Everything's Better With Butter

By Dee Brun

Bonjour! Now say it with a high pitched voice and stretch it out thinly, a la Julia Child. I recently revisited the movie Julie & Julia for an upcoming Girls Night-In party. I grew up watching Julia Child on television and this movie, with the present day addition of Julie Powell’s story and the divine Meryl Streep playing Julia, made me fall in love all over again.

The movie chronicles the beginning of Julia Child's endeavor into the culinary world of Paris while simultaneously flashing forward in time into the life of Julie Powell. Child tries on many hats, including a stint as a hat maker, before settling on attending the renowned cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu. Powell, a young woman trapped in her frustrating cubical world, takes the advice of her husband to write a blog about cooking her way through Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a year. This movie combines so many things I adore; Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, cooking, eating, drinking, comedy, social media and a classic love story. How could it go wrong? The movie was nominated for a slew of awards and Meryl Streep walked away with a Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy motion picture.

The movie is light hearted, funny, and inspiring; essentially why it’s a perfect 'Girls Night In' pick. It's easy to follow and undivided attention is not necessary, so you can still laugh and chat throughout with your girlfriends. After it was over I wanted to both learn to cook and write a blog. I know this will require a trip to Paris and it may take years. Please forward my mail.

As with every Girls Night In, cocktails are required. In this particular case I went with wine. Since the movie focuses so much on food and the love of flavours I decided to have a fabulous wine tasting. Not the traditional kind with big fancy words or terms you can’t understand. Just divine French wine paired with delicious French nibbles. I had 8 guests, so I chose French wines and had cheese, chocolate, lovely breads with spreads, a pate and fresh fruits and vegetables. The whole point of the tasting was to see how the taste of the wine changed when you ate certain foods. It was the perfect pairing with this delicious movie. Bon Appetite.