I get a little unhinged when I’m at Costco. Like I’m under some kind of trance. I know you know what I mean. On my last trip to the “Big C,” I somehow ended up with 2.5 lbs of celery and buyers remorse. That’s about six stalks of celery or 36 cups. What was I thinking? What’s wrong with me? What was I going to do with all that celery? Then it came to me. “What would Julia do?” And there, in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, was my answer: Braised celery.

While I don’t have permission to reprint this recipe, I can tell you that it involved some chopping, some boiling, some sautéing, an hour and a half of braising in the oven and of course, it was all topped off with a butter sauce. The end result was quite delicious. And although Julia did save me from a celery debacle, I promise never again to buy gargantuan amounts of Costco produce. I’ve learned my lesson!