Several weeks ago I stumbled upon The French Chef with Julia Child over on Amazon instant watch while killing some time. Four episodes later and I was captivated. I was actually learning solid foundational cooking skills from a television show!

There was no fluff. No fancy set. Julia was cooking as if I were sitting across from her. Everything moved at the proper pace for cooking at home. There was no race to get it in the oven. And if things didn’t go quite right? She showed me how to get right back on track. And those mushrooms that leaped out of the pan? Yeah, they were thrown right back in. No reshoots or edits. No shortcuts or easy ways out, just real cooking.

And then there is Julia. Warm, inviting, and ready to equip you to no longer fear the kitchn.

How can I not laud this culinary great?

I knew I needed to be sharing what I was learning. Thus the creation of “Lessons from Julia.” A weekly series where I post what I am learning from watching episodes of The French Chef with Julia Child. The posts will be short and sweet. Focusing on simple, matter of fact, bullet pointed items starting from season 1, episode 1.