Julia Child's voice is back in my head

Head judge Antonia Lofaso and guest judges Dorie Greenspan and Brooke Williamson with winner Jaine Mackievitz on "The Julia Child Challenge." Photo courtesy of Food Network

In "Julie and Julia," Julie Powell embarks on a mission to cook the 524 recipes in Julia's Child's seminal 1961 cookbook in 365 days. Before Julie's journey was immortalized in a bestselling memoir and Oscar-nominated film starring Meryl Streep, it was chronicled as "The Julie/Julia Project" on a blog hosted by Salon. Now, Julie is back to break down every episode of "The Julia Child Challenge."

Welcome to the finale of "The Julia Child Challenge," a very silly and good-hearted show that has made me roll my eyes and spring tears in roughly equal measure. There are three contestants remaining: Bill, the resourceful and elegant cookware distributor who lives in my neck of the woods and should probably invite me to dinner; Dustin, the enterprising fitness instructor; and Jaíne, who is simply the most delightful woman alive and — as one of the other challengers called her in a previous episode — a near embodiment of Julia in terms of spirit and presence. Only tearier. Julia wasn't much of a crier, from what I can tell.

Speaking of tears, there are going to be some here today — fair warning.