Julia Child Dinner Party, Part 1--Finding the Book

After seeing the movie "Julia and Julie" I have been inspired to cook! Not only that, but I thought what great fun it would be to have a Julia Child Dinner Party with each guest making and bringing a recipe from Julia's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Of course, not owning her book, I set about finding one. That was harder than one might think. I asked around who might have one of her books. No success! (Why hadn't I purchased one so many years ago? I think I must have been intimidated by it at that time, but sure wished I had one now). All of the bookstores were sold out, the library was out, (I put my name on the HOLD list for one), Amazon had them but were back ordered on them. Luckily, a friend in California had found an article with some of her recipes in a recent Bon Appetite magazine and had her own dinner so she forwarded them on to me. So, after looking through them, this is the menu I selected for the dinner:

Terrines de Legumes au Coulis de Framboise
(Sliced layered pureed vegetables with Raspberry Sauce)

Potage de Poireau Pomme
Leek and Potato Soup

Boeuf Bourguignon,
(Beef Stew)

Ratatouille
(Vegetable casserole)

Pommes de Terre Parisiennes
(Potato Balls Sauteed in Butter)

Pissaladiere Nicoise
(Onion Tart with Anchovies and Black Olives)

Pain de Francaise
(French Bread)

Salade Verte avec vinaigrette
(Green Salad with sauce vinaigrette)

Tois fromage avec Champagne Grapes
(Three Cheese with Champagne Grapes)

Reine de Saba
(Chocolate and Almond Cake with Ganache)

Vanille Glace
(Vanille Ice Cream)

The date was selected and then the guests were invited (7 of them because that many can sit around my table comfortably). Each one was assigned one of the above recipes with strict instructions to plan on spending time in the kitchen preparing each one just as Julia did.

Tomorrow, I'll continue with the next phase of the party--Making the Chef Hats.

Stay tuned!