Julie, Julia, Butter and Waistlines

I love food. So does my husband. We are what people call "foodies". We dislike chain restaurants, with the exception of a handful, and prefer the independently owned restaurants where there is someone cooking, not following a corporate recipe. One of the things we do when traveling is trying new restaurants and visiting old favorites.

I also love food. I love how it smells, I love the different flavors and textures, I love trying new things and going outside of my boundaries. I love learning about new foods and new ethnicities of food. Recently, for example, we had sweatbreads. We have some friends that we go out to eat with when we can and they were trying to find a place to go. She said, "do you think Beth and Chris will like...?". He said, "there isn't anything Beth and Chris don't like.". And that's true.

I also enjoy cooking. When we moved to Canada, I wasn't working then, when I found work, was only working part time. One of the things I did was cook. A lot. And from scratch. But, kids came along and I didn't have time to spend hours in the kitchen and my cooking took a back burner.



Yesterday, I had the pleasure of seeing Julie and Julia. What's not to like? Julia Child, cooking, Meryl Streep and an afternoon with good friends. It's a wonderful story based on blogger Julie Powell's year of cooking her way through Julia Child's cookbook. It was an hilarious, stomach-rumbling, sweet story. And, it made me want to cook again. I'm not talking about taking up the mortar and pestle and journeying through Julia Child's cookbook, I'm talking cooking a fabulous meal when I can, saving the leftovers, then cooking again a few days later. I'm a realist. Between school, soccer, dogs, housework, my business and everything else I do, cooking A Meal every night is not attainable at this point.

Now, here is my problem; I started Weight Watchers a few weeks ago. I haven't seen my waistline since the birth of my first son. You know what I'm talking about; the subtly feminine curve that starts just beneath the ribs, goes in, then comes out again just above the hips. I said curves, IN, not OUT as mine does. And if you read Julie's blog, she says she gained weight during her year of cooking. As I'm contemplating French cooking a la Julia Child and Weight Watchers, I realize those two things do not go together. Has anyone ever put Julia Child and Weight Watchers in the same sentence? Without their computer imploding? Probably not.

So, what is a food loving, waistline desiring, middle age ( I can't believe I just typed "middle age" in reference to myself) woman to do? I have a plan. It's a multiple step plan, but we will see how it works.

1. Dust off the wii and get back onto a exercise regimen
2. Buy Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
3. Buy butter. Lots and lots of butter
4. Hope that Cooking A Meal two or three nights a week while exercising ( literally, I hope) my butt off works

I'm sure my husband's heart just leaped for joy. He reads my blog, you know.