Taking refuge in the kitchen

After yesterday's preachy/rambling/maybe naive post, I was feeling a little sheepish about posting today. But then I received a wonderful, cheery link in my email so I thought I would share it with y'all!

I remember watching Paula Deen talk about how when she was struggling with agoraphobia, she always took refuge in her kitchen. She could forget everything else that was bothering her, and instead focus on creating something delicious and comforting. And that's how she became the Food Network star that she is!

I think Julia Child probably felt the same way. And if you've ever wondered what her kitchen looked like, well, your wish is granted. When she moved from Massachusetts to California, the Smithsonian asked her if they could keep her kitchen. She said, yes (who wouldn't?!), and the Smithsonian painstakingly broke it down piece by piece, and rebuilt the kitchen in their museum. They kept everything as it was, every pot and pan in their place on the wall, and they even kept her "junk drawer" and the rails installed in the ceiling where the TV crew hung their lights. My favorite part is her longette hanging by the telephone and bills, so that she could read fine print.

I'm nowhere near DC, or else I'd rush out to see it. But you can take a virtual tour, complete with little bits of trivia and a short recording of her owl-like voice here.

Isn't it cute? And not fancy either, although I am green with envy at the sheer size of the thing. Bren and I made pizza from scratch over the weekend, complete with a peel and a pizza stone, and we definitely could have used the space. I must say however that we have gotten very good at maneuvering around each other, employing the professional kitchen yell, "behind!" when we need to cross behind the other one (Bren usually combines the yell with a firm squeeze of my booty though, which definitely did not happen to me when I was working at Lucques! Heeeehehee!). Bren's pizza was the yummier of the two we made: it had dried coconut, fried plantains and some carne asade on it. And cheese of course. I made a classic margherita. As cheap as it is to order pizza, it really is even cheaper to make it! We used the recipe from the Best Recipe cookbook.

Of course, dumb me, I didn't think to take a photo of it. But here's a photo of the two of us at the Austin City Limits Festival, day two, waiting for My Morning Jacket to play.



Yup, Bren is wearing sequins in his hair, a Superman cape, and a kilt. How do you compete against that?!

-x-
aarti