Julie and Julia

Just like when I finished watching the movie (Meryl Streep...swoon!), all I want to do now that I've finished reading this book is cook like a fiend.  But I don't really cook.  Sometimes I like to pretend that I do can, but really, cupcakes inside of ice cream cones is about as domestic I can get in the kitchen, or anywhere really.

So to remedy this desire to cook, I'm currently preheating the oven to make some of my Trader Joe's frozen Orange Chicken.  Frozen foods are a godsend.   

But yeah, the book.  I love it.  I mean, I love memoirs so it's probably no surprise that I couldn't put this down.  I'd heard the complaints from a bunch of people that this book was graphic when it came to dissecting meats, Julie Powell loves to overswear (as she SHOULD because swearing like a sailor is healthy, or at least I've come to believe this), and she's a whiny brat about 85% of the time.  All are true. 

But the book is still so much fun to read because you get to witness how cooking French food makes her spiral down into a crazy psychotic mess, which you wouldn't think possible when you read how psychotic she was before she started her "project" (basically, she cooked every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blogged about it in the days when blogs were a relatively new construction).  

Who will love this book:

1) Democrats --> Despite being from Texas, she hates Republicans and isn't shy about vocalizing her disdain for all they stand for.  She also worked for a government agency that dealt with the aftermath of 9/11, during the dark age of Republican leadership, so she's got a lot of good stuff to comment snidely on.  Yayness!

2) Food lovers -->  Duh.

3) People who love to cook --> You'll love making fun of her stupidity when it comes to cooking pretty much everything in the book.  

4) People who hate to (or just can't) cook --> You're not alone.  Plus, this woman made a pretty awesome profit on her ability to burn crepes.  She got a bunch of magazine and television interviews, a book deal, and Amy Adams to play her in a movie.  Not too shabby.  Next time someone makes fun of your apple pie with the plastic wrapper still stuck to the pre-bought dough you can tell them to shove it because one day millions of people could potentially see a movie based on your life and this moment will be a great scene to have in the movie trailer.  

Who will hate this book:

1) Vegetarians --> At least I'm assuming they would.  Among other things, she has to debone a duck and scoop marrow out of a cow bone, and does not shy away from discussing them.  Not one bit. 

2) Julia Child --> Granted, she's no longer able to read the book, but apparently she hated Julie.  Julia thought she was capitalizing on her success or didn't think Julie was taking cooking seriously, either way, she was not a fan.  

3) Republicans --> See above.

Aaaand my oven is done preheating so it's time to have a dance party to Gaga and pretend I know how to cook.