De-Boning the Duck

This is a blog based on a movie, based on a book, based on a blog, based on a…..

Ok, stop. My head is spinning.

Coming up with interesting blog topics can be a challenge especially if your brain is fried from revisions, work or playing Staries on FB :-) Needing a break I went to the movies.

Yup, the movie I’m talking about is Julie & Julia. I’m sure you’ve heard about it. It’s a movie based on a NY writer’s Julie and Julia Project whereby she spent 365 days preparing all 524 recipes from Julia Childs book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”

I like Meryl Streep and am really becoming a fan of Amy Adams so with the promise of movie popcorn I trooped off with my friend and CP to see it.

Loved. It.

This movie spoke to me in so many ways. First and foremost was the parallel experience of Julia and Julie feeling kind of stuck in their lives and trying to find a way to explore their passions. Julia’s seemed rather simplistic at first….she wanted something to occupy her time and decided to go to the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris and learn how to cook the French cuisine she loved. But it soon became something more as she met with skepticism and outright scorn that she…an American…could be so foolish as to attain such a goal. It was a thrill to watch Julia get that gleam in her eye, one that I personally identify with, that said “Oh, no? Watch me.”

And so she did. She had the “courage of her convictions” and mastered everything they threw at her including learning the difficult technique of de-boning a duck.

Fast forward to Julie Powell in NYC. An aspiring writer, mired in a cubicle job she wanted something to bring her out of her wallowing. She admired Julia and thought if nothing else than to prove to herself that she could do it, decided to prepare every one of Julia’s recipes in one years time. As an experiment or maybe just as an outlet to her frustrations and revelations she decided to blog about it. And in doing so, she opened up her own world as well as connecting with thousands like her who echoed her own aspirations and desire to do more, to BE more.

Julie and Julia were women determined to prove to themselves that there was more to them than being a diplomat's wife or an office worker. They were both authors, struggling to get their writing recognized, accepted for publishing. I commiserated with them both when publishers turned them down or in Julia’s case when they wanted to take the unique, wonderful book she had written and change it into the “white bread” of the industry of the 1950's. French dishes by MIX?!!!! I don’t think so!

And neither did Julia.

Julia had worked hard to craft a book that would bring difficult techniques and cookery to the American public. She didn’t give in. She had her ups and her downs as did Julie who was astounded and thrilled when her blog evolved into offers from publishers but she knew the value of her product. So she stood rejection until that moment when the right editor, the right time, the right place published what has since become an iconic American tome.

While the movie did not inspire me to attempt any of these dishes (I am a baker, not so much a cook) I did embrace the spirit of these two remarkable women’s drive and determination to achieve that which they thought they could not! With the courage of our convictions we can accomplish anything!

On second thought….pass me a duck!

What about you? Have you been inspired by a movie? What is the most challenging recipe you’ve ever attempted? A cooking technique you’ve mastered? Have you seen the movie and what did you think? (No spoilers, please!) Or, like me, have you developed a crush on Stanley Tucci?