Live Like Julia – Julia Child Rules + Giveaway

Congratulations to Karen P of From Scratch Blog!  She is the winner of the Live Like Julia Contest!

I admire Julia; I use her cookbooks; I have seen Julie and Julia numerous times; and I can’t wait to read Karen Karbo’s upcoming book, “Julia Child Rules – Lessons on Savoring Life.”  I so venerate Julia that two weeks ago I joined the “Live Like Julia Project” created by Karen.  The “Live Like Julia Project” consists of a group of “Kick Ass Bloggers” who are dedicating a minimum of one week to living by one of the ten Julia Child Rules for Savoring Life (see below flyer).

Wanted: A Few Kick Ass Bloggers

Are You Ready to #LiveLikeJulia?

Rule No. 1: Live with Abandon

Don’t plan. Cut loose. Leave your phone at home. Be all in.

Rule No. 2: Play the Emperor

You are the ruler of your life.  Princess=passive (unless your name is Leia.) Change nothing about yourself.

Rule No. 3: Learn to be Amused

You don’t need to have the life you want to enjoy the life you have.

Rule No. 4: Obey Your Whims

You never know what you might find at the end of an impulse.

Rule No. 5: All You Need is a Kitchen and a Bedroom

Love and food make the world go round, not thread count.

Rule No. 6: To Be Happy, Work Hard

Throw yourself into something big, even if no one cares but you (example: writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a book for which, at the time, there was no market).

Rule No. 7: Solve the Problem in Front of You

Live ten minutes at a time.

Rule No. 8: Cooking Means Never Saying You’re Sorry

You’re feeding them, aren’t you?

Rule No. 9: Make the World Your Oyster (Stew)

You’re never too anything for anything. Plant your flag where you stand.

Rule No. 10: Every Woman Should Have a Blowtorch

“Make every meal an occasion” sounds to me like “Live each day as though it were your last” — just plain overwrought. People do preach it, but does anyone practice? Not me! But to love your art as well as your audience does seem to make for pretty good living, day by pleasant day. 

I could not resist Julia’s siren song, so I contacted Karen Karbo, was invited to join the group, and asked to choose one of the rules to live by.  All the rules are fetching, and it was hard to narrow the list to just one choice.  I considered Rule No. 5, but Sous Chef is going through some medical issues and anyway has not renewed his Viagra order lately.  Rule No. 2 is appealing, but life with two Havanese puppies has demonstrated I am no empress even in my own household.  So I chose Rule No. 6 in the hope of finding an appropriate balance between work and home.

Rule No. 6 says:  “To Be Happy, Work Hard.”  I work hard already, but working hard in my profession brings little happiness, and that is probably true for most of us.  So I chose to apply this rule to something that I know has the capacity to produce happiness and fulfillment for me.  In my case, I decided to expand my Confessions of a Culinary Diva blog to encompass all the lifestyle pursuits that I so enjoy.  Accordingly, I have redesigned and re-launched my blog under ChristyMajors.com, and I liken this accomplishment—not in public magnitude but in fulfillment—to the publishing of Julia’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” I couldn’t be prouder of my new site and now I have to work hard to make it interesting and fulfilling for myself and my readers.  But this is a labor of love rather than pure labor and I welcome the challenge it presents.

Of course, Rule No. 6, like all of Julia’s Rules, is not limited to cooking but is intended as a template for life.  As part of the Live Like Julia group, I received an advance copy of the chapter devoted to the Julia Rule I had chosen.  While reading the chapter for Rule No. 6, I realized there are some things I need to address if I am to achieve culinary fulfillment:

1) I need to be much more focused in my content and material for my blog, and should “plan” for my topics just like the publishing world does.  So I now have a calendar with listed recipes to test and write about, which is keeping me accountable and on schedule.

2)  I really needed to have a more defined culinary point of view.  It is okay to be a “Julia-of-all-trades” as it relates to basic cooking skills, but what are you an expert in, what is it that you want to master or have mastered and want to share with the world?  This led me to decide that my culinary point of view is what I will term “Fren-talian.”  I adore French and Italian food and cultures and will be focusing on sharing more of that love with my readers.

3)  Although I am not a fan of social media, I really need to master how to use Twitter, grow a Facebook Fan Page, and, most importantly, find time to interact more with fellow “foodies” who share similar interests.  The latter is particularly important as it is where I will find my kindred spirits and inspiration.

4)  One thing about the culinary world, it is constantly changing and there is always something new to learn.  If my avocation can ever become a vocation, I will need to dedicate more time to the study of cookery.

5)  To really Live Like Julia will take more than a week or a month of dedication, and I am willing to Live Like Julia for the rest of my life.

6)  Like Julia, everyone needs an “Avis, Simka and Paul” in their life and I’m fortunate to have all three.  They are the ones that will drive and encourage you when you are down, and challenge you to keep pushing yourself to new levels.

To celebrate Live Like Julia I’m sponsoring a give-away of the new book by Karen Karbo “Julia Child Rules – Lessons on Savoring Life” plus a gift card for $25 to Target.  The book will be released in October so you have a month to enter, the drawing will be held on October 31st.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

One winner will receive a copy of “Julia Child Rules – Lessons on Savoring Life” and a gift card for $25 to Target delivered via mail.

HOW TO ENTER

To enter to win, simply leave a comment on this post and answer the question:

“What’s your favorite Julia Child memory?”

You will receive up to FIVE additional entries to win by doing one or more of the following:

1. Subscribe to Confessions of a Culinary Diva by either RSS or email. Come back and let me know you’ve subscribed in an additional comment on this post.

2. Become a fan of Confessions of a Culinary Diva on Facebook. Come back and let me know you became a fan in an additional comment on this post.

3. Follow Confessions of a Culinary Diva on Pinterest. Come back and let me know you became a fan in an additional comment on this post.

4. Follow @christymajors on Instagram. Come back and let me know you’ve followed in an additional comment on this post.

5. Follow @ChristysPalate on Twitter. Come back and let me know you’ve followed in an additional comment on this post.

No more than a total of six entries per follower.

Deadline: Thursday, October 31, 2013 at 11:59pm PDT.

Winner: One (1) winner will be chosen at random and announced at the top of this post. The winner will also be notified via email.  If a winner does not respond within forty-eight (48) hours after the notification email is sent to him or her, another winner will be selected in his or her place.

Disclaimers:

1.  This giveaway is sponsored by Christy Majors – Confessions of a Culinary Diva.

2.  NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO BE A WINNER.

3.  This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.

Now that we have that out of the way, here is a little cocktail that I sipped everyday in France.  It’s simple, celebratory, and the perfect way to spend an afternoon.  Cheers!

5.0 from 2 reviews

C & C - Champagne & Chambord Cocktail

 

Print

Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Every woman should have a simple, go-to cocktail that they can serve at a moments notice - this is my version of a traditional Kir Royale. It's beautiful color, and the bubbly sparkle from the champagne make it just "Julia-riffic"and I suspect if she was presented with this she would exclaim "Hooray!"

Author: Christy Majors

Recipe type: Cocktail

Cuisine: French

Serves: 1-6

Ingredients

• Champagne Flutes
• Champagne (if you are having only one a split will do, but a bottle gives you the option of more than one!)
• Chambord

Instructions

1. Chill Champagne Flutes in freezer approximately 20 minutes before serving. (If you are like me you always have Champagne Flutes chilling)
2. Open Champagne. To open the champagne, remove foil packaging and twist off wire holding cork, place the champagne bottle at an angle (for reference it would be at the 2'oclock mark on a clock), place a towel over the cork and slowly twist cork until it releases.
3. Pour a splash of Chambord into the Champagne Flute, and top with Champagne.

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