Julie and Julia showed a story about an amateur chef cooking her way through a famous cookbook.  It is hard to play a successful role in a movie when you're up against Meryl Streep.  While Amy Adams did a good job of portray Julie, Meryl Streep was the clear star of this film.  Her portrayal of Julia Childs was spot on, and to me seemed identical to how acted in real life.  The stories of Julie and Julia were parallel in the film; they both had very similar problems and lives.  Even though I definitely liked Julia Childs part of the film much better, it is one of my favorite movies.

In "Babettes Feast," one notion that is question is whether a chef is considered an artist. Not only do chefs figure out which ingredients and foods work well together, but I believe that the presentation of the food they cook is what makes them an artist.  They put time and effort into every dish they make just like an artist does with their art work.  They experiment with recipes until everything is perfect and when it comes to putting their food  onto a plate, they try to make it look as luxurious and enjoyable as possible for the eater.

Babettes Feast

One of the most important themes in "Babettes Feast" is food. It was able to bring the community together and changed their views on life.  Prior to the feast, Martine, Phillipa, and the rest of their society attempted to shun all things that brought joy to their lives. It was hard for me to truly understand their reasoning behind these beliefs while reading the story.  The movie portrayed the characters emotions much clearer and after watching it I was able to grasp and understand their lifestyle better. However, while I liked the movie much more, I feel that someone that has not read the story would not be able to fully understand the plot if they only watch the movie.

Comfort Food

My comfort food is my moms homemade matzo ball soup. She makes it for us during holidays and family gatherings. Whenever I am not feeling well, this is the only thing I want to eat and it always makes me feel better. My mom has been making this for as long as I can remember and it always brings me back to my childhood.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

My grandma's sweet and sour meatballs have been served at my family gatherings for as long as I can remember, and is everyone's favorite meal.  My aunt is usually the person cooking this dish, so this was my first time making it. While I thought it was going to be difficult, it actually turned out to be easy to make.The only ingredients you need for the meatballs are a pound of meat, one slice of bread, and 1 egg.  The sauce is pretty simple as well and only requires 1 cup of ketchup, 1 cup of water, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Then you just combine the two, let them cook, and enjoy!

The one person in my family that really knows how to cook is my dad.  Unfortunately, he doesn't get home from work until at least 8:00 every night, so my mom normally cooks dinner.  The worst part about it is that she truly believes she’s a great cook, but in reality her food isn't that good and she’s constantly cooking the same meals.  My sisters and I have learned to tolerate it, but I try to avoid being home for dinner during the school week as much as possible.  Luckily, we order in quite often; Italian on Wednesdays when my mom works late, and Chinese or sushi at least once a week. My family normally spends at least $150 on food made at home a week and about another $100-$150 spent when going out or ordering in.

            Since my dad works so late, we rarely eat dinner as a family during the week.  On Sundays, my dad either spends all day cooking or we go out to dinner.   Every Saturday morning, my mom takes my little sister to piano lessons so my dad and I go out to breakfast, always to different places.  My dad loves cooking huge breakfasts on Sunday mornings, normally consisting of french toast, eggs, and bacon.

            Although we don’t eat together as often as we should, we mom loves nothing more than when we are all home for dinner.  Even if we are being forced to eat my mom’s cooking, these meals bring us closer together as a family.

                The Brown family, living in Riverview, Australia, can have a pretty lengthy grocery list especially if their daughter and her four children are living with them.  They spend the most money, $117.99, on meat, fish, and eggs. Buying 11 pounds of smoked ham, 10 pounds of silverside, or corned beef, and between 4-7 pounds each of minced meat, pork chops, sausages, steakettes, and chicken, this seems to be the biggest part of their diet.  They also bought rissoles, a typical Australian food, which is a mixture of meat and spices that are coated in breadcrumbs and then fried.  The family seemed to have a wide variety of grains and other starchy items, including 8.8 pounds of potatoes, three different types of bread, three types of cereal  two types of pasta, flour, and basmati rice.

                Almost all of the food they consume is fresh, which is why they purchased an extensive amount of fruits and vegetables. They seemed to buy a large amount of bananas, nectarines, and pumpkin.  The family also bought a wide variety of vegetables including carrots, onions, tomatoes, celery, and bell peppers.  They only spent $4.28 on prepared foods, which included Maggi instant beef noodles and Gravox gravy.  The only frozen foods the family bought were beef patties and fish fingers.

                Their diet seemed to be pretty healthy, except for the McDonalds the kids ate during the week.  Also, they bought several different types of soda and other unhealthy beverages. However, the only desserts and snacks the family bought were Smiths Chips, and rich tea biscuits, which are traditional English cookies.