A movie that cherishes a love of food doesn’t come along all that often. Therefore, it’s a good time to appreciate the delightful flick, Julie & Julia — a movie that will not only have you raving, but your stomach growling.

While this movie is about food — and I mean a lot of delicious food — it is also about self discovery.

Based on two true stories, Julie Powell, played by Amy Adams, is a lowly cubicle worker who can only looked forward to depressing call after call in her frustrating job. The thing that makes her happy is cooking and knowing that she can come home night after night, follow a recipe and create something tasty.

Investing in her love of cuisine, Julie is inspired by her husband to write a blog about cooking, but not just any blog: a year-long cooking challenge to make every recipe in Julia Child’s famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

This is where Julia Child’s story comes in — the Julia Child before she became famous. This Julia, played by Meryl Streep, was a bored housewife in Paris. In a desire to use her talent and excitement for learning, she signed up for a challenging French cooking class. Here, Julia discovered her talent in the kitchen, as did those around her, all while her ever-supporting and ever-adoring husband (played by Stanley Tucci) stood proudly by her side.

Julie and Julia’s stories meet in an interesting way that you’ll just have to see for yourself

Ultimately, this story is about finding happiness and joy in simple pleasures. It definitely made me want to slow down, eat a few less take-out meals, invite a few friends over and cook a fantastic meal.

Mmmmm….what’s for dinner?