My Life in France

Heavenly inspiration! I want to be just like Julia Child, not for her cooking but for her enthusiasm for life. She doesn't know things and isn't afraid to ask (huge failing of mine), and when she sets about learning things she does so whole-heartedly. Not just with cooking - she didn't learn to cook a drop until she was 36!! - but in art and world affairs and foreign cultures. Truly, she seems to have said yes to living life, and I think she would have been the best of fun to know.

My favorite bit of advice: “I don't believe in twisting yourself into knots of excuses and explanations over the food you make. When one's hostess starts in with self-depreciations such as “Oh, I don't know how to cook...,” or “Poor little me..,” or “This may taste awful...” it is so dreadful to have to reassure her that everything is delicious and fine, whether it is or not. Besides, such admissions only draw attention to one's shortcomings (or self-perceived shortcomings), and make the other person think, “Yes, you're right, this really IS an awful meal!” Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed - eh bien, tant pis!” (p. 77).