HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY JULIA CHILD! 

Julia go back to when I was a child watching PBS on Saturday afternoons in Dallas. I would watch her and think about how much work she would put into making a meal. My mother worked for a specialty food store in Dallas and we learned about gourmet food back in the 80's before it became as popular as it is today. I feel very lucky to have learned as much as I did at such an early age because it really gave me an appreciation for food in a way that most kids could care less about. The only thing my friends knew was that I liked to cook and brought really cool boxed lunches to school. My brother's friends would love to come over to our house for dinner. I learned to cook for a dozen or more people at a time at a very early age. I think I was too young to be intimidated by it. My mom would be working on Saturdays and I would try to be inspired by cooking some sort of dinner for her, my brother and sister when she would come home. So I would turn on PBS at 4 PM and watch Julia. I usually made lasagna or fajitas, something really easy but at least I was giving the cooking a try. The one thing I do know is that I have never liked to use measuring cups or follow a recipe. So when I would watch her shows, I would appreciate her patience and discipline. Unlike some people I never wanted to "be" Julia, I just appreciated her for motivating me to get in the kitchen and cook. I also appreciated her for her love of creating a dinner party. So much so I gave my mom a "Surprise 40th Birthday Party ... at the end of December ... with about 40 people ... decorations and guests all dressed in black ... and I made all the food! (I will not disclose my age at the time but I was very young!)