I finally got to see Julie and Julia. Streep, as usual, was phenomenal. And now finally, I can conscientiously answer this post at Nutmeg Kitchen. I’m certain my opinions will not be as comprehensive as Michael Pollan’s.

I understand that the real-life Julie is not quite as amiable or adorable as the movie Julie. In real life, she dissed Alice Waters, setting Alice vs. Julia as an either/or proposition. She also has serious opinions on raw foodies. It seems she has little patience for anyone whose food interests are different from hers and how she imagines Julia’s might have been. On the other hand, she is the one who cooked the food, wrote the blog, and attracted the interest of an audience, publisher, and director!

Watching the movie awakened a respect and appreciation for Julia Child. Julia seems to me to have been a kindred late bloomer spirit, having arrived at her passion at the age of 37. And Julie notwithstanding, Julia liked shopping at farmers markets, talking with the farmers and vendors, and getting the freshest ingredients of the day.

Immediately after the movie, I purchased Julia’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It was the Boeuf à la Bourguignonne; each character who made it said “Yum” upon tasting it. I want to say “Yum” like that and I want to see for myself how well beef browns when you dry it off. It also seems to me that the Beef Bourguignon and Coq au Vin would lend themselves nicely to a locavore challenge meal. (No, I am not going to initiate another Julia Child food exercise by making local versions of the 524 recipes in her book!) I do need to find unsalted, unsmoked bacon (with a rind). Perhaps one of my farmers will be able to hook me up.

I’m just at the beginning of the book (up to Soups) and I have to admit that it really does feel like Julia is there, guiding, encouraging, and enticing you each step of the way.

So I promise that at some point in the One Local Summer challenge, I will attempt to make one of these unseasonal meals.