Hold an old-fashioned potluck to celebrate Julie and Julia

August 05, 2009

Starring Amy Adams and Meryl Streep, the culinary-oriented film Julie and Julia is set to hit the big screen this weekend. The film focuses on the life and work of Julia Child and Julia Powell, who was inspired to cook all of Child's recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blog about it.

Why not hold an informal potluck to celebrate the movie's release and also learn about Child's work?

Foodies everywhere should enjoy the challenge of tackling a new dish and the only rule you should make for your gathering is that each guest make something that he or she has not done so before. If they choose a Child recipe, even better.

Create a spreadsheet of all the guests and their recipes, making sure that they don't all make desserts or main courses. Allocate courses to each guest and ask them to print out and mail you their recipes. You can then display these by each dish.

Provide plastic cups, silverware, plates and a serving space and place each dish next to its corresponding recipe. For decorations, try candles, Christmas lights or lanterns, if outdoors. Use matching utensils and tablecloths if indoors.

Finally, play some 1920's French jazz music to get guests in a relaxed, retro mood, for Ms. Child arrived in France in the late 1940s.