I just used this cookbook this weekend. I love collecting and cooking from all kinds of cookbooks and recently bought this one to add to my collection. This weekend I made my first meal from it, Beouf Bourguignon, Artichauts Au Naturel (Whole Boiled Artichokes) and Sauce Hollandaise (the kind by hand, not using the blender). I started at around 3:00pm and we ate at around 9:00pm. Yes the recipies are several pages long, but not overwhelming. And, nothing is "hidden" as the writer of this article suggets. Anyone, who starts cooking something without going through the entire recipe first to schedule out their plan of attack is someone who isn't all that serious about cooking anyway. What a sense of accomplishment I had when the hollandaise became "a very heavy cream." Everything about this meal gave me a sense of achievment, one that I could never find from making something from a microwave in minutes type cookbook. Yes, our society is a fast moving, gotta have it now type. But I don't see what is so wrong with people buying this book and getting excited about cooking at home. While some of these recipes are a project, why is it bad for people to take their day off and instead of spending it on two tickets to a movie with popcorn and soda, spending it in doors creating something they never thought they would be able to make, creating wonderful memories along the way. So, they don't use it every night, but who has a cook book that they use every night? Most of us have lots of them and pull them out for different occasions.

When I went to purchase my beef fom the Boeuf Bourguignon at my local butchershop (they are still out there if you look). I mentioned to the butcher what I was making and he told me that he had so many people coming in to buy special meats for things from that cookbook. He said it was great that the movie was inspiring so many people to cook at home. I think that is something that Julia Child would be proud of. If you read any of the sections of the book before the recipes start you can tell that she wants everyone to be able to cook. She, herself, updated the book to include new advances in cooking technology.

Bottomline, don't listen to this author, BUY THE BOOK. You will enjoy the fruits of your labor and the learning expierience. It is a fun cookbook to cook from!