I love watching old Julia Child episodes—the ones when she first appeared on public television in 1964, before she was famous.

Julia wasn’t a typical television star—she was too tall, clumsy and tripped over her words. The premise of her show focused on a topic that went against the trends popular in America at the time. During the heyday of TV dinners, instant mashed potatoes and frozen food, Julia co-wrote a cookbook that taught American housewives how to bone a duck and make homemade beef stock.

Then, she took her recipes to the broadcast world, and for years, she cooked French meals in front of a camera with no cuts, no editing and only one take. If she messed up, we saw that. If she cut herself, we witnessed it. If she ruined an omelette, we saw that, too.

 And when I say “we saw that,” I do mean people my grandmother’s age. My mother was born the year Julia first appeared on TV.  It is incredible to me that almost 50 years later, Julia’s recipes are still relevant, and her personality is still captivating each new generation.

The reasons Julia is still relevant are the same reasons she wasn’t a typical TV personality. We see her humanity. We relate. She let us witness her imperfections, and the realness of it is compelling. It makes us think, “If this lady can do this, I can, too!”

Aug. 15 would have been Julia Child’s 100^th birthday. Prompted by the PBS project “Cook for Julia,” thousands around America are honoring her by cooking her recipes in the month of August.

This week, I decided to make one of Julia’s quiches for dinner. I used a box mix for the pastry shell, but other than that, I followed Julia’s recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It was divine.

Thanks for everything, Julia.

Quiche aux Épinards

(Spinach Quiche)

Pastry crust, partially baked

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

2 tablespoons finely minced shallots or green onions

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/4 cups chopped blanched spinach or frozen spinach

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Pinch of nutmeg

1/4 cup grated Swiss cheese

1 tablespoon butter cut into pea-sized dots

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Partially bake the pastry crust as directed on your box.

Beat the eggs and cream in a mixing bowl to blend.

In a small saucepan, cook the shallots or onions for a moment in the butter. Add the spinach and stir over moderate heat for several minutes to evaporate all its water. Stir in salt, pepper and nutmeg and taste carefully for seasoning.

Gradually stir the spinach into the eggs and cream. Pour into pastry shell, sprinkle with cheese, dot with butter and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

*We ended up cooking ours for about 35 minutes. Just make sure the quiche is pretty firm before you take it out.