Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian

I took a short trip to Alexandria, VA this weekend and was lucky enough to spend a few hours in Washington, DC visting some of our nation's historic sites. Of course my first stop was the American History Museum, the new home of Julia Child's kitchen.

I was patient enough to take the advice of the museum volunteer and saw Star Spangled Banner and the First Ladies exhibit before I hurried down to the first floor to see where she created culinary history!

The exhibit was amazing! There were so many things to take in, all of which were well documented. It was cool to see a blend of old and new ... like some of the old molds and copper pans she used as well as the shiny new blue Kitchen Aid mixer on the countertop.

Every wall of the kitchen was utilized, with nooks and crannies everywhere that were filled with anything and everything she could possibly need for any cooking need. This kitchen was so unlike what we see on Food Network or in magazines today. Rather than being filled with props, it was filled pieces of her life, her experiences and her memories. It felt like home to me!

Link to Bon Appetit! Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian.

Link to more of my photos!

Perfect Winter Day

What a great way to end January ... with snow! Lots of snow (and sleet and freezing rain). This is what the view from the kitchen window looked like at 8:14 this morning.

I feel like a kid with an unexpected day off from school. Since it's Saturday, there's no work (the real job) and it's just silly to open the store (the authorities are asking people to stay off the roads unless they HAVE to).

What should I do? Hmm ... there's always laundry and bookkeeping and getting ready for taxes ... but I think I will play "hookie" today and enjoy the unexpected time off.

So far, I've already made a batch of butternut squash soup (had most of the ingredients prepped from a class last week) and I have a crock pot going with my favorite chili recipe. Tonight I'll make pasta with a simple marinara sauce with smoky bacon. Luckily, I have all these staples in my pantry / fridge / freezer.

Speaking of staples, here's a short list of what I consider essential to have on hand for any "weather" situation:

• Wine, beer or your favorite "beverage"
• Coffee (or tea) with whatever you fix it with (I like milk only)
• Milk, eggs and bacon (think scrambled eggs for breakfast or an omlette for lunch or dinner)
• Cheese (at least some cheddar and maybe some parmesan) and crackers (get an assorted package -- you never know how long you'll be snowed in and might get tired of Ritz after a while)
• Dried pasta, canned tomatoes (I'd go with diced and tomato sauce) and maybe some canned beans (cannelini, kidney beans or chick peas -- these could be added to your pasta, chili or be made into appetizers)
• Chili fixins (2 Alarm chili kit, ground beef, tomatoes (covered above), chips or corn muffin mix and your toppings ( I like cheddar, onions and sour cream).
• Frozen waffles and pure maple syrup (this will go nicely with the bacon and eggs above)
• Peanut butter and jelly (or honey) and your favorite bread.
• Bottled water
• CHOCOLATE

Now that I've mentioned chocolate, I'm getting a craving for something sweet. I'm going to see if I can whip up a batch of brownies or something.

Keep warm and I hope your power stays on!

Local Food and Wine Events

Looking for a reason to try some of the finer resturants in town but don't want to spend an arm and a leg? This is the week to do it! It's Charlotte Restaurant Week ... 10 days actually ... which started last Friday (1/22) and ends this Sunday (1/31). Close to 80 upscale restaurants from South Charlotte to Birkdale are offering 3 course meals for just $30. While some of the choices are not on the regular menus or offer smaller portions, most are offering a bargain to fill tables during this slow time of the year.

For example, Del Frisco's in Southpark is offering a choice of dinner salad or wedge with blue cheese, 8 oz filet, salmon, prime rib or chicken with a side of mashed potatoes and sauteed mushrooms and a choice of mango sorbet or cheesecake for dessert. Not bad for $30 considering you'd pay that alone for the steak. Take a look at the site: http://www.charlotterestaurantweek.com/index.html and make some reservations fast! The better resturants fill up quickly.

Also, if you haven't tried OpenTable to make reservations yet, give it a whirl. It's fantastic for people whose professional and personal schedules don't always fit with the time someone is actually answering the phone to take researvations.

If you're already booked up for the rest of the week, don't worry ... there'll be a summer version of Restaurant week. And if you can't wait that long, check out the Charlotte Food and Wine Festival. This event is scheduled ever other year and will be held from April 22nd to April 24th this year. Even though on the surface it's all about fine wine and food, the underlying goal is to raise money for local charities.

The Festival officially kicks off on February 6th with the Charlotte Cru Competition (by invitation only) but gets into full swing on Thursday, April 22nd with a series of Vintner's Dinners. About 23 of the finest restaurants in town will host a wine maker and will do a food and wine paring. There is also one Brewrry Dinner for those that prefer hops over grapes. There are a series of educational sessions and tastings scheduled throughout Friday and Saturday. This will be my first year attending and I am looking forward to it. Hope to see you there!

Highlights from Hotlanta

Mom and I made our semi-annual buying trip to Hotlanta last weekend ... and it was anything but HOT! Charlotte was already freezing and due for snow ... we thought as we headed south it would get warmer but it didn't. The closer we got to the city, the more snow we saw on cars and the icier the streets got. Lucky for us, we had to spend most of our time indoors ... SHOPPING!

We spent the good part of three days visting the showrooms of some of our existing suppliers like Boston Warehouse, Tag, Evergreen, Oxo, Kuhn Rikon and Zyliss stocking on up on staples and picking new items from their spring and summer lines. Check out the koozies below ... in addition Beach and Boat, we also got Pool and Lake (with coordinating napkins and other accessories, of course).

We also took some time to explore new showrooms and added some new lines like BBQ tools (perfect for Dad in June) and Gel Pro mats. I ordered the standard size (20 x 36) in the three most popular colors ... my favorite, Truffle, is shown below.

So it wasn't all work (and spending). After 4 years of doing this, Mom and I have a list of the showrooms that have the best appetizers, cocktails and wine during happy hour. Before wrapping up each day, we paid a short visit to these showrooms for a little pick me up and to visit with some of our favorite reps and other store owners. This got us in the mood for dinner.

On Friday night, we ate at F.A.B. (French American Brasserie) which is a short walk from the hotel. I've been there several times but the first time was the best! This time the food was ok ... the wine was ok ... the service was ok ... the best part of the meal was the fresh crusty rolls, the butter and the escargot. I ate the snails while Mom soaked up the buttery, garlicky sauce with her bread.

On Saturday night, while waiting for a friend for dinner in the lobby of our hotel, Tyler Forence walked past Mom. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Dang it ... I wasn't wearing my glasses so I saw him leaving! Luckily I got to see him again! He was having dinner at the same restaurant we were (with his wife and family) and we saw him as soon as we walked in. He is still SMOKING HOT!

We had dinner at BLT Steak in the W Hotel. The whole experience was fantastic! We were seated as soon as we arrived and presented with some chicken liver pate and crostini while we reviewed the menu. They have the option of an a-la-carte menu or a three course prix fixe menu that changes every night. We opted to share a couple of appetizers (shrimp cocktail and beefsteak tomato salad with stilton). Between the appetizer and dinner, the biggest and best tasting popovers I've ever had were brought to the table with butter and sea salt. They were amazing ... the texture, flavor and moistness were perfect and they were topped with gruyere which added another layer of flavor.

For dinner we had steaks, filets and New York strip that were cooked and seasoned perfectly -- served in individual Staub cast iron dishes which helps retain heat and makes a fantastic presentation. We made the mistake of ordering three sides (macaroni and cheese with shaved white truffles, grilled asparagus, and leek and potato hash browns) which were so yummy and rich that we barely put a dent in them. We chose a bottle of Chappellet Mountain Cuvee (2007) to pair with our meal, one of my favorite red blends. Everything was so good we had to try dessert ... apple and cranberry cobbler and sticky toffee pudding cake ... both were excellent! The service was amazing and we were not rushed at all ... I like this in a restaurant.

When we're at these shows, Mom and I are usually celebrity chef stalkers. We rearrange our schedule to attend the demos and book signings of the celebrity chefs ... this time we didn't. We were so tied up all three days that we missed Tyler's cooking demonstration and missed Alton Brown's demo and book signing (on two separate days). Thank goodness we saw Tyler in the hotel and the restaurant and we got a sneak peek at Alton during his book signing. I'll have to get my priorities straight for the July show!

Best of 2009!

Since we only do wine tastings once a month, each is unique and special in its own way ... from the theme of the tasting, the rep hosting the tasting, the appetizers we munch on and the interaction between the tasters. While I enjoy each, I always look forward to the December tasting ... the one we call the "Best of" ... where we revisit our favorites wines from all tastings of the current year.

This year's Best of was FANTASTIC! Todd was back again to host and we selected 7 wines ... 2 of which were new to all of us but made it on our list because they made Wine Spectator's Top 100 List for 2009.

Here's the line up:

1. Dibon Cava
2. Dr. Loosen's L Riesling (#62)
3. The Stump Jump Shiraz (#82)
4. Boekenhoutskloof Wolf Trap Red
5. Emina 12 Months
6. Green and Red Zinfandel
7. Felino Cabernet Sauvignon

Many of these wines were rated between 88 and 92 points and fall into the $11-22 price range.

We had 16 people attend the tasting, plus Mom, Todd and I. In addition to the usual suspects (you know who you are), we had some fresh faces ... friends and spouses of the "regulars" as well as a couple new to the area. I hope we didn't scare them off!

Mom stole the spotlight from Todd a couple of times with some of her "unique phrases / sayings" for which she will be teased about in future tastings (too racy to repeat here).

Needless to say it was a noisy evening that ended close to 1:30 am and 18 bottles later. And even though, I got a new camera ... the pictures are still blurry. Hmmm.

As for the nibbles, I don't remember what we served but it had to be good since it was all gone by the time I was ready to sit down and have some.

Tim and Suzanne were real troopers and stayed with us 'tilt he end!

I'm already looking forward to the Best of 2010!

Happy New Year!

Top 10 List: Foods to Have on Hand for Impromptu Holiday Entertaining

1. Mixed Nuts – Have a can or two of deluxe mixed nuts (without peanuts) on hand. These can be warmed in the oven at 350°F for about 5 minutes (toasting releases flavor and aroma).
2. Marinated Olives – Pick up some at the deli counter or marinate yourself with good quality olive oil, lemon zest, cracked peppercorns and fresh rosemary. I like large green olives stuffed with pimentos, garlic, almonds and jalapenos.
3. Soft Cream Cheeses – A wheel of brie or camembert can be easily paired with crackers, crusty bread or fresh fruit. To add flair, wrap in puff pastry and bake at 400°F for about 25 minutes or top with sautéed fruit or a prepared chutney.
4. Fancy Crackers – Flavored crackers, bagel chips, pita crisps and flat breads can be eaten alone or served with dips, cold cuts and spreads.
5. Cold Cuts – Keep slices of ham, turkey, salami and other meats on hand to create an antipasto plate with a moments notice. Garnish with olives, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes from the pantry. Leftovers make a great snack or weekday lunch.
6. Dip Mixes – Whip up a batch of dip in mere minutes with a dried dip mix and some sour cream, mayonnaise or yogurt. Choose bold and exotic flavors like lemon dill or wasabi ginger!
7. Prepared Spreads – Serve flavored hummus from the refrigerated section of the deli with precut veggies and pita crisps or use ready made pestos and relishes with cream cheese to create a savory spread.
8. Cookies – A tin of good quality assorted cookies in the pantry will satisfy your guests’ sweet tooth, especially the little ones.
9. Coffee, tea and hot chocolate – Brew a pot of fresh ground coffee or offer your guests a choice of traditional and flavored teas. Have premium hot chocolate (and marshmallows) on hand for the kids.
10. Chocolates – A stash of individually wrapped Belgian or Swiss chocolates is a sweet way to end any visit.

The Vintage Caper

Before I cooked, I read. And I read a lot. As I kid, when I finished all the Nancy Drew books in our little neighborhood library, I moved on the the Hardy Boy series (hey, it was a small library) just to have something to read.

Readers fall into two catergories ... they either focus on a specific genre like science fiction or murder mysteries or romance novels or they follow a specific writer. I am the latter ... except for the once in a while cheesy paperback romance to pass the time on a long flight. Through the years, I've read Ann Rice (vampire series), John Grisham (A Time to Kill was the best), Dan Brown (he uses the same formula for each book) and of course J.K. Rowling!

About 13 - 14 years ago, I discovered Peter Mayle who writes about life in Provence. His books are a magical combination of travel, cooking and wine ... three of my favorite things in life. I started with "A Year in Provence" in which he descibes his first year living in a little town in Provence ... each month its own chapter that describes in glorius detail the food they ate, the wine they drank, the season's festivities, the changing weather and the nuances of their neighbors. His next book, "Toujours Provence", was a collection of short stories about specific people or events in his day to day life including buying truffles from "Mr X" and learning to appreciate pastis.

A few years ago, he started writing fiction in the form of longer novels. Still set in the south of France, with the food and wine theme running throughout, these books centered around a simple mystery that usually involved a hint of romance. For me, each book was a mini-vacation in which he took me on a scenic tour of Provence, perusing the menus of the region's Michelin starred restaurants and local truck stops and getting a whiff of the finest wines in the world.

Needless to say, like a schoolgirl waiting for the next Twilight movie, I was tickled that he would be publishing a new book this year. With the date marked on my calendar, I waited paitently for "The Vintage Caper" to arrive. I tried to pace myself, but in the end, I blew threw it. Mostly set in Marseilles, it follows the theft of $3M of rare French wine from a collector in LA to a prominent businessman whose home overlooks the old port in Marseilles. There's a quick stop in Paris for clues (and lunch and dinner), followed by day trips to the finest wine chateaus in Bordeau and of course lots of fresh seafood in Marseilles served with local rose wines!

I hated for it to end. It'll be at least another two years until the next escape!