What’s your favorite holiday cookie? Probably not Oreos. Persimmon cookies are a fave in our house. Then there’s the traditional family cookies. Italian cookies with names like amaretti, anellini, biscotti, cicirata, cuccidati, giuggiulena, pignoli, pizzelle and torcetti.
Fun Facts: Julia Child was 6 feet 2 inches tall. During World War II, she joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), precursor to the CIA. She worked directly for General William J. “Wild Bill” Donovan in top-secret research and records. In the OSS, she created a shark repellent from kitchen ingredients to deter unintended detonations of undersea mines.
Posted to China and Sri Lanka, she received the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service from the OSS. Her file, which was declassified in 2008, is available in its entirety online in the National Archives, link bit.ly/4gyWU0t. Or search under her maiden name: Julia McWilliams.
Posted to France in 1948 with her husband Paul—5 feet 9 inches tall—Julia Child graduated from Cordon Bleu in 1951. She began teaching and writing about cooking with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. Together they wrote Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Published in 1961 by Alfred Knopf, 3.5 million copies have sold.
In July 1962, Julia appeared on WGBH’s pilot, “The French Chef.” Her pay was $50 per show. Julia and The French Chef marked the beginning of America’s interest in fine food.
The movie Julie and Julia, released in 2009, starred Amy Adams, Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci. The film is based on a blog documenting Julie’s 365 days cooking all 524 recipes in Julia’s 726-page cookbook. The movie grossed $130 million on a $40 million budget.
Here’s a recipe of our favorite, persimmon cookies:
Beat: 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, half-cup butter, 1 cup mashed ripe Hachiya persimmon pulp;
Blend: 2 cups flour, 1 tsp soda, .5 tsp cinnamon, .5 tsp clove, .5 tsp nutmeg, .25 tsp salt. Optional: 1 cup raisins, 1 cup walnuts or pecans;
Bake: 350F, 12 minutes or until brown but still soft.
Closing with Julia’s signature outro: Bon appetit!
