Today marks the birthday of one of America’s most beloved authorities on food — Julia Child, who didn’t take a cooking lesson until she was in her 30s. When her husband was assigned to Paris, she fell in love with French cooking and wrote the first of several important cookbooks demystifying that nation’s culinary art. The books led to a television show of several decades and many awards, including the French Legion of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her kitchen is now part of the collection of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. At one point, Julia Child said “Cooking is not a chore, it is a joy,” a philosophy shared by many of the 337,000 chefs and head cooks across the nation. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.