Bonjour, DC et Julia!

 

Oui, the Washington Monument in the snow.  I spent three days there last week with 90 seventh graders.  It wasn't as cold as it looks.  The snow may not melt up there until May, though, because there is so much of it.  They were throwing it in the Potomac to try to get rid of it.  It didn't slow us down at all.  We had a great time.  No culinary adventures to report, though.  I am sure that DC has many great restaurants, but teens love pizza so we went to Armand's on Capitol Hill (their vegetarian pizza is really good) and filled them up with pizza one night and to a dinner theater for Pennsylvania Dutch buffet fare the next.  

The highlight of my trip was a visit to the newly renovated Museum of American History.  I went straight to see Julia Child's kitchen.  

She donated the whole thing to the Smithsonian.  She and Paul had no children.

A great philosophy in the kitchen...

She admitted to having a thing for knives...

And pans, too, it seems. 

Not as big as you would think, is it?

See the KitchenAid mixer way down there on the counter?  I wonder if she named hers?

I think it looks very cozy.  

Wouldn't it have been wonderful to have dinner with her and Paul?

This needs no explanation...

  

This is Paul and Julia's list of their wines.  I zeroed in on the Côtes du Rhône.  Impressive, non?

I have a lot more junk on my refrigerator.  A very personal collection for most people.

I loved the signs en français!

 

And last, but not least, the Cordon Bleu certificate.

It was wonderful to visit and to see all of her gadgets and do-dads.  I can see why Julie Powell wanted to place a pound of butter there.  I didn't leave anything.  I just left with a smile, feeling as if I'd spent a little while with an old friend.

Merci, Julia, et bon appétit!