What a beautiful morning! The sun is out, not a cloud in the sky. I am so pleased to be here in Dallas with good weather. I spoke with my assistant, Stephanie, this morning. She arrived back in Boston without incident and was pleased to announce that they are having snow flurries and very cold temperatures. Happily, I won’t be returning to my house in Cambridge until the end of May, when there isn’t any chance of seeing snow!
After my usual morning exercise routine, I called room service to order a bit of breakfast—a poached egg with whole-wheat toast, orange juice, and coffee. There was a little time to glance at the morning paper to see that there doesn’t seem to be much progress with this ridiculous election. The hair and makeup artist arrived shortly after I finished eating. She set up her equipment to prepare me for a day of interviews and book signings. Once she worked her magic, I was off and running.
Morning TV-magazine show interviews are all pretty much the same, but I am grateful to have the opportunity to talk about our new little book and the PBS show. It is so important to support Public Television, and the national exposure on a prime-time morning talk show is a wonderful way to get the word out. Unlike press interviews, I know that the TV exposure is immediate. Sometimes articles don’t get published for months!
Anyway, our little book seems to be doing quite well. The afternoon book signing was a tremendous success. The store manager said that they sold over 700 books! Most of the people bought several copies to give as holiday gifts. I am just delighted. In spite of the fact that we keep hearing reports about how no one has time to cook, there certainly are a lot of cookbooks being sold! Everyone I met was enthusiastic about preparing and eating good food—thank heaven!
By the time we returned to the Mansion on Turtle Creek, preparations were well under way for the KERA Patrons’ dinner. The energy was high, and working with the chefs is always great fun. We do a lot of these types of dinners, and I have always made it a point to just taste a little bit of each course. If I am not careful, I could end up as Mrs. 6-by-6! I am a founding member of the American Institute of Wine & Food, and our dictum is: small helpings, no seconds, a variety of foods, no snacking, and have a good time. I try to live by that.
Illustration of Julia Child on the Slate Table of Contents by Charlie Powell.
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