Happy Birthday, Julia: Celebrating the Centenary of a Culinary Icon

by Amanda Festa 
One of my most vivid memories of childhood is the distinct voice of Julia Child wafting, or more accurately, booming, from my grandmother’s bedroom.  Nonni, as I called her, was well into her eighties at the time and her hearing wasn’t up to snuff, so whatever ‘program’ she listened to on the television was what my parents, sister and I listened to as well.  And if it was spring or summer and the windows were open, well, then our next door neighbors also tuned in.  Julia Child’s cooking shows were interwoven with episodes of Phil Donahue and various syndicated church services,...