Book spiced with Child's wit, wisdom

Never apologize for your cooking — that's firm advice straight from Julia Child, the legendary culinary queen.

"Maybe the cat has fallen into the stew, or the lettuce has frozen, or the cake has collapsed — eb bien, tant pis! " she is quoted as saying in a new book on her life called "My Life in France."

For more than 35 years, Child sliced, diced and whisked her way into American households via her TV shows and such cookbooks as "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

Before her death in 2004, her grandnephew, Alex Prud'homme, began collaborating with her on an autobiography of sorts, based on personal interviews and her letters.

I'll admit, my eyes tended to glaze over during gushing descriptions of dishes eaten at fabulous restaurants and outdoor cafes. What I enjoyed most was the humorous side of Child's personality. She often referred to her husband's boss, a Mr. Hill, as "Hill the Pill." She and her husband, Paul, sent out Valentine's Day cards that pictured them together in a bathtub, covered only with soap suds.

She said Simone Beck Fishbacher, her French co-author, "was a dear friend but horribly disorganized and rather full of herself."

Child told of inviting a friend for lunch and serving "the most vile eggs Florentine one could imagine outside of England."

She added, "I made sure not to apologize for it. This was a rule of mine. I don't believe in twisting yourself into a knot of excuses and explanations over the food you make."

When a hostess starts in with self-deprecating comments, "It is so dreadful to have to reassure her that everything is delicious and fine, whether it is or not. Such admissions only draw attention to one's shortcoming and make the other person think, 'Yes, you're right, this really is an awful meal!'

"Usually one's cooking is better than one thinks it is. And if the food is truly vile, then the cook must simply grit her teeth and bear it with a smile — and learn from her mistakes."

Good advice for the next time you happen to whip up some "vile" eggs Florentine or the cat falls in the stew, or both.