Falling Back in Love with Bucks County with Julia Child's Help

Recently, I was lucky enough to host my dear friend Chandra, from The Earthfood Experiment, and her daughter at my house for a week. They flew in from Nebraska to hang out and see some sights.  What an awesome opportunity it was for me to get to see my home area the way a tourist does. How often do we do that? To view our own, underappreciated and neglected area in the way someone from out of town would? I have to say, I fell back in love with Bucks.

I’m going to blog about a few things we did, but there is one visit we made that I wanted to put first. And this is why:

About a year ago, my lovely friends planted in my head that I should start this here blog. After they suggested it, I let it roll around in this big old head of mine for a while. It’s like a black hole in there; I’m kind of surprised anything gets out of my head at all. But surprise! It did.  I couldn’t shake the idea, and then like a snazzy little sign from above; I sat down and watched “Julie & Julia”.



The deal was sealed. I officially loved Julia Child, and I officially wanted to become a blog writer.

I had heard that Julia’s kitchen from her Cambridge home had been donated to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and since Chandra and I share a love of Julia and of cooking, we made the trek south.  A few hours and no admission fee later (really, it’s free!) we were there, standing an arm’s length away from the kitchen that had hosted Julia and many guests over the years, not to mention that it made a cook on TV popular for the first time in history.



Her countertops were raised to accommodate her tall frame, and her utensils and pots hung on the pegboard that covered the walls.  Her beloved husband, Paul, mounted each board after Julia had instructed him what would go where and he traced each item so that she would always know exactly where each one went. All around the kitchen, there were personal items. It certainly didn’t look like the cooking shows today; Julia actually welcomed the viewer into her daily home. It was…homey!



In addition to being able to see her kitchen, the exhibit also had photos, videos, and little quotes that Julia had made over the years. This was my favorite:

At the end of the exhibit, I was already ecstatic. Julia’s energy and love of life seemed palpable.  As we walked out, there were pictures and plaques lining the wall that explained her life a little bit more, and mementos that held significance. Her diploma from Le Cordon Bleu, her mortar and pestle that Paul gave to her on Valentine’s Day when she first enrolled. 



There were pictures of her and Paul, always smiling and joyous. And below her wedding picture, and plaque explained how and when they met and that they married in Stockton, New Jersey. Say what?!



Stockton is a common stomping ground of mine! I bought my Christmas tree there last year. I was astounded to think that she married in Jersey! And when I returned home to Bucks County, I Googled (there I go again with the Googling!) I found out that while she had married in Stockton, she and Paul had their wedding reception in good old Bucks County!!!! MY Bucks County! Right in Lumberville, which I have been to a million times, and it even holds the bridge that in my family is referred to as “the spanking bridge” because my younger sister got her rear smacked on that bridge for a temper tantrum. I can’t believe that my sister got her butt whacked in the same town that Julia Child had her reception in! How many more exclamation points can I fit into this paragraph?

And that was the first day of my love affair do-over with Bucks. There were many more to follow…so keep reading.

I haven’t said “thanks” in a while to you, readers. So thanks for reading and coming along on my journey.