"julie and julia" news and stories

The Oscars may be made out of edible gold this year.

Meryl Streep is a "Best Actress" nominee by the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her portrayal of the late, vivacious Julia Child in "Julie and Julia." This is Streep's unprecedented 16th Oscar nomination.

"Julia, that spirit was very like my mother's spirit," Streep recently told ABC World News. "Joie de vivre. She had it. And a great sense of fun and [an] infectious ability to bring people along in whatever adventure she cared to take charge of."

"Food, Inc.," an eye-opening account about our nation's food industry also received a nod in the "Best Documentary" category.

For this palatable awards' season, we salute the Academy with Child's signature -- a jovial "Bon Appétit!"

Julie Powell, the writer who blogged her way through Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1," is back with her second book, a sequel memoir about the world of butchery.

"Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession" follows Powell as she has an affair, tries to rebuild her marriage and learns about butchery. As Slashfood alum Rebecca Marx puts it in the Village Voice, "the act of trying to choose between one's bottomlessly loving husband and one's snakey-sounding lover, all while having the financial freedom to hang out with butchers just for the hell of it, is accompanied by the sound of the world's most minuscule violin."

Powell admitted this week that fans of "Julie & Julia" might find it a bit much: "People coming from the movie 'Julie & Julia' and picking up 'Cleaving' are going to be in for some emotional whiplash," she tells the Associated Press. "I don't believe it's going to be a Nora Ephron movie."

Do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below.

No, that claw is not a scary Halloween trick. Look closer; it's actually a very tasty treat.

Because the price of lobster is so low right now -- almost half of what it was more than a year ago -- the bloggers over at REC(cession)IPES were able to add a little luxury to this simple, creamy risotto, made with arborio rice, olive oil, butter, onions, shallots and white wine. Plus, the lobster adds a much-needed burst of color to what can often be a very monochromatic dish.

Come to think of it, should you want to try this at home, there may actually be a little trick to achieving these picturesque results. As REC(cession)IPES points out, it's only live lobster that's so cheap right now. So unless you can bring yourself to butcher your own crustacean (think Julie Powell in "Julie & Julia"), you may have to settle for just feasting only your eyes on this lovely lobster risotto.

Julia Child. Photo: John Dominis, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image

Somewhere Julia's chuckling.

The Boston Globe reports Tuesday that the doyenne of French cuisine's Cambridge home is now occupied by a vegetarian animal-rights activist, who -- since the release of "Julie and Julia" -- has been besieged by tourists snapping photos of her home and leaving butter, yes butter, on the fence post.

"It's a bit ironic," Lisa Landsverk said of her place at Julia's kitchen.

Steaming a wriggly, live lobster is one pot and one colander away.