Julie and Julia - Kitchen Thoughts

Marcy Goldman is a new friend. I met Marcy some time ago, and we just seem to hit it off really well. I respect Marcy's hard work and experience as a talented baker and chef. I wanted to celebrate the movie Julie and Julia, and while I'm sure I will have more to say about Julia Child's kitchen, I want to start off with this very wonderful and interesting piece, written by my new friend Marcy.

Marcy Goldman is a cookbook author and master baker, and the creator of BetterBaking.com. She is an occasional baking guest on Martha Stewart Sirius and this fall has two new cookbooks coming out, as well as the current A Passion for Baking, Oxmoor House 2007. Follow Marcy on Twitter.

Marcy's newest cookbooks, A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking, and The New Best of Betterbaking.com, both Whitecap Books, will be available September 2009.

Get Marcy's book here: A Passion for Baking: Bake to celebrate, Bake to nourish, Bake for funHere's Marcy, in her own words, talking about Julia Child's kitchen. Enjoy.

I am both a curious chef and a nosy person. While in line at the supermarket, I find I peek at everyone’s grocery order and draw conclusions. Vegan, bachelor, busy working mom, non-cook, potential baker, meat lover, healthy eater, new dieter, and the family and/or must-have-tons-of-kids – those are some main categories. I observe more than actually spy, and I hope I am merely playing food and lifestyle sleuth – and not judging. I am just – as most food people are – interested in everything to do with food.

So when I gaze at Julia Child’s kitchen, now enthroned at the Smithsonian Institute, complete with Julia’s own voice inviting you to visit her famed home kitchen from Cambridge, I am both curious – as if I was a neighbor strolling through, and as a fellow chef and cookbook author. What does this kitchen say to me? What sort of person lived and worked here? On occasion of Julie and Julia, the new Nora Ephron movie, I felt a need to go behind the movies and myth and revisit the real thing.

The first thing I notice is that Julia was organized. There are acres of tools, pots, and pans – many choices, and a full battalion of back-up pans. I like that. That speaks of generosity too – a person who had a richesse insofar as she was outfitted with good stuff – not even lavish, but good stuff, easily at hand, and doubles of essentials. Brilliant. Such is the manner of my own kitchen.

I notice the good layout, the spaciousness, and the thoughtfulness in having things in easy reach and visually accessible. Chances are, if you see it, you’ll use it. If you hide tools and equipment away – true, your kitchen (and Julia’s) will look neat and streamlined but the very inspiration (and efficiency!) that comes from having visual reminders of potential culinary adventures cannot be overstated. You lose so much with things being hidden away – as aesthetic as it is, it robs you in other ways. Still, everything in its place, in a mindful way, is aesthetic in its own right. One takes a chance in being cluttered I suppose but Julia’s kitchen is inviting- not cluttered – so it’s possible to do it right.

In Julia’s kitchen you also notice a fusion of objects that were meaningful or serviceable. Items brought back from travel, collectibles, and simply decent, basic, good quality cook and bake ware. There is a charming mix of heavy duty things like her Garland (a range I also have in my own kitchen), a huge sprawling table to work on and host meals on, as well as back-to-basics like choppers, mortar and pestle, and a sweet collection of tea tins. The tins are robin’s egg blue, as is much of the woodwork in the kitchen. Such a sweetness in that blue tone, with its hints of New England tradition, as well as a calm and cheeriness –also trademarks of Julia.

Without doubt, in sensibility and design, Julia’s place is an expansive kitchen, as befits Julia herself. It captures a hominess, hospitality, as well as the spirit of a serious cook and dedicated professional. It seems designed to suit Julia or a team of helpers both. It appears a kitchen that saw miles of food, good times, wonderful chats, and perhaps quiet toasts between just Julia, and her beloved Paul.

Mostly, what I see when I take a glimpse of Julia’s kitchen, is a kitchen and a life, both well-lived. Chef or no, cookbook author or not, I would conclude this is the domain of a person I would like very much.

What do our kitchens say about us? Our homes speak but our kitchens, the heart and hearth of our domain – sing our theme song to world and company we keep. Knowing this, seeing Julia’s kitchen, I think again of my own kitchen with new eyes. Like Julia’s, mine is a place of many recipes, many miles of hospitality. Like Julia’s kitchen, even in repose, there is an energy. Stilled rolling pins, cooled stove, measuring cups dangling from stainless steel hooks – it’s life, it’s a stage, it’s a fusion of love and food, in equal measure. It’s the perfect recipe. Always.

More information on Julia here: Smithsonian

Kitchen Artisans - I Want YOU!

Artisans of unique decorative products for the kitchen (or can be used/situated in a kitchen) please show me your products! Please send information to: susan @ susanserraassociates.com

I haven't tried this before, a general announcement, but I like the idea, and I'm always open to seeing new products from artisans or small manufacturers! I love to receive information from large manufacturers as well, so keep or add me to your press list. 

Thank you!

New Products for the Kitchen! Take a look...

FIRST...JOIN ME FOR MY SECOND FACEBOOK EVENT! I'M TAKING QUESTIONS ON KITCHEN DESIGN. SEND ME YOUR QUESTIONS BY THIS SATURDAY, AND I'LL DO Q&AS ON SUNDAY. DO THE TEST...PLEASE LOOK AT YOUR QUESTION AS IF YOU KNEW NOTHING OF YOUR ISSUE, TO BE SURE IT'S CLEAR AND CONCISE. LOOKING FORWARD TO HELPING YOU WITH YOUR KICHEN DESIGN QUESTIONS! SEND TO: SUSAN @ SUSANSERRAASSOCIATES.COM AND BE A FAN OF MY FACEBOOK PAGE! 

Here is what's catching my attention...new and/or interesting products you need to know about.

Blue Star is sort of a lone wolf (no pun intended) in the pro range category. A somewhat silent player, it's a product that deserves more attention. Blue Star says that they are the only genuine restaurant range for the home due to their open burner system, producing 22,000 btus of power, resulting in shorter cooking times and an even simmer. BUILD YOUR OWN Blue Star range (that's what I built in the image) to reflect your personal style and preferences.

Miele hasjust redesigned their CombiSets, or modular cooking pieces. I LOVE modular pieces. It's a super flexible, super functional way to precision-design your cooking needs. The new line includes an induction cooktop and Japanese Tepan Yaki. The design of these pieces are gorgeous, with controls that are slanted in an ergonomic way. A slightly larger 15" size is available for some models and that really makes sense to me.

I'm crazy about sink accessories! In my new home, I have this one small built-in cutting board, and it's so incredibly useful to have it right nearby. We do so many tasks at our sinks...sink accessories are a huge help throughout the process. Elkay is introducing a wide assortment of new sink accessories, enhancing aesthetics and expanding functionality in the kitchen. Designed for the Gourmet e-granite and Avado sink families. There are 39 new accessories!

Oceanside Glasstile's Muse is a clean edge, handcrafted, recycled glass mosaic tile. It comes in over 42 colors and nine patterns. 

Some of the colors contain up to 97% recycled bottle glass, which is collected from curbside recycling programs (definitely a ton of Corona bottles!)

I love these random products that I find, just love them.

Here is a copper spice rack. Doesn't it look so elegant? It also comes in aluminum, brass or stainless steel. I would imagine there may be some polishing required on occasion, unless a sealer is used, better check with the manufacturer.

The finishes available are mirror, fine satin, anodized, antique and etched. By Quality Metal Works, in business since 1965. 10 1/4W x 31H x 4 3/4D

Another cool accessory for the sink, here's a cloth holder from Magisso. A clever concept, the cloth holder uses magnets to keep it in place...one magnet inside the sink cabinet on the outside of the sink and one in the cloth holder to attach to the outside magnet. It will not scratch the surface of your sink. Some cool, Scandinavian designs too!

The Next Food Network Star

I love how these things happen. Yesterday, the tv was on in the background in the kitchen, and, while I'm not a frequent Food Network viewer by any means, my son and his girlfriend are big fans. They had been here for the weekend and we were just hanging out in the kitchen. I switched the channel to the Food Network and my son's favorite chef, Bobby Flay, was on. 

Yesterday was the recap of the previous episodes of The Next Food Network Star, with the winner to be announced last night. 

Eventually, my son and his girlfriend left to return to their home (ok, mine, where they're living in NYC, lucky kids) and I found myself, now in my office, keeping the Food Network channel on for the rest of the day, up to the final show, and getting more and more into the series in the process! Throughout the day, the series took me from kitchen to office to bedroom (I know, it's a sad state of affairs when I have to admit the Food Network channel was yesterday's entertainment ALL DAY, but it's virtually unheard of for me, ok???)

Putting my marketing hat on, I should have predicted the winner from the start. Of COURSE Melissa won! Obviously, she has proven that she is a very talented cook. But, beyond that, I would guess that she speaks to the Food Network's coveted demographic...moms, moms who want fast but interesting meals for their families, moms on a budget, moms who can relate to Melissa's simple, friendly, somewhat humble manner, busy moms. 

Melissa's very positive demeanor will help uplift anyone's spirits, and she already feels like a trusted friend. Compared to Jeffrey's "Ingredient Smuggler" concept, which seems a bit exotic, maybe ever so slightly snobbish  right about now, Melissa's approach is exactly what should appeal to the mainstream Food Network audience during these still very unsettled economic times. And with more of us cooking at home, it seems like a great demographic fit. 

How could I have missed the demographic appeal paired with her cooking ability? What a match for the Food Network!