I spent a few hours this morning relaxing after a week full of surprises, challenges, and time spent with some of my absolute favorite women in this world.  I chose to watch Julie & Julia again, as it has been many months since I had done so.  I have to admit that I prefer the parts about the awe-inspiring human being that was Julia Child,  so I skipped over the Julie parts this time.  While I’m happy that things turned out well for Julie,  Julia is the one who inspires and amazes me.

I feel a strong connection to Julia. Have I mentioned that to you  before? I remember being at my grandfather’s house (we called him Granddaddy) and smelling foreign scents coming out of his little kitchen and wondering what he could possibly be making! Mama’s kitchen smelled variously of fried chicken, cabbage, fried Gulf shrimp, and baking biscuits.  Granddaddy’s smelled like wine and herbs de Provence, things that weren’t found in our home.  It was exciting, and sometimes intimidating.  The food was; not Granddaddy. He was one of the most sweet and loving human beings I’ve ever had the blessing to know.

The association that I have made in my mind between Julia and Granddaddy started when I, as a child, would go to his house and his television would be tuned into PBS.  (With Granddaddy it was either PBS or whatever channel he could find Star Trek on.)   Sometimes Julia would be on, and I marveled at her funny voice and how she would occasionally drop something and laugh and say “remember, you are alone in the kitchen; no one will ever know.”  I liked that.  She was unique, and real.

Granddaddy admired her, too.  He bought her brilliant Mastering the Art of  French Cooking in the ’60s, and cooked from it, evidenced by his notes in the margins.  My mother gave it to me after he passed away, and I treasure it.

For some reason, this connection I’ve made between the two of them comforts me.  Perhaps because when I watch Julia’s shows on my DVR, it’s like visiting with her, and makes me feel Granddaddy’s presence for a bit, too.  They really did have  a lot in common: both were lifetime learners, were kind and loving people, and were talented and intelligent.  Both worked in some capacity for the government during trying times in our country. (Granddaddy was an engineer for GE and worked on bombs for the U.S. in the late 1950s.) Both have passed away, sadly, and I wish that I could know them now, as an adult. Since I can’t, I’ll do my best to keep memories of them alive in me by continuing to learn, cook, and grow as a person.

Granddaddy’s birthday was the other day, February 25.  Here is what I might have made for him if he could have been with me that day:

Julia’s Charlotte aux Pommes

recipe from Cookstr.com:

This extremely good dessert is a thick, rum- and apricot-flavored apple purée piled into a cylindrical mold which has been lined with butter-soaked strips of white bread. It is baked in a very hot oven until the bread is golden brown, and is then unmolded. For the sake of drama, the mold should be 3½ to 4 inches high. Be sure to pick the right cooking apples and that your purée is very thick indeed, or the dessert will collapse when unmolded.

• 6 1bs. firm nonjuicy cooking apples (Golden Delicious are always reliable)
• ½ cup apricot preserves, forced through a sieve
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup dark rum
• 3 1b butter
• 10 to 12 slices of homemade type white bread, 4 inches square and ¼ inch thick
• 1 cup clarified butter
• ½ cup apricot preserves, forced through a sieve
• 3 Tb dark rum
• 2 Tb granulated sugar
• Optional: 2 cups crème anglaise (custard sauce) or 2 cups lightly whipped cream flavored with rum and powdered sugar