October Book Club

Book Club was about food as much as it was about reading this month. As I said in yesterday's post, we read Julie & Julia this month, which it a memoir about Julie Powell (the author) cooking her way through Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (MtAoFC) cookbook. So the evening had a French focus.

The Hors· d'oeuvres - French Wine - Gimlets
(Julie often drank gimlets while cooking)

The Flowers
(not necessarily French, but what's growing in my gardens)

Each person brought a dish from the MtAoFC.
The Menu:
Potage Parmentier (Leek/Potato Soup)
Beef Bourguigon
Quiche Lorraine
Pumpkin and White Beans Puree
Zucchini w/Shallots
Tomatoes Grillees au Four
Cherry Clafoutis (cherry flan)
Poires Cardinals (pears w/raspberry puree)

Julie lived in a tiny apartment, so my small dining room fit the evening

The Book: As usual - a few loved it, a few didn't and most fell somewhere in the middle. And, also as usual, a few didn't read it
(but that's okay, we love you anyhow!)

Positive comments -

• entertaining writing style
• I could be friends with her
• loved her sarcasm and humor
• liked her commitment to her marriage
• she had amazing discipline to reach her goal (cooking all the recipes in MtAoFC in one year)

Negative comments -

• too much strong language
  
• she's too young to whine so much!
• would like to try her food, but won't want to eat in her dirty house
• bored with some of it - too many details about chopping onions/etc.
• committed to her own marriage, but very liberal with friends and their marriages and/or relationships - even encouraging a friend to sleep with a married man
  

Observations -

• she cooked and ate brains ... and was so nonchalant about it!
  
• she seemed 'empty' like she was looking for something to fulfill her
• can't imagine doing major cooking almost every night after working a full day
• it was wonderful that Eric (her husband) always did the dishes - yeah for Eric!
  
• surprised she cooked the recipes in order and didn't jump around - which meant they had beef for days on end, then chicken, then fish, etc.
  
• interesting that Julia was not impressed with Julie's project and sad that she passed away before the book or movie were released, she might have changed her mind
• how do French people live so long with so much butter/cream in their diets?
• Let's add up how much butter we used in the recipes tonight - no, let's not!
• Gimlets are good!
  

Good-looking October Club!

My bookclub

I've had a bookclub that meets at my house off and on over the past few years. Some of the readers stayed the same, some have changed - one thing that has never changed is that it's always been fun and interesting. This month we read ...

Julie and Julia:
My Year of Cooking Dangerously
365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen

"Julie Powell, nearing thirty and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, resolves to reclaim her life by cooking in the span of a single year, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her unexpected reward: not just a newfound respect for calves' livers and aspic, but a new life-lived with gusto."

I have not seen the movie, but plan to when it comes out on DVD. I didn't really care for the book until about 2/3 of the way through it. By the end, I liked Julie and the book. More about the book tomorrow after hearing the other's thoughts tonight.

Since it's all about cooking, tonight's meeting is about reading and eating! Each person is bringing a dish from the cookbook tonight. My dining room is small, so I debated asking one of the others to host it, but decided we've fit the mood of the book better, because Julie lived in a small apartment during her year of cooking. This is my table now, with "Julie & Julia" and "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" - check back for pictures tomorrow to see what it looks like tonight as we

"Eat, Drink and Be Merry"