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"This past weekend, Joe let me pick a movie for us to watch on Saturday night. I choose \\\"Julie and Julia.\\\" (He did owe me one, since I went to see the new X-Men movie with him a few weeks ago!). ...\\n\\n[#image: /photos/]||||||...Just in case you haven't seen it, \\\"Julie and Julia\\\" is based on a true story and is about a girl name Julie who decides she is going to [learn to cook](/fooddiet/2011/07/rally-your-own-cooking-crew-slideshow#slide=1) by cooking her way through Julia Child's 500 plus page cookbook, \\\"Mastering the Art of French Cooking.\\\" What's more, Julie turns this experiment into a blog, which grows in popularity to the point magazines and newspapers are writing about it!\\n\\n I wanted to see this movie again since I am an official SELF food blogger now. Plus, I really like this movie because I love food and I love to cook, but it wasn't always that way. Well, I have always loved food, just not cooking. In fact, my college roommates can tell you that I used to turn my nose up at the idea of cooking, even so much as to say I hated it. If it involved anything more than taking it out of that package and putting it in the oven, I wouldn't do it. But it wasn't because I truly hated it, it was just that I didn't really know how.\\n\\nBut then, senior year of college, I met a guy I really liked (and yes, it is my husband) and he said something about loving [home-cooked meals](/fooddiet/2011/07/country-stars-comfort-food-slideshow#slide=1) and so all of a sudden I was totally interested in cooking, and desperate to learn how! I really wanted to be able to cook him a good meal and impress him, plus we all know that there is some truth in the saying that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach!\\n\\nSo I started to try to learn how to cook. I gathered recipes from my mom and my roommates and then spent hours on the phone with my mom and grandmother asking questions like what does \\\"or until done\\\" really mean or \\\"What's Oleo?\\\" (My grandma really got a kick out of this one--just in case you don't know, it's what they used to call margarine). My first attempts weren't always a success (or second or third for that matter) to say the least--I almost burned my husband's apartment down when I tried to make [fried shrimp](http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4173/2) for him for Christmas one year ( another good reason to stay away from fried food)--we ended up ordering pizza instead after the firemen saved the day.\\n\\nBut I kept trying to learn to cook, and one thing that this movie reminded me of was that the best way to learn to cook is by doing it and when it doesn't work the first time, doing it again. That's certainly what I've had to do and still do! But that is part of the fun of it, it's how you learn to cook and how you learn about yourself!\\n\\n So if you think that you don't like to cook or don't know how, it may just be that you haven't ever really tried it. You can certainly eat a healthy diet without ever cooking (hello, fresh produce), but learning to cook can give you a whole new appreciation for food, and when you know how your food is prepared and see the work that goes into it and where it comes from, you are more likely to have a healthier relationship with food.\\n\\nIf you want to experience true flavor and satisfaction nothing beats making something yourself from scratch! But if you are new to cooking don't kill yourself by trying to make everything in the meal from scratch! As Julie learned in the movie, just one dish can offer plenty of a challenge at first. So you might try making the meat yourself, but just microwaving some steamer veggies and making some instant rice as sides. This keeps your cooking manageable and time-friendly.\\n\\n Even if you never learn how to poach an egg or bone a duck like Julie in \\\"Julie and Julia,\\\" I encourage you to try your hand at cooking something with or for someone you love. You may laugh, cry, or almost burn the house down, but I can guarantee it will turn into a priceless memory, and maybe, just maybe, you'll discover the true joy of cooking!\\n\\nRelated Links:\\n\\n[Curtis Stone's Kitchen Essentials ](/fooddiet/2011/06/curtis-stone-kitchen-gadgets-slideshow#slide=1)\\n\\n[Simple Grill Packet Recipes- Only 20 Minutes](/fooddiet/2011/06/easy-grilling-slideshow#slide=1)\\n\\n[Fat-Fighting Recipes from SELF's Dinner Club- Start Your Own Club!](/fooddiet/2011/07/dinner-club)"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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