I saw the news on Twitter first, and then the nearly immediate follow up by the NY Times; Julie Powell had died of cardiac arrest on November 1st of this year. She was 49.
Julie was maybe the first real average person food blogger who became famous off of the internet. There have been plenty since then but I do believe she was the first. I remember following her original blog (now defunct) over on Salon. I am pretty sure I sent her money for one of her dishes – truffles or foie gras or something like that. I remember waiting for that final post that was a scramble to the end with the final five dishes.
Hers was the first blog I’d ever read that was unpolished, unrefined, and real. She was genuine about her struggles. She swore. She shared her failures – both in cooking and in life. She went on to have a career in food and cooking because of her blog.
Nowadays most food blogs are revenue streams for their creators (with a few old-school exceptions). Posts are written to maximize SEO and search engine placement. Recipe teasers are posted as a way to direct readers towards the blog author’s newest cookbook or cookware line or whatever. There aren’t a whole lot of people out there anymore who blog purely for the love of food. And, to be fair, those who do often face lashings of criticism saying things like “I don’t care about how you made this dish with your grandmother, just give me the damn recipe!” (And that’s a whole ‘other blog post!)
Farewell Julie. Your life was not easy; it was often tumultuous due to your own actions. But you were the OG and your original Salon blog was something special. I hope you’ve found peace.