Champagne and Cornflakes

Onion Soup

“Food is love,” was my mom’s mantra. She taught me the connections between the earth, food, and seasonality. We grew many of our own herbs, vegetables, and fruits wherever we lived.

Joanne, my mom, was a small-town Minnesotan farmer’s daughter with a Ph.D. in art history. My dad, Jim, is a small-town Minnesotan trucker’s son with a Ph.D. in accounting. Due to my parents’ studies, we lived in England when I was four and eight. On school holidays, we explored Europe and ate many foods that were new to us.

At home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, starting at the age of 10, I watched Julia Child on Saturday mornings instead of cartoons. She was just as funny as a cartoon, but real. She taught that while technique was serious, cooking and eating were fun. Mom shared my enthusiasm for food, fun, and Julia. Our bible was “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” co–authored by Julia and Simone Beck with Louisette Bertholle. Our favorite dish was her famous French Onion Soup, which became the centerpiece of our New Year’s Eve dinners.

We never made recipes as written. Co-conspirators, our love of flavor lead us to add an extra pinch of this, an extra spoonful of that. If a recipe called for one clove of garlic, Mom added three. If it called for two, she added five. Most nights, we left the table with garlic breath.

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