Merci! Merci! Merci!

Nancy, Judy and I have seen Julie & Julia 10 times – collectively, not each. The film made such an impact on Judy – who NEVER cooks – that she left the Varsity Theater and walked straight to Bloomsbury Books and bought their only copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

But the jolt of all miraculous jolts came the next day when I walked into the kitchen. Every pot and pan and cooking utensil we own, every measuring device and an entire set of dangerously sharp knives was out and covered with mysterious food substances. Butter wrappers were strewn about, the floor was covered with flour, onion skins, and something brown and sticky. Judy was flushed. Nancy was standing over a brand new French enamel casserole with a glass of wine in one hand and a carrot in the other, and both were wearing APRONS. Neither had ever in her entire life worn an apron!

“We’re making Boeuf Bourguingnon,” Judy said, sweat pouring down her cheeks. Actually, what she said was more like, “We’re making Boof Bour-GIG-non.”

“Look!” Nancy chirped. “I bought a $75 French casserole at Paddington’s!” She who will not spend $1.50 to dial 411 on her cell phone was gleeful about it and quite proud.

I was dumbstruck. Who were these strangers?

I’ve known Judy for 15 years. Every time I suggested she cook something for a party or potluck tears would come to her eyes and she’d start to tremble. “Just find a recipe and follow the directions,” I’d say as she whimpered in the corner with her hands over her ears. (This is the same woman who saves lives in the intensive care unit on a daily basis.)

And Nancy, whose diet consists primarily of roasted chicken legs that come in little plastic carrying cases from the Co-op, sardines out of the can, and iceberg lettuce looked absolutely domestic in her splattered apron. “We didn’t crowd the mushrooms,” she said, referring to a line from the movie, whereupon she scooped a perfectly browned mushroom from the new enamel casserole and thrust it at me.

I have to say, as one who DOES cook, that the meal my housemates prepared was the flat-out best I have ever eaten. It was the first time in 30 years my vegetarian self had eaten beef and it was glorious!

“Nothing to it,” Judy said. “All you have to do is find a recipe and follow the directions.”

I had a birthday a few days later and Judy and Nancy gave me a certificate for a home-prepared meal of Coq au Vin. Julia’s Coq au Vin. I am in heaven. Thank you thank you thank you Meryl and Amy and Nora. Thank you Julia and Julie. You’ve changed our lives.