Bon anniversaire, ma chère Julia!

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chocolate almond cake, Julia Child, julia child 100, julia child birthday, julia child chocolate almond cake, julia child la reine de saba, julia child turns 100, julia child's 100th birthday, julia child's birthday, julia child's salad nicoise, la reine de saba, La Reine de Saba---the Queen of Sheba Chocolate Almond Cake, salad nicoise

Julia McWilliams Child was born one hundred years ago today.  In my opinion, this should be a national holiday dedicated to the pleasures of the table and our culinary history.  Smith College always celebrates its famous alumna on Julia Child Day, the Thursday before Thanksgiving.  Every dining hall and the campus center features different recipes from Julia.  Some of my fondest college memories are from roaming from one Julia venue to another and another, stuffing myself to the point of gluttony and leaving little appetite for the less exciting Thanksgiving table to follow in a few days (we used to call the span of time from Julia Child Day to Thanksgiving “Fat Week”).

Unfortunately, my work and campaign schedule leaves me little time to devote to doing anything elaborate to celebrate her birthday.  So I shall celebrate by treating myself to her newest biography, “Dearie,” just published by Bob Spitz, and by enjoying some of her good basic everyday recipes like Salad Nicoise, an improvised Peche Clafoutis using peaches instead of cherries, and her favorite chocolate cake.

This is the perfect time of the year for Julia’s favorite main-course salad, Salad Nicoise.  The new potatoes are in season, the green beans are plentiful, and the tomatoes are finally turning red.  I like to use tiny new yellow potatoes that can skinned just by a vigorous brushing and cooked in just a few minutes.  My Mother’s garden is filled with delicious little haricots vertes.  She plants Taverna, Maxibel, and Fortex beans to harvest when thin and about six inches long.  And her Sun Gold and Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes are huge this year.

This recipe is from one of my favorite (if there can be such) books of hers, “Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom, Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking.”

This little book, published a few years before she died, is a distillation of pure Julia and is always perfect to give as an introductory gift to someone who is not already a fan of hers.

Salad Nicoise

• 1 large head of Boston or Summer Crisp lettuce, washed and dried
• 1 pound of green beans, cooked 4 to 5 minutes in a large pot of rapidly boiling water
• 1 ½  Tbs minced shallots or ¼ very thinly sliced sweet onion (optional)
• ½ to 2/3 cup basic vinaigrette
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 to 4 ripe red tomatoes, cut into wedges (or 10 to 12 cherry tomatoes, halved)
• 1 ½ pounds potatoes, peeled, sliced and cooked
• 2 3-ounce cans oil packed canned tuna or ½ pound leftover fish like salmon
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved
• 1 freshly opened can of anchovy fillets (optional)
• 1/3 cup small black Nicoise or Kalamata olives
• 2 to 3 Tbs capers
• 3 Tbs minced parsley

Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large platter.  Shortly before serving, toss the beans and the potatoes separately with the onion or shallots, several spoonfuls of the vinaigrette and salt and pepper.  Baste the tomatoes with a spoonful of vinaigrette.  Place the potatoes in the center of the platter and arrange a mound of beans at either end, with tomatoes and small mounds of tuna at strategic intervals.  Ring the platter with halves of hard-boiled eggs, sunny side up, and curl an anchovy on top of each.  Spoon more vinaigrette over all; scatter on olives, capers, and parsley, and serve.

Julia Child’s 90th Birthday. Picture from the SF Chronicle.

And because it is Julia’s birthday I have another Julia recipe to share. This one is taken directly from her writing and has no embellishments from me. Below is Julia Child’s favorite chocolate cake “La Reine de Saba—the Queen of Sheba Chocolate Almond Cake.”

From Julia Child: La Reine de Saba—the Queen of Sheba Chocolate Almond Cake

“My favorite chocolate cake.  For an 8 by 1 ½ inch cake, serving 6 to 8.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, set rack in lower-middle level, and prepare cake pan.  Measure out ½ cup sifted plain bleached cake flour and 1/3 cup …pulverized almonds… Using an electric mixer, cream 1 stick butter with ½ cup sugar; when fluffy, one at a time beat in 3 egg yolks.  Meanwhile, melt 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate and 1ounce bitter chocolate with 2 tablespoons dark rum or strong coffee…, and stir the warm chocolate into the yolks.  Beat 3 egg whites into stiff, shining peaks…and stir a quarter of them into the yolks.  Rapidly and delicately fold in the rest, alternating with sprinklings of almonds and siftings of flour.  Turn at once into the prepared pan and bake about 25 minutes, until it has puffed to the top of the pan but the center moves slightly when gently shaken.

Let cool 15 minutes before unmolding.  This type of cake is always at its best at room temperature.  Serve with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar…”

So without further ado: Happy birthday, dear Julia.

Toujours bon appétit!

Also because PBS brought Julia Child into our lives through their TV programming I feel the need to remind everyone that tomorrow is Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s “Super Thursday” One Day Pledge Drive. Instead of taking up the airwaves with a week of pledge drives MPBN is trying to do it in one day. Please consider donating tomorrow to help them meet their funding goal. For more information check out their site: http://www.mpbn.net/Support/DonatetoMPBN/SuperThursdayOneDayPledgeDrive.aspx

2012 Maine Senate Primary Campaign Drinking Game

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#mepolitics, #mepolitics drinking game, 2012 Maine Senate Primary Campaign Drinking Game, Andrew Ian Dodge, Angus King, Benjamin Pollard, Bill Schneider, Bruce Poliquin, Charlie Summers, Cynthia Dill, Debra Plowman, Jon Hinck, Kippy Rudy, Maine politics drinking game, maine senate drinking game, maine senate primary drinking game, Matt Dunlap, Rick Bennett, Scott D'Amboise, Steve Woods

2012 Maine Senate Primary Campaign Drinking Game!

It’s gonna be a long race, we may need some sustenance to get through this. So next debate, forum or hand shake opportunity, grab a stiff drink (coffee or coffee brandy, it doesn’t matter) and sip along. We are all in this together.

This is all in good fun, and we encourage everyone to add to the list and hope the candidates will drink along. (We really do respect and love all the candidates. Well, except for you Bruce. We’ve got our eyes on you! Seriously…just release your campaign finance report!) And please, drink responsibly. It is never OK to drink and drive or to vote under the influence.

Love,
Matthea and Kippy

TO PREPARE:
Go online and watch a video or listen to audio of one of the events that has taken place so far. By all means, we encourage you to go to an event! But it would be rude to stage a drinking game at the rear of any public affair. Having said that, if you do manage to pull it off in public, please try and film it and share the results. (To be honest, we’re probably there with you. Just ask us to stop filming the candidates and to turn around….)

Assemble a group of friends for the occasion with your favorite beverages of choice (again, lemonade works fine—it’s the spirit of camaraderie that matters here not the spirits themselves!) If you cannot all be together, we suggest texting, tweeting, conference calls or skype to connect. Every year we play the State of the Union drinking game with friends across the country, and it is remarkably satisfying (an unlimited texting plan may be needed, trust me).

If you want to play live, follow our tweets of events at: @growingupjulia or @kippyrudy

Optional item: Bring your personal copy of the US Constitution, which most of the Senate candidates claim to carry on them at all times!  We suggest getting a laminated waterproof copy to survive the duration of the campaign season.

Bill Schneider and Matt Dunlap kicking back after a long debate

TO PLAY:
We begin by toasting our dear Senator Olympia; all together now, “Thank you for serving so long and boy, are we going to miss you!”

Make sure everyone has copies of the Cues list below and take a drink every time one of the cues occurs.

TO WIN:
If you reach the end of the event, and have still not curled up in a fetal position, and you actually know for whom you will cast your vote, you win!

If you reach the end and are convinced to run as an Independent for US Senate or to launch a write-in campaign, you automatically LOSE.

Then make sure you go vote in the Primary on June 12. [click here for polling locations]

CUES, TAKE ONE DRINK WHEN:

• Charlie Summers goes on for more than 60 seconds, gets off message, and begins to contradict what he said earlier in the day. (lean forward, and take a sip.)

• Cynthia Dill reminds you that she does in fact have ovaries, and she is not afraid to use them.

• Angus King mentions laptops, wind energy or the good old days with Jesse Ventura. (If you don’t know what this means, then you weren’t around when Angus was governor.)

• Scott D’Amboise mentions hunting or the second amendment or that he was the only Republican with the courage to challenge Olympia.

• You realize that Matt Dunlap is the only Democrat running who is from outside of the first congressional district (ie “Portland!”)

• Rick Bennett tries to convince you that it’s OK to be sort of moderate on some issues, really, and you are left wanting to give him a hug and tell him there’s no shame in being sane.

• Bruce Poliquin mentions defending the constitution (but not the state one he has been violating).

• You begin fanaticizing about Andrew Ian Dodge and Oscar Wilde having drinks together at the Savoy.
  

  Andrew Ian Dodge enjoying a drink with Oscar Wilde

• Steve Woods mentions the Red Claws and you wish you were watching a game with him rather than watching the debate (and he still manages to sounds like the most reasonable person on stage).

• Bill Schneider says something macho (jumping out of planes, special forces, West Point…) and makes all the other candidates look like a bunch of wussies.

• Jon Hinck looks like he is trying to keep himself from banging his head against the desk/wall and you want to offer to buy him a drink to make it better.

• Debra Plowman re-writes women’s history.

• Benjamin Pollard mentions RFK and then says something that makes you wonder why he is registered as a democrat. (Did I mention RFK? He’s an inspiration!)

• You would rather be with Angus on his cross-country road trip then listening to this candidate forum.

• Charlie Summers mentions American exceptionalism or some other reference to “what’s good for America is good for the world.”

• Bruce Poliquin says he is the only conservative with a proven record even though he has never been elected to any office in a popular election.

• Matt Dunlap rolls his eyes, sighs, or makes some other absurd facial gesture (or plays with an electronic device) during the remarks of an opponent.

• Andrew Ian Dodge defines the word “libertarian.”

• You drift into imagining Cynthia Dill singing, “It’s getting real in the Whole Foods parking lot.”

• You read a tweet by King Angus III and wish he were running for office.

• You listen to Charlie Summers and wonder if it’s hard for him to remember which office he is running for this time.

• Andrew Ian Dodge makes you wish he would write a science fiction novel based on the Senate campaign.

• Debra Plowman is beginning to remind you of Herman Cain.

• Charlie Summers flashes that winning Ken Doll smile. Sooooo dreamy…. (wait, what was he saying?)

• You wish Cynthia Dill was staging a bake sale again. Seriously we need munchies and I’ve got a spare $20,000 for a cookie.

• Scott D’Amboise speaks and you wonder what on earth his campaign has done to spend $500,000.

• Bill Schneider mentions how and why he will defeat the forces of evil, I mean Obamacare.
  

  I bet even Ronald Reagan would have needed a drink after this primary!

• Bruce Poliquin tries to convince you that by weakening the Maine State Housing Authority he is helping the homeless.

• Cynthia Dill mentions unions.

• You are at a GOPforME forum and Phil Harriman asks a new question for once…

• Debra Plowman reminds us that she has been fighting the “good fight” since the early 1990s.

• You want to convince Steve Woods to speak up and hire a campaign staff.

• Benjamin Pollard says something to suggest that organic local farming is an alternative to the Affordable Healthcare Act.

• Andrew Ian Dodge shows up wearing a tie.

• Right now you would pay to see Cynthia Dill defend birth control from Debra Plowman in a fight in front of Planned Parenthood.

• You want to remind Bruce Poliquin that the last time he ran for office he came in 6^th out of 7 candidates, but out spent his opponents by thousands (how’s that for fiscally conservative, Bruce?).

WATERFALL!! (JUST DOWN THE WHOLE DRINK) IF:

• Bill Schneider departs from the Conservative agenda.
• Cynthia Dill departs from the Progressive agenda.
• Bruce Poliquin ever answers a question.
• Bruce or Angus even show up.
• You fully understand why Chellie Pingree, Mike Michaud, John Baldacci and Kevin Raye were smart enough to stay out of this race.
• You want to forget the whole thing and wish you could just convince Olympia to stay.

Poliquin, Steve Woods, Jon Hinck and Scott D’Amboise enjoying a strong whiskey on the rocks.

Growing Up with Julia

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Jacques Pepin, Julia Child, Personal, Smith College

Me writing my first blog!

Other kids had Saturday cartoons. I had Julia.

Combing my long toddler hair was such an ordeal that my mother went against her better judgment and plopped me down in front of the tube so that I would stop fidgeting.  She did, however, exercise strict control over which programs I could watch during these hair-wrangling sessions. Julia was at the top of the list. From then on Julia Child has always been one of my top three idols (the other two being Bonnie Raitt and Miss Piggy). I have been watching her for as long as I can remember; so long that the memories of my maternal grandmother and Julia have melded into one person. Hey, both taught me how to cook! In my head, my grandmother is there teaching me to make chicken pastry but the voice coming out is distinctly Julia’s.

I would sit in front of the TV consumed and inspired. I started to cook as soon as I could, constantly mimicking what I saw on the screen and around me.  As I grew older, I continued to watch Julia, learned to bake and discovered Jacques Pepin. My mother, an incredible cook and cookbook collector extraordinaire, began to give me her cookbooks and surrounded me with a growing amount of culinary equipment. Soon I was holding my own in the kitchen, even if I was losing the battle with combing my hair

When it came to college Julia guided me once again. I was a stubborn little bastard when I was looking at schools. It was settled in my mind: I was going to RISD and my parents would just have to deal with it. They insisted (thank the academic gods!) that I go to a liberal arts school. Bah Humbug! How uncool! Then to top it off they wanted me to look at an all women’s college. What on earth? I flat out refused. “Did you know Julia Child went there? And sometimes she comes back to her old ‘house’ and cooks with the students.” Before I knew it I was packed into an auditorium with a hundred other anxious college bound girls and their families listening to Smith College’s pitch. I had seen the Olmsted designed campus. I had seen the houses. I had met the art professors. I was impressed but still not convinced.

During my High School Cake Phase

Suddenly, a woman rushed onto the auditorium stage and whispered something to into the presenter’s ear. The presenter looked out over the audience.  “I am sorry to announce that one of our most beloved alumnae has just passed away”. The audience gasped. She didn’t even need to say her name. Julia was gone, along with any hope of my ever getting to meet her. For some strange reason I took it as a sign. I belonged here. On November 15th I applied early decision and have never looked back.

Graduating in 2009, my class and generation found ourselves faced with one of the worst recessions in history. I have moved back in with my parents. I am not the next “IT” artist. I am not creating the next Facebook. I am not working for NPR. I am not an intern with Conde Nast. I am, like most of my friends, back in my hometown praying for work. (In full disclosure I do have a wonderful job with a non-profit arts organization that I adore. It is part time and a grant-funded position so if I were not living with the ‘rents’, I do not know how I would survive.) Once again, Julia showed up to comfort me. Re-reading her biography I was reminded that after Smith, Julia moved back in with her parents and didn’t come into her own until after WWII. If Julia could wait that long then, damnit, so can I! So in the meantime I began to cook.

I am back in my childhood kitchen: a wonderland of mess and encyclopedic amount of equipment and books. Suddenly I have the time and space to cook and explore whatever I want. I am interested in Southeast Asian, Indian, Northern African, Middle Eastern and Greek cuisines, but the standard is always French and the ultimate authority is always Julia.

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