Mastering the Art of Memory Cooking

When someone asks me what my favorite food is, I always give three answers: Breyer’s coffee ice cream, my mother’s chicken pot pie, and the matzoh-ball soup from my father’s favorite Jewish deli. 

Favorite foods often conjure up joyful memories for me.  For example, when my mother cooked chicken pot pie, I would be responsible for pulling the thyme off of its stem while I watched my mom deftly chop the potatoes and carrots, eagerly waiting for company to arrive.  Matzoh-ball soup brings me back to days when I was home sick from school.  My father would get off of the night shift just before lunch time and stop to pick up soup for me, walking in just as my favorite television show would begin.

Julia Child, the world-renowned chef and author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, once described a meal as “the opening of the soul and spirit for me.” Child, who was born in California in 1912, played sports and majored in history at Smith college, and went on to become a top-secret researcher in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, fell in love with food and preparation of food after moving to Paris in 1948.  Fueled by her passion, she attended culinary school and became famous for her ability to take interesting and complex recipes and make them accessible to a worldwide audience. 

This month, we are challenging you and your girls to make like Julia Child and share some of your favorite foods, memories, and recipes.  What are some of your favorite meals, and why are they important to you?  What memories and special meaning do they hold?  To help you, we’re offering the Bonnie Jean recipe collector – a set of cards that you and the girls in your life can use to collect, share, and swap recipes and tell stories about the food in your life.  And don’t forget to share!  E-mail your recipes to us at info@girlsdressshop.com we’ll post a few of our favorites.