Butter-walloping good

I read recently that Mastering the Art of French Cooking has surged to the bestseller list because of Julia & Julie (or is it Julie & Julia?). And that the virgins are surprised by all the butter called for amidst its pages! Fat is flavor, kids. I guess I’m showing my age, because I can remember going to the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History in the 1970s and seeing a clip of Child whipping up the ingredients of life (“now you take some carbon…”).

I pulled out my mother’s 1966 edition, which is definitely showing its age, this weekend. The book was well used. My mother was a good cook.

I’ve made a few things out of it, too, including the crème anglais, which is lusciousness itself.

In the front of the book is this image:
which I now understand was the large button or badge she wore during her original PBS series. I could never figure out what it was (the resolution of pre-HDTV, don’t you know) and figured that it was covering over a microphone as she walloped the butter around.