Julia and Julie

We went to the movies Friday night and saw Julia and Julie. It was positively delightful! I've always liked Julia Child. I remember watching her cooking shows on PBS back in the 1970s and 80s. They were always educational and entertaining. And who can forget the famous SNL parody with Dan Ackroyd cutting his finger and spurting blood everywhere. That scene was in the movie and I laughed 'til I cried all over again.

Here's the plot: A young modern woman decides to cook every recipe (524) in Julia Child's book Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days and blog about it. It's a wonderful trip as she increases her skills and confidence, gains an audience, and finally triumphs with boning a duck and becoming famous. Anyway, I highly recommend the movie. As we walked out of the theatre after the movie, all we could talk about was food. I was ready to buy a duck, or maybe make Boeuf Bourgoignon, or at least an omelet. We settled for Chinese takeout, but the seed had been planted; I needed to cook something delicious.

So the next day I bought these ingredients and made this:

It's not French, but it was great fun anyway, and we did enjoy the flavors. But I should have gotten more mushrooms. I just love mushrooms, don't you?

The recipe calls for bucatini pasta. I found it at my favorite Italian specialty store.

Here is the finished dish. Rich, creamy, and punctuated by the salty prosciutto - delicious!

The Lord of the Manor made these beets as a side dish. They were excellent too.

So here's our dinner Amongst The Oaks.

Inspired by Julia and Julie.