Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Julia Child's 100th Birthday Picnic


This past Sunday, Jeremy and I attended a fabulous picnic hosted by the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor - a group I've recently joined which is devoted to all things food-related. Because today would have been Julia Child's 100th birthday, of course the potluck celebration featured an entire buffet of Julia's recipes, prepared by members!

Among two dozen offerings, there was a gorgeous terrine of veal and pork ... a luscious dish of chicken in wine ... an old-fashioned American meatloaf ... a French potato salad dressed with vinaigrette ... lovely cucumber and corn and Cobb salads ... beautiful hand made cherry and apple pies ... delicate blue cheese crackers ... refreshing cucumber soup ... tender rice ... summery ratatouille ... my chocolate mousse (recipe on AnnArbor.com today) ... and the extraordinary apricot-praline cake pictured above (baked by Sherry Sunderling).

I don't have names and/or titles to go with every dish, but was astounded by the quality and variety of offerings. Everything was so amazing! Fabulous friends and food ... what better way to celebrate a birthday? Julia Child herself would have been thrilled.

Bon appétit! Et bon anniversaire, Julia!

[bohn ah-pay-TEE! ay bohn ah-nee-vair-SAIR]










Go check 'em out on AnnArbor.com:
Yesterday: Courgettes Sautées au Beurre ([koor-ZHET soh-TAY oh burr] = Zucchini Sautéed in Butter)
Today: Chocolate Mousse


A fragrant Julia Child rose in front of a cut-out - the guest of honor had to attend, after all!

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh wow.. look at all that scrumptious food!! Happy birthday to Julia, indeed! Heading over to check out the mousse recipe!

Bibi @ Bibi's Culinary Journey said...

That is so neat....I can't believe you had cut out of Julia and a cake...so cool. I wish I was there :)

Debra Hawkins said...

Wow! What a party. That looks amazing!

Chris said...

The cutout was a great touch, hilarious!

Mary Sullivan Frasier said...

I think we should celebrate Julia's birthday every year, don't you? Especially with all of that glorious food. (I'm totally jealous of you and Jeremy, btw LOL) Heading over to Ann Arbor dot com to check out your mousse recipe! I'm sure it is simply magnifique! XOXO

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

what a wonderful idea!! I bet it was a blast! I was in Ann Arbor last Saturday...too bad I wasn't there for the picnic!

Judee @ Gluten Free A-Z said...

How fun! I'm sure Julia would love the celebration of all her recipes!

Cranberry Morning said...

Apricot praline? Chocolate Mousse? Cherry Pie? Boy, those sound wonderful! And cucumber soup - have never had cucumber soup. It must have been a terrific time had by all! Happy Birthday Julia!

Candace said...

What a great party! Julia would have loved that!


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