I have arrived at blog post number 365. Unbelievable! At least for me. It has taken me more than 4 years to accomplish what Julie Powell did in one year.

Yes, in 365 days, Julie cooked and baked her way through Julia Child’s enormous cookbook of 524 recipes and documented her successes and failures in a daily blog while holding down a full-time job. I wrote about her ambition in my 200th blog post.

And, like Julie, a few times I too felt like giving up, especially in the first few years.

Sometimes I wondered what to write about. Besides deciding on a theme, I experienced fatigue. Blogging regularly is tiring. It requires tons of time and loads of energy. Recently, the launch of my new website teetered on disaster.

So why do I keep writing? My passion for writing can be summed up in three points:

* Need to preserve my family’s legacy

* Wish to hone my writing craft

* Connection to you, my reader

By the way, at the end of the movie, Julie gets to visit the Julia Child Museum in Washington D.C.

While her husband photographs her antics, Julie poses in front of the photo/painting of her idol and mentor whose kitchen has ended up in the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History. You can take a photo tour here.

 

Recently I discovered another great chef, Niki Nakayama, who fought sexism in a highly competitive restaurant industry, to become a stand-out in the culinary world.

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Behind a set of shades hiding the dining room from the kitchen, chef Niki Nakayama wraps her fingers around a giant live scallop and gently pries open the shell. She takes a knife and trims out the sand-colored flesh inside. Later, she’ll pair it with kiwi, dill and a beet and sorrel sauce with a ponzu base.

She also stars in the highly acclaimed Netflix series, Chef’s Table.


 

Memoirist Louise de Salvo, author of Crazy in the Kitchen, insists that cooking enables her writing. In her book about the writing process, The Art of Slow Writing, the author admits, “When I cook, I focus on something other than my writing and, paradoxically, this helps my work.” 38

Author Louise DeSalvo proves that “your family’s past is baked right into the bread you eat.”
(Goodreads)

 

For me too, writing is a lot like cooking, combining a variety of ingredients to make an enticing dish. That’s my aim as I craft each blog post and move ahead with my memoir manuscript.

Today I pay homage to you, dear reader. Whether you read and comment on each post or stop by only occasionally, I value our connection here. Thank you!

 

Coming next: 3 Women and a Dumpster