, last week, was located on the West Washington Street and South Carroll Street corner. The garlic was terrific, with nice, large cloves.

Fresh garlic does not need a lot of fuss. The whole garlic bulb can be roasted and the resulting creamy, mild cloves then spread on good bread from your favorite store (or, if you are lucky, your favorite home baker!). Importantly, save your money and kitchen space and do not buy a special pan to roast garlic. It is absolutely unnecessary. Just use aluminum foil and a pan you already own that works in your oven. Then, enjoy your garlic and bread with a nice German riesling from the Mosel region.

If you want something to read with what you eat, check out Alimentum, The Literature of Food. Alimentum is published twice a year. It is a fun collection of fiction and nonfiction, poetry, illustrations, and other treats about food. The summer 2008 edition has work from 33 authors. The editing of the collection is very well done. (alimentum: a Latin noun for 'nourishment')

Now, close your eyes, and recall how it sounded when the late, great, Julia Child said the following: bon appetit!