“I worked very hard on that book. I tested and retested those recipes for eight years so that everybody could cook them. And many, many people have. I don’t understand how she could have problems with them. She just must not be much of a cook.”

Julia Child, as quoted in a new article in the LA Times, discussing Julie Powell and her blog, The Julie/Julia Project. The blog was turned into a book which has been turned into a movie, Julie & Julia, now in theaters. But Julia Child apparently didn’t think much of Julie Powell’s blog when it was originally presented to her, years ago, by the author of the LA Times article. (Out of respect, he says, he didn’t quote her on this while she was still alive.)

Sheesh, Julia. You should watch me try to cook Kraft macaroni and cheese. I may as well be splitting the atom. God forbid I attempt something as complex as pancakes, let alone anything out of any of your cookbooks.

Yes, that Julia Child. The cooking one. Was a spy.

Documents to be unclassified tomorrow show that Julia was part of an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created during World War II. And she’s not the only surprise you’ll find in there:

The National Archives, which this week released the names found in the records, will make available for the first time all 750,000 pages identifying the vast network of military and civilian operatives.

They were soldiers, actors, historians, lawyers, athletes, professors, reporters. But for several years during World War II, they were known simply as the OSS. They studied military plans, created propaganda and infiltrated enemy ranks.

Among the 35,000 OSS personnel files are applications, commendations and handwritten notes identifying young recruits who, like Child, [Supreme Court Justice Arthur] Goldberg and [Chicago White Sox catcher Moe] Berg, earned greater acclaim in other fields.

They included Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a historian and special assistant to President John F. Kennedy; Sterling Hayden, an actor whose work included a role in “The Godfather;” and Thomas Braden, whose “Eight Is Enough” book inspired the 1970s television series.

Other notables identified in the files include John Hemingway, son of author Ernest Hemingway; Quentin and Kermit Roosevelt, sons of Theodore Roosevelt, and Miles Copeland, father of Stewart Copeland, drummer for the band the Police.

Craziness!!!

I want to know what kind of spy activities Julia Child was up to!! She totally needs a movie made about her life now. Chef by day — spy by night! I love it!