Happy hundredth!

Although the Internets have lit up today with hundredth birthday wishes to the late and great Julia Child, I am compelled to add my own: from a similarly "very tall woman with a really terrible voice," happy birthday, JC!

She gave the world lots of books, recipes, and a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit, but this hostessing advice is perhaps my favorite of her many gifts:

The young hostess should be advised never to say anything about what she serves, in the way of ‘Oh, I don’t know how to cook, and this may be awful,’ or ‘poor little me,’ or ‘this didn’t turn out’… etc. etc. It is so dreadful to have to reassure one’s hostess that everything is delicious, whether or not it is. I make it a rule, no matter what happens, never to say one word, though it kills me. Maybe the cat has fallen in the stew, or I have put the lettuce out the window and it has frozen, or the meat is not quite done … Grit one’s teeth and smile.)  -Julia Child (via brainpickings)

PS: while we are (very tangentially) on the subject of the heights of famous women, an aside: through the magic of Google Analytics, I can see the search terms that bring people to Tall and Salty.  One of the most random yet repeated searches is for "How tall was Nora Ephron?" For those of you who got here thinking that's what you might find, I am happy to report that Ms. Ephron was five-foot-six.  (She also wrote and directed Julie & Julia, so I suppose we can say that this sort of belongs in this post.) You're welcome.

Images: via Boston Globe/Schlesinger Library; via a collection of passions (original credit unknown); on set via Harto & Co.; in her kitchen via Vanity Fair/by Arnold Newman/Getty Images; with her husband Paul via Vanity Fair; photo of Mastering the Art of French Cooking via a lovely being.