Look what I got in the post today!! The very newly released Julie & Julia, from the blogger of the Julie/Julia Project. This blog was the very first foodblog I read, back in 2002, and I used to bound into work each morning to check her (daily!) update. I think it inspired a lot of early foodbloggers out there; I know it was one of Clothilde's main inspirations in setting up Chocolate & Zucchini.
If you're not familar with this fantastically hilarious blog, the premise was one fed-up New York secretary rapidly approaching 30 who decided to set herself a serious project for a year; to cook every recipe from Julia Child's "Mastering the art of French cooking"; no skips, no substitutions. Everything from eggs poached in red wine to whole boned ducks to souffles to sweetbreads. All 524 recipes in 365 days. After coming home from a stressful job a long commute from her apartment.
As Julia is such a witty, hilarious writer with a cynical, bitter outlook that I can relate to, I fell completely in love with her blog. As did the many journalists who discovered it, and a forward-thinking publisher who approached her for a book deal (isn't that what all foodbloggers dream about?) to turn her blog story into a a real published work.
So, I'm really looking forward to getting into this. And if you haven't spent any time reading the year's worth of entries, you will not have a more enjoyable couple of days than sitting back to read, or even reread, them all. I'm planning on it!
[Julie & Julia]
Saw this at my fave book shop...will go out and buy it asap! Sounds great! :)
ReplyDeleteI had a funny moment...we were dropping Alex at his grandparent's Saturday night (we were heading out for a 'date' night), and my FIL brought up this new book he'd read about in...oh, I think it was the New York Times or something. About a cook who prepared all these Julia Child recipes...
ReplyDeleteI practically shouted 'Julie & Julia?! Did you know she's a food blogger???'
I know they (and pretty much everyone I know who isn't Matt) thinks my food blogging is just some silly diversion, but hey; look! A book, people. She got a book deal!
I think I may be an idiot....but could you post a link to her very first entry? I can't for the life of me figure out how to get their, or how to navigate her site.
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
Oh God! I meant THERE, not their!
ReplyDeleteI shall be struck down by the grammar gods. AND THEY ARE VENGEFUL.
I'm reading it again and it is fabulous. I might buy the book at that. Never yet got to the end of the book so I'm wondering if she really put on pounds with all that butter. But it sounds divine.
ReplyDeleteBeth - Yeah, the navigation on her site is quite primitive, and not really user friendly! What you do is use the calendar on the right and click on the blue dates (indicating an entry for that day). As you read each entry, then go to click on the next entry in the month. It's not too good for navigating.
ReplyDeletePS - Yes, the grammar gods are very nasty. I sent perfectly formed grammatical sentences in my SMS messages to friends, and even send panicked, corrections if I realise I've made a spelling/grammar mistake! Have you read "Eats, shoots and leaves?". I want to take the author's lead and always be armed with a black texta to correct signs on shop windows!
Oh I love the Julie/Julia project! I started reading it right towards the end, so I didn't have much of that day by day anticipation, but it's still wonderful. It'll be interesting to see how much of the content has been chopped for the book as there's far too much to fit in!
ReplyDeleteGreat cover too!
I was a Julie/Julia reader at the time and loved it. I've been wondering, though, how it comes across in book form. Let us know how it compares.
ReplyDelete