This was such a beautiful full-circle moment for me because I first found Virginia’s work through Julia’s work when she interviewed Virginia on her podcast in 2022 😭 I love both of your work so much!!! 🥰
Just stopping the pod to say dishwashers suck these days. We had one fail after just a few years. I never liked the way it was set up either. Too many big spaces where things just rolled around and collected water. Also, a third, skinny rack on top that didn’t really fit much.
We replaced it and the new one had the rack on top too. BUT it was even weirder and fit even less. AND taller items rubbed against it on the actual top rack. My husband removed it. So I have a random dishwasher rack somewhere around here.
I've been in my house 14 years and am on the 3rd dishwasher. The first one never worked well and I replaced it at year 5 or so. The second one washed ok but needed a new electronics board after a few years and then died right before the 2020 shutdown. As you might imagine that was the most annoying of my pandemic first world problems. Washer #3 works really well (Bosch drain technology yay!) but the racks are annoying.
Don't get me started on dryers. I've also had three in 14 years despite the fact that my late husband was pretty handy and could fix most stuff.
My fridge is older than my house because I brought it with me when I moved, and I'm going to keep it as long as I can because I suspect the newer ones don't last as long.
My parents' fridge, that came with the house in 1981, died last year. The new one has less space, bad shelf set up, and is louder than the old fridge. They don't make them like they used to!
Maybe it's sleep deprivation or hormones, but I got kind of teary listening to this episode! Julia's kindness and flexible approach are really quite moving and empowering.
I think I have a love-hate relationship with most cookbooks because I tend to feel like I'm never quite measuring up, so to speak. I have this thing where I can't seem to hold recipe details in my working memory so end up going back to the book between every step (sometimes more than once) and can't conceptualize the big picture either, even when I read through the whole recipe before starting. Reading comprehension is not normally something I struggle with (I have two degrees in English!), but it seems written material without a narrative doesn't know how to get purchase in my brain. And I think the perfectionism/fear of of failure scramble my thinking even more, as if I'm under the judgmental eye of an uptight chef.
This is all to say that I'll be adding Julia's books to what one of my kids once called "the sacred texts" (The Delish cookbook, Chrissy Teigan's "Hungry for More," and the Ina Garten library).
OMG you just totally described my experience with recipes (and maps/all driving directions). And I am also... pretty decent at reading comprehension!! Julia's work is such a gift.
I have the 2 drawer dishwasher also. In the beginning it was not working and I felt much of the frustration around it that you experienced. Four(!) dishwasher repair people kept telling me nothing was wrong. In desperation, I asked my plumber to look at it when he was fixing something else. He discovered it had been installed incorrectly (it was a house warming gift from my realtor and her handyman installed it). It now works perfectly and looks amazing!
I get lots of compliments and it's really a game changer to be able to load dishes while one drawer is running. No excuses for not taking care of dirty dishes!
Who knew dishwasher frustration was such a "stars, they're just like us" moment?
UGHHH and my new one is finally supposed to arrive today and you have me wondering if this one actually would be fine?! I truly do love the ergonomics of it, but I think I have to let it go...
I have loved Julia's recipes since Small Victories, and she's now become such a role model for me in terms of healing your relationship with food and your body WHILE you keep cooking, and feeding others. Basically: how you hold care of self and care of others (family, local, national, world) in the same lil' life. Thank you for this conversation!
Steve k: Wow, I didn' t think my day would get off to such a start! I live in a rental with a very tight galley kitchen and can only make limited changes. I am an amateur home chef and things have gotten cluttered in my apt due to a foot injury. Landlord loves his excessively wide double sink due to the DEAL he made several years ago. A nearby warehouse filled with a few hundred sinks as well as other landlord -useful things. Hideously ugly and smelly (urethane stink from the china-toxic varnish coat racks etc etc.
My dream home kitchen would be bigger, with a double door refrig., all-stainless steel countertops and shelving, NO cabinets (the refrig. is a cabinet), and a n OSHA-style sign over the entry that said,"This is NOT a kitchen! THIS IS OUR HOME HOT LINE. Dismemberment, total blindness, and 3rd degree burns may occur here. Call 911 in case of any or all of the above.
This morning I will make my newly found Chinese breakfast of macaroni in Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup, followed by a Chinese mug of black coffee-tea. Recipe as follows for coffee-tea: tea is Thompson's Irish Breakfast Tea, 20 oz boiling water for one teabag, 1 teaspoonful of instant coffee, just enough milk to colour it slightly. Two of these will prepare you to ace your orals in Mathematics.
I must make today's To Do list. I mean, today is a weekday and a workday. I 'stan "How to Get Control of Your Time and your Life" by Alan Lakein.
PS I'm buying a Wolf gas range for myself. The landlord's crap stove wouldn't light yesterday and I had to use a barbecue lighter so I could boil my morning's coffee-tea.
+1 for Better than Bouillon! The vegetarian options for both vegetable stock and faux chicken broth live in my kitchen at all times.
💯
plus TWO!!!
This was such a beautiful full-circle moment for me because I first found Virginia’s work through Julia’s work when she interviewed Virginia on her podcast in 2022 😭 I love both of your work so much!!! 🥰
I found Virginia through Julia. I love Julia’s cooking classes, and Virginia was a guest at one of the classes.
Julia and Virginia, thank you for this beautiful conversation.
I LOVED doing that cooking class!!
Ahhh! I love that! One of my favorite interviews ever because I was already such a Julia fan.
love you both so much. cheers to the work -- julia's caesar dressing for life!!!!!
LOVE YOU
Love this and love Julia's work. Better than Bouillon is the BEST, add it to every soup, even if I'm using vegetable stock.
Just stopping the pod to say dishwashers suck these days. We had one fail after just a few years. I never liked the way it was set up either. Too many big spaces where things just rolled around and collected water. Also, a third, skinny rack on top that didn’t really fit much.
We replaced it and the new one had the rack on top too. BUT it was even weirder and fit even less. AND taller items rubbed against it on the actual top rack. My husband removed it. So I have a random dishwasher rack somewhere around here.
I've been in my house 14 years and am on the 3rd dishwasher. The first one never worked well and I replaced it at year 5 or so. The second one washed ok but needed a new electronics board after a few years and then died right before the 2020 shutdown. As you might imagine that was the most annoying of my pandemic first world problems. Washer #3 works really well (Bosch drain technology yay!) but the racks are annoying.
Don't get me started on dryers. I've also had three in 14 years despite the fact that my late husband was pretty handy and could fix most stuff.
My fridge is older than my house because I brought it with me when I moved, and I'm going to keep it as long as I can because I suspect the newer ones don't last as long.
I so appreciate all the dishwasher commiseration!
My parents' fridge, that came with the house in 1981, died last year. The new one has less space, bad shelf set up, and is louder than the old fridge. They don't make them like they used to!
Yep. Dryers suck too.
100% love assembling meals from a combination of pre-made stuff. Yay intentional leftovers!
I truly think this would be the solution to all my dinner problems!!
Maybe it's sleep deprivation or hormones, but I got kind of teary listening to this episode! Julia's kindness and flexible approach are really quite moving and empowering.
I think I have a love-hate relationship with most cookbooks because I tend to feel like I'm never quite measuring up, so to speak. I have this thing where I can't seem to hold recipe details in my working memory so end up going back to the book between every step (sometimes more than once) and can't conceptualize the big picture either, even when I read through the whole recipe before starting. Reading comprehension is not normally something I struggle with (I have two degrees in English!), but it seems written material without a narrative doesn't know how to get purchase in my brain. And I think the perfectionism/fear of of failure scramble my thinking even more, as if I'm under the judgmental eye of an uptight chef.
This is all to say that I'll be adding Julia's books to what one of my kids once called "the sacred texts" (The Delish cookbook, Chrissy Teigan's "Hungry for More," and the Ina Garten library).
OMG you just totally described my experience with recipes (and maps/all driving directions). And I am also... pretty decent at reading comprehension!! Julia's work is such a gift.
These charts are magical! (And yes I am autistic teheheheh)
Ah! Love it!
Ricotta meatballs from this book for life!
Esp when you make them for me xx
I have the 2 drawer dishwasher also. In the beginning it was not working and I felt much of the frustration around it that you experienced. Four(!) dishwasher repair people kept telling me nothing was wrong. In desperation, I asked my plumber to look at it when he was fixing something else. He discovered it had been installed incorrectly (it was a house warming gift from my realtor and her handyman installed it). It now works perfectly and looks amazing!
I get lots of compliments and it's really a game changer to be able to load dishes while one drawer is running. No excuses for not taking care of dirty dishes!
Who knew dishwasher frustration was such a "stars, they're just like us" moment?
UGHHH and my new one is finally supposed to arrive today and you have me wondering if this one actually would be fine?! I truly do love the ergonomics of it, but I think I have to let it go...
I'm sending you good dishwasher karma that the new one is perfect in every way. 🫧
Bless you!
I have loved Julia's recipes since Small Victories, and she's now become such a role model for me in terms of healing your relationship with food and your body WHILE you keep cooking, and feeding others. Basically: how you hold care of self and care of others (family, local, national, world) in the same lil' life. Thank you for this conversation!
"He’s so small, but he requires so much." the bird, but also human me, I fear :)
Cornucopia of Butter is the new title for your recommendation newsletters.
OOH
Steve k: Wow, I didn' t think my day would get off to such a start! I live in a rental with a very tight galley kitchen and can only make limited changes. I am an amateur home chef and things have gotten cluttered in my apt due to a foot injury. Landlord loves his excessively wide double sink due to the DEAL he made several years ago. A nearby warehouse filled with a few hundred sinks as well as other landlord -useful things. Hideously ugly and smelly (urethane stink from the china-toxic varnish coat racks etc etc.
My dream home kitchen would be bigger, with a double door refrig., all-stainless steel countertops and shelving, NO cabinets (the refrig. is a cabinet), and a n OSHA-style sign over the entry that said,"This is NOT a kitchen! THIS IS OUR HOME HOT LINE. Dismemberment, total blindness, and 3rd degree burns may occur here. Call 911 in case of any or all of the above.
This morning I will make my newly found Chinese breakfast of macaroni in Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup, followed by a Chinese mug of black coffee-tea. Recipe as follows for coffee-tea: tea is Thompson's Irish Breakfast Tea, 20 oz boiling water for one teabag, 1 teaspoonful of instant coffee, just enough milk to colour it slightly. Two of these will prepare you to ace your orals in Mathematics.
I must make today's To Do list. I mean, today is a weekday and a workday. I 'stan "How to Get Control of Your Time and your Life" by Alan Lakein.
PS I'm buying a Wolf gas range for myself. The landlord's crap stove wouldn't light yesterday and I had to use a barbecue lighter so I could boil my morning's coffee-tea.
Ta muchly, SteveK