Bon Appetit!

About a million years ago, the Mister & I finally made it up to the Smithsonian National History Museum.  I was on a mission because visiting Julia Child's kitchen was on my 30-Before-30 list and it was a total gimme except that the exhibit had been closed for renovations for a long time.

But!  It was finally open and we had a day free to head up to DC so we did!  And it was super fun.  The Julia Child kitchen is now part of a larger exhibit about food culture in America.  There were interesting exhibits about the rise of convenience foods & fast food and the organic movement and the increase of wine production in this country.

Personally I find the above pyramid to be wholly accurate and ideal. Though I might be tempted swap the coffee and red wine & chocolate levels.  I do love my coffee.

Having not been to the exhibit before they redid it, I'm not sure what exactly has changed, but I love the way they've set up the kitchen.  There are plexiglass walls all over so you can see the kitchen from all angles.  And the most fun part is that there is a little inlet that almost makes you feel like you're standing inside Julia's kitchen.

I've been obsessed with cooking shows for as long as I can remember, far before there was even a Food Network.  I used to race home from school to watch "Great Chefs, Great Cities" and "Great Chefs of the World" on PBS and I can still sing most of the theme song:  http://www.televisiontunes.com/Great_Chefs_Great_Cities.html  During that time period, I mostly knew Julia Child from "In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs" and "Baking with Julia", but she was mostly just the big lady with the funny voice.  But as I got older and started becoming more interested in cooking, I became more interested in Julia.  And of course, it was spurred on when the Julie/Julia book came out and the movie (though I really wish it had just been a biopic of Julia because Meryl was awesome in it!).

I don't have anything new or profound to say on the topic, just that when the Mister & I were at the museum, they had a tape of one of her shows and it was fun to watch her make beef bourguignon on her first television series.  She made everything look so simple and easy, which is one of the things I also love about Ina Garten.  Any time a recipe calls for more than 5 steps, I lose interest.  But Julia & Ina (not to mention Deb from Smitten Kitchen!) make me feel like maybe I CAN tackle those recipes and come out successful.

And lastly, here is a photo of Rory locked in the shower.  I think we were cleaning the bathroom and were trying to keep him out of the way.  I'm really not sure, but his little face makes me laugh.