Thanks Again, Jules

There was just something about Julia Child. She was weird; she was crazed for butter and liquor; she was AWESOME. If you don't own any of her cookbooks, go get one. Seriously. We have Mastering the Art of French Cooking; The French Chef cookbooks, which have all the recipes from the t.v. show; and Jacques and Julia at Home, with Jacques Pepin. We also have the first season of The French Chef t.v. show and it is some of the most entertaining television EVER. The Food Network WISHES they had something this good in their line-up. My favorite one might be the chicken one, where she dances the (dead, plucked) chicken around the counter. Or possibly the show about tripe, when she grabs an ENTIRE COW STOMACH and twirls it around her hands like some kind of nasty pizza dough.

The woman was nuts. But she knew her cooking.

Her recipes never, ever fail. Some are long and annoyingly detailed, with five million steps that dirty four thousand pots and take six hours, but they work. And they are delicious. And not all of them are complicated. Take this potato salad.

I think Julia would also approve of the Wild Turkey 101 bourbon that snuck into the photo.

Except I won't let you, because I want to eat it all myself. I made this last night for dinner. It's from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and it's just boiled potatoes, dressed with a shallot vinaigrette. (I also added some unauthorized bacon, because, well, because it's BACON. Why wouldn't I add it?) It's very easy to make, and it's so good I had to restrain myself, lest I eat it all before anyone else got home. I did manage to save enough for dinner, but it was a close thing.

You should make it. Go to your library and get the cookbook. Then make this and see if you can keep yourself from eating the whole bowl before anyone else gets a crack at it.

But if you can't, I won't judge you.