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Each Thanksgiving, Chris Kimball, host of America's Test Kitchen, comes over to NPR's Morning Edition to talk turkey. This year, Kimball hosted a tribute to Julia Child in honor of her 100th birthday, which took place to much fanfare earlier this year.
For the feature, NPR goes to the Smithsonian to visit Julia's kitchen, which was donated and turned into an exhibit for posterity. Then Kimball cooks an entire Thanksgiving menu inspired by Julia Child: cheese puffs, braised brussel sprouts doused in heaps of butter (naturally), garlic mashed potatoes made with two entire heads of garlic, a reassembled roast turkey, sage and sausage cornbread stuffing and a glittering apple tart.
The piece is quite lovely, really, and we recommend you download it to listen to while driving in holiday traffic. And even if you don't end up using Kimballs' menu, we think the take-away message is great for home cooks who might be attempting a new dish this holiday.
"Julia was never intimidated," says Kimball. "And I think her success was based upon making people comfortable with cooking because they were comfortable with her." Always cook with your convictions, and if you make a mistake, just pick it back up and try again. As Julia always said, "Who is going to see?"
