Frère Jacques

In February of 1981 I prepared a dinner to impress a red-headed nursing student from Bowling Green.  Her roommate (my law school classmate) and her boyfriend were there as well.  The dinner was not a disaster, but the soup was. (We still dated a year and a half).

It was then I decided I needed to learn to really cook, a journey I continue on today.  I went to a local used bookstore and asked not for cookbooks, but books that would teach me to cook.  She sold me Vol. 1 and 2 of Mastering and La Technique by Jacques.  I didn't cook through them a la Julie and Julia, but boy did I practice and learn.

Jacques and Julia taught me that you can disagree over cooking without being disagreeable.  Jacques and Claudine gave me ideas of how to cook with my kids. Jacques, himself, continues to inspire me.

Jacques is 75 today.  Celebrate with me!