Happy 100th Birthday, Mrs. Julia Child!

If you love cooking shows of all stripes, then you have to love Julia Child. Her first show, “The French Chef,” on public television station, WGBH in Boston, Massachusetts, was really one of the first cooking shows on television. Julia isn’t just responsible for our (glut?) of cooking shows either. She’s really an early evangelist for Americans to become knowledgeable home cooks eager to go beyond the processed, bland food that was pretty common in post-World War II American cuisine. “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” was all about making French food accessible to the average American home cook. I may sound really over the top, but Julia Child did so much to change how Americans relate to food.

If you have a chance, I highly recommend reading her memoir, “My Life in France”. I kinda got teary in parts. I’m a sucker for people who find their passions late in life. It’s also tons better than “Julie & Julia.” Really.

As a special treat, here’s a great little mashup of some of Julia’s televisions series over the years with auto-tune (of course) because it is in fact 2012. Enjoy!

via Eater