Julie & Julie by Julie Powell
my drawing of the paperback cover °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
It’s the summer of 2010, before construction wiped out the little forest standing outside our window. A tiny plot just behind my building, left untended to grow all it could, taller than my 4-story walkup. We still had cable then too, with the Starz + Encore channels being my choice of entertainment, my mom and I enjoyed the 90s blockbuster reruns what can I say? It was lunch, or maybe dinner, (summer break blurred my days a bit) and Starz was airing last year’s hit ‘Julie and Julia’.
I remember so clearly my mom catching the Dan Aykroyd - Julia Child SNL skit in the beginning of the movie, we kept it on after giggling over our meal, reminiscing. I was young, and really had most of my attention on ‘Charmed’, emotional but light-hearted post season 4. Julie & Julia had my attention, the split between 2002 and 1958, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams technically sharing a screen but not completely. I loved the style, the message, and how good I felt when Julie completed her mission, ending with both Julie and Julia having a ‘happily ever after’ with their respective husbands.
I kept this movie in my heart for years, loosely remembering it was first a book. But life gets in the way, and rediscovering my passion (both for reading and for this movie) took longer than I’d expected. Memoirs are never my first choice, I’m a bit of a genre stickler. Sci-fi/fantasy owns my heart, now with a side of Julie Powell. Powell’s writing is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. She’s personal and impersonal, entwining her project with anecdotes from her life, and making it impossible to put down the book.
Powell was working at a government agency whose purpose was to assist with post-9/11 issues at ground zero, including assisting those affected by the tragedy. The job, which was originally a temp, ended up sticking for Powell, but it was less than inspirational, and left her dejected and depressed. Moving from Bay Ridge to LIC with her husband Eric, she realized she had to do something now, not in a year, but now to get out of their funk. Eric, loving Julie’s cooking and being written as the best husband in the world (Powell’s bias here is much appreciated, love a well-adjusted man), suggested that she blog about her cooking through ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’, affectionately shortened to MtAoFC.
Blogging about her cooking is something, but Julie settled on a blogging project for herself instead; 365 days, 524 recipes. A new apartment, boxes stacked to the ceiling, and a neighborhood with not as many butchers as is ideal when embarking on such a project. We follow Julie through, what in 2002 was essentially, crying-screaming-throwing up her way through MtAoFC. She called it the Julie/Julia Project, and as she slowly worked her way through the cookbook, her following trickled in. A comment here, another there, Julie now picturing what her regulars may say as she constructs her posts.
On her journey, we meet her parents, brother, friends, coworkers, all the people who make up Julie’s world. Each evening Julie is either cooking or hosting, often a combination of the two, while trudging through MtAoFC and taking all those who are willing on her emotional journey. Julie’s secret ingredients are tears and curses, which help to cover up her small errors. We learn about her brother’s nomadic lifestyle when he pops in to stay a week here and there, her friends’ love lives through drinks over MtAoFC dinners, all the while cheering Julie on and anticipating the close of the Julie/Julia project. The year brings interviews for articles, the news, anyone with an interest in our LIC girl and the project she’s tethered herself to, while working a full time job.
The movie captures most of it, and I am forever grateful it drove me to read this book. Julie Powell’s prose leaves nothing lacking, she’s snarky and sure of herself and miserable all at once, losing faith and clawing it back, letting nothing get in the way of her determination (when she can help it). Julie & Julia is a story of partnership, dedication, and not taking yourself too seriously. I cannot recommend it enough, and hope that I someday find the drive that Julia Powell once had.
I learned while writing this that Powell unfortunately passed in 2022. I’m saddened especially because her book ends with acknowledging Julia Child’s passing, and how she lives on in memories, not necessarily heaven. So here’s to Julie Powell, living forever in my memory as a strong, confident, firecracker.
