Out of Town Thrifty #4 ~ The Way to Cook (Julia Child)

The Way to Cook, published in 1989. Another over-sized cookbook with 490 pages of recipes and great cooking advice from Julia Child. Mrs. Child advocates moderation and variety when preparing meals and the book is one of her most creative and instructive cookbooks. The book was written solely by Julia and based on her six VCR program of the same name. The recipes reflect both French and American cuisine, blending classic techniques with American free-style cooking , resulting in dishes that are simple to prepare, lighter and fresher.

Besides the recipes which range from soups to desserts, there are photos of numerous cooking and baking techniques along with a few step by step instructional shots. Most chapters contain several master recipes (dough, stock, etc.) that can be expanded upon to produce various dishes. One of my favorite techniques discussed is the removal of aspic from a mold - a blowtorch is involved!

A few recipes I noted were for a Beef Brisket (I have always wanted to make a brisket!), several varieties of mayonnaise (herbed, green and Pimento) plus a luscious dessert - The Cambridge Cake. It's a yellow cake made with rum, chocolate and a decadent butter cream frosting, I drooled over the photo!