Julie and Julia and Boots

I had been holding off seeing Nora Ephron’s latest movie, Julie & Julia, after my 84-year old grandmother, Boots, said she wanted to see it, too. My grandma has not been to a movie theater in possibly over a decade, which hopefully illuminates the magnitude of her suggestion.

Her interest in the movie stemmed not from the book, Julie & Julia, on which the movie was based, nor the blogger, Julie Powell, of whom she had never heard. Grandma was simply curious about a movie based on the chef who taught her about French cooking in her own home. And so this past Monday my siblings, Alexis and Spencer, Mom and Grandma and I went out, all three generations of us, to see Julie & Julia.

Sandy Lawrence, Boots Bartolini and Steph Lawrence

I loved the movie. I self-profess to be easily entertained and seem to enjoy most movies I see, so you can take whatever I say with a grain of salt. But I was inspired — both by Julia’s force in the kitchen and in life, and by Julie’s commitment to her project. For those who do not know the premise of the movie, Julie Powell started a blog over six years ago in which she cataloged her attempt to cook all 536 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days. The project was called the Julie/Julia Project, and the blog launched the book which launched the movie which has launched a resurgence in Julia Child lovers all over. The New York Times reported last week that Mastering the Art of French Cooking has sold more copies in the last month than it has in any year since it was first published 48 years ago. For the first time Julia Child is on the best sellers list, almost five years to the day after she died.

I enjoyed seeing the movie in the presence of my grandmother, a fabulous cook who passed the notion first to my mother and then to me that cooking for 30 people is nothing at all, and my mother, who grew up eating the Beef Bourguignon Julia taught my grandma how to make. And I was inspired, like Julie and Julia before her, to pursue my love affair with food to whatever ends it will take me. Stay tuned on thelocalspoon to wander there with me.