August 21, 2004
julia child
PBS has been doing a fine job of honoring Julia Child over the last few days. I have to admit that I hadn't been one of her fans before. I missed most of her time on television. I just knew her by reputation and mystique. When I was growing up, I was more of a Frugal Gourmet kind of guy. I've watched a couple of different programs on her now, and I find her very sincere and very funny. The best moment so far has been on a program giving an overview of her on screen career. Jacques Pepin enters the kitchen carrying a live chicken, saying that he has a very fresh egg for Julia. She sets the chicken egg down on the counter next to the ostrich egg. She says that we're cooking eggs today. The screen fades out about the time you realize that there's an unexplained, corded circular saw sitting next to them on the counter.
