In honor of Julia, and for the PBS Tell Us Your Julia Story event (you can add your Julia story here) we are making eggs with cream. And I am happy to introduce you to my Brooklyn kitchen, the setting for future kthread cooks episodes. Though I cannot warble, these eggs sing the praises of a woman who labored over recipes to let everyone experience her joie de vivre.

You can skip my Julia monologuing, and begin by making mayonnaise by processing one egg for ten seconds, then slowly drizzling in 1 cup of vegetable oil while the machine is running. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice and season to taste; it will keep for a week chilled. Then, dice mushrooms (I use black trumpet here) and cook with 1 teaspoon of oil on med-high heat until they release their juices—about 5 minutes. Remove from pan, turn heat to medium and add two eggs, whisked (reserve one eggshell), and a tablespoon of heavy cream; gently fold eggs until softly scrambled—2-3 minutes. Spoon eggs back into eggshell and then around it on the plate; serve with mayonnaise and with potatoes, if you like (I sautéed baby potatoes and amaranth leaves with garlic).

Bon appétit!

reading recommendation: My Life in France, Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme

listening recommendation: the snappy “French Chef” opening theme

dance recommendation: waltz for Julia and Paul

eggs for Julia wallpaper on Flickr

drink pairing: beer, your choice

salt recommendation: Fleur de sel, of course (kosher in a pinch)

Your Julia memories?

More kthread cooks episodes on this page and on the Vimeo channel.

I’m reposting last November’s Thanksgiving family video, a remixed version of the Jackson Five’s “I Want You Back,” in honor of MJ’s death today.

Not that five white kids in wigs can do this justice (the song’s magic), but here we are, and so it goes:

Favorite song or memory?

We begin with the edges of classic grilled cheese with cheddar on pane toscano for the last day of Grilled Cheese Month.

And the crunchy crusts that I like very brown (the butter makes for lacy sides).

It glints a little too,

and stands, dramatically, waiting for next year’s celebrations (we’ll return to it before then, though)…

The ideal food for a rainy afternoon, grilled cheese appreciation week continues with fol epi—a slightly sweeter cheese with a toasted wheat rind played up with a whole wheat pain au levain and crunchy fennel on the side.

I’d pair this with a Sazerac on a Wednesday—

Fontina is a flexible cheese—by which I mean that kind of friend who rolls with time changes in plans and adapts beautifully to almost any situation.

Between thick slices of sourdough, with sautéed shallots, here is Tuesday night dinner—