Come to think of it, Julie Powell has made quite an impression on me. It all started back in October when I first saw Julie and Julia. To be honest, I hadn't had high expectations towards the movie, hadn't really looked forward to it either, but I'm a fan of Meryl Streep as well as of a good chick-flick, especially if it's directed by Norah Ephron, so I thought I would give it a shot. Julie and Julia seemed to be one such movie: a sweet little nothing that keeps you entertained for a good two hours. And it did, indeed (as I have already written about it); as a matter of fact it completely charmed me - I saw it twice in the cinema -, and J&J became one of my favorite movies of 2009. The character of Julie Powell, played by Amy Adams was one of the cutests and most loveables of the year. I adored the way Anne Roth dressed Julie, I even copied her, and started making brooches similar to the ones she wears in the movie. I also ordered and then read the book the film was based on. Although at some parts I found it overflowing and way too chit-chatty (plus it annoyed the heck out of me that I didn't understand all those French words and hadn't the slightest idea how to pronounce them), I enjoyed that, too. Maybe even more as I did the movie for there was much less Julia Child and much more Julie Powell storytelling in it.
The book gave me the idea of doing something similar to what Julie did - a year long project, something that would make a little bit of change in my life, that would open new doors and broaden my horizon. I didn't want to do the same cooking thing though, for (1) I do not hold possession of Mastering The Art of French Cooking or any other kind of cookery book. (2) As I live in a student hostel I do not have my own kitchen either; as a matter of fact, I hardly have any cooking utensils. (3) I am a third-year university student on low budget, and cannot really afford to cook all those complicated & fancy meals.
However, I somehow bumped into an article on the internet that awoke my interest, thus I learnt about Project 365. I did get a camera just a little over a month ago, which was something I had longed for a few years. I wanted to take as many photos with it and as often as possible, thus, every piece fell into its place: I found the year-long project that suits me perfectly. It gives me something to hang onto, something that broadens my horizon, as it makes me go new places and do things I had been too lazy to do.
Moreover, Julie Powell has also awoke in me the urge for cooking and baking. As I have mentioned before I have no intention to cook 524 recipes in 365 days, yet, I would like to master the art of cooking on some level. Not to mention, that I think it's time I started baking, too. You may realize by now, that although I can cook a few things, I'm no Nigella Lawson; as a matter of fact, baking is a comletely new territory for me. In fact, I had never baked before just last Saturday. Nevertheless, it has changed too, as - once again, lucky me! - a friend of mine got a beautiful cookery book for her birthday full of chocolate-themed recipes of cakes, cookies and other pastries. I flipped through the book, it made me yearn for chocolate in an instant, and by the time I got to the end of the volume, I realized: I MUST learn to bake ASAP. ...and, you know, the rest is history: I bought a kichen scale and the ingredients for the first two recipes I had decided to make over the weekend. Saturday evening I baked my first sponge-cake ever. Although it got stuck in the baking pan, and I could take it out only in pieces, its taste turned out to be exactly the way it was supposed to, very yummie, especially after putting the chocolate glaze on it. (Baking lesson #1: never ever start baking without grease-proof paper!)
Then I could not resist any longer, and made a big tray of chocolate-chip cookies just a couple of hours ago. To my amazement, it is even yummier than the sponge-cake was. And now I cannot wait to read through that cookery book again and pick the next chocolate-themed pastry I will make...
Thank you, Julie Powell!
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