Morsel of Perfection

Here's what's on my coffee table this week: Two real gems.
One from the Library (Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol II)
One from the $.88 bin at our local thrift store (My Life in France)

I sat down with the latter and didn't look up until I was 77 pages in. I love it, and I feel like I can hear Julia's distinctive sing-song voice in my head with each turn of the page. I'm still working up the courage to dive into her cookbook. There's a lot of animal parts involved in some of the recipes. (and the closest I come to dealing with meat is frozen chicken breasts.) So I might just keep to the vegetable soups and pastries...we'll see.

And even if I don't find recipes to become part of my arsenal, I've already found something wonderful...inspiration. From the way Julia approached her life and her cooking. So fresh and brave. And for someone who recently moved to a new place, that bravery and "joie de vivre" is a welcome breath.

Here are two of my favorite quotes from "My Life in France":

"I closed my eyes and inhaled the rising perfume.
Then I lifted a forkful of fish to my mouth, took a bite, and chewed slowly...
I chewed slowly and swallowed.
It was a morsel of perfection...
a dining experience of a higher order than any I'd ever had before."
p. 22-23

"You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made...
Even after you eat it,
it stays with you- always."
p. 74