Happy Birthday Julia

In honor of Julie Child's birthday today, I am making a French meal from her book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I am on my way to Whole Foods Market to get the ingredients for Poulet Aux Herbes de Provence, Ratatouille, Mixed Wild Greens with Figs and Goat Cheese with Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil (my addition), and Reine de Saba (chocolate and almond cake). I have invited a missionary friend who is visiting from Japan, and another old friend who I find spiritually uplifting. I'll also head over to the Beer Cave and pick up a suggested Rose to go with the chicken, and a port or a sherry to go with dessert. I'm trying to allow my shopping to be a part of this whole spiritual experience (so yes, I'm leaving the kids at home!) of lovingly preparing a meal for friends- a spiritual discipline if you will. An entire body, mind, and spirit experience. I'm going for European style which is a slow meal consumed in courses over several hours (Americans never eat like this- but we probably should- we wouldn't be so fat). One of the very best meals of my entire life happened when I was in Europe- The Netherlands to be exact. The food was all prepped, but the hosts didn't even start cooking until about 2 hours after we arrived! We had the best conversation and went through 4 or 5 bottles of wine between 5 people. It was the most amazing experience. Another interesting tidbit, we arrived with wine and flowers, but they didn't open our wine. They insisted on aging it for at least 6 weeks, and served their own pre-selected bottles. Those Euros are so classy. We Americans are just as likely to take our unopened bottles of wine back home (ghetto!). So here goes my effort at being more spiritual and more classy all rolled into one. I think Julia would be proud.