yeah, it is pretty amazing!

Shhhhh... you are killing my justification for fancy new appliances!

I just go through reading her memoir and her autobiography. The electric stove she used in her original show was a "showroom" at a power company office. The WGBH TV station had had a fire, so they couldn't tape at the TV studio, so the power company allowed them to use their display. It was probably supposed to be a testament to the wonders of electricity.

Most of her food was prepped or prepared at home and was brought in the day of filming so that the TV crew didn't disturb the workers at the power company. If you watch her work, sometimes she undercooks or burns some of the items. In her Potato show - the one Meryl Streep copies in Julia & Julia - she undercooked the potato pancake. It was one of the first shows she taped. In her French Onion Soup show
she put the pot under the broiler and burned the cheese.

I'm guessing that later shows taped in the studio were done in electric because it's easier to set up in a studio than gas.

Julia Child's actual kitchen was a marvel. Her last 2 or 3 television programs were taped at her house. It was designed by her husband in the early 60's. It had blue and green cabinets with butcher block counters. All her pots and pans were displayed on peg boards and within reach. Her home stove was a black gas Garland. She bought it second hand and it was probably vintage, maybe from the 40's or 50's. Apparently she loved that stove and cooked on it until she "retired" in the early 2000's and left her kitchen to the Smithsonian.

You can see her kitchen at the Smithsonian in DC or check out pictures online.

Here is a link that might be useful: Julia Child's Kitchen

makes sense about the power company and the electric stove! i've seen that old coil stove and could never make sense of it. those things simply would never offer the control of a gas range. i wonder what the specs were on her garland?

I feel better knowing that she really had a gas stove.

Julia Child was amazing and her story is wonderful.

I should tell y'all, though, that my mother is a fantastic cook and has always had electric coils. The coil stoves in the '60's were much better quality than they have now, and she still complains that the new one isn't as good as the old one, but she still is a fantastic cook and has never felt limited.

I'm not as good a cook. I need the fancy appliances.

I made a pilgrimage to the Smithsonian to see the kitchen after seeing the Streep film. Great big gas stove that lasted her lifetime.

>The coil stoves in the '60's were much better quality than they have now, and she still complains that the new one isn't as good as the old one, but she still is a fantastic cook and has never felt limited.

The greater the number of coils, the better control you have over the temp and the faster it heats up.

You want no control? Try a smooth top. I hate it. I'd have gotten a coil-top if I could (that house didn't have gas), but I couldn't have gotten my double stoves (which I use constantly) or my convection (which mostly stinks--anything that isn't true convection is a true joke!).

I looked at the web site with Julia's kitchen. Looks beautiful and functional. Love the undercounter ice maker!

No specs on the Garland commercial range, beyond that it looks like 60'' and has a serious hood. A commercial range in a residential kitchen - wow, how ever did she manage not to burn her house down? :-)

On a trip to DC this summer, I came home with a total of five pictures on my camera--all of Julia Child's kitchen (including a couple shots of that Garland)!

As much as we admire and try to emulate Julia for her love and exploration of cooking, how many would emulate her kitchen with every pot and pan hanging on the wall? I could not live like that. I would have an epileptic seizure looking at all the stimulants on the wall!

Every time I see Julia's kitchen pictures, my thoughts are exactly the same..... Oy vey!

The pegboard with the copper is stunning, though!

I couldn't think in the kitchen, myself. I like near-empty countertops. To me, extravagance would be two decorative and three functional/decorative items on the counter! My brain starts vibrating in my skull with more, and I can't see where anything is!

I was shocked when I saw her kitchen (on some forum - could have been here) for the first time a few months ago. My grandmother - born in 1904 - adored Julia Child's TV show...I have such happy memories of watching my somewhat bitter old grandma sitting close up to the TV to watch Julia Child and she'd laugh and laugh and smile and smile and take notes. She just came alive. It's only now that I realize she must have been imitating Julia Child (or maybe just that era) cause she had such a similar kitchen w/ that peg board and big table to work or eat at and so much more. Julia's kitchen makes me feel so at home I could cry! That's all those women needed - Julia and my grandmother: to be able to reach out an arm like an octopus and grab what they needed. Love it! Yes it's a bit too cluttered for my taste as well but it's a different kind of eye candy to me. :)

Man I wish my local wood countertop supply stores had better samples (they sorely lack in that department and I can't make such a big commitment without it being local and without having good samples to take home)...I'd love to have that butcher block countertop look - whether the kind you cut on or not.