Not Nice Phil! photo courtesy beyondbathtime.com
Today I’m indulging in a post that’s really not all about food – but it is a little…….. It’s more about the “inspirational” part of Kitchen Inspirational.
I’m not sure who anointed this little creature to be the official prognosticator of approaching Springtime, but I’m not happy with him this year! We all know that Punxsutawney Phil did not like what he saw on Sunday – so, it’s 6 more weeks of Winter weather ahead!
Ok, so we all know this has not been a good week for me. Yes, we tore January off the calendar with glee on Saturday morning. (What, you didn’t?) I was down in Washington and it was rather Springlike – for about 24 hours, that is. I actually found myself over-coated, if that is a word. And rather foolishly, I allowed myself to indulge in a moment of optimism that we had indeed passed through the worst month of the year – in spite of what Phil had to say on Sunday! It doesn’t take much for me to fast-forward in my psyche to, um, shall we say, May 15? Ha! Joke’s on me!
Well, get over it, I’ve said to myself every morning this week when I awoke in a fog and had to push myself down the stairs to the coffee machine. Sip, sip, sip and wait for the caffeine to kick in……..
Yesterday, thank goodness I pushed myself out the door to meet a friend at the Metropolitan Museum. (I actually needed to get out of the kitchen!) New York streets weren’t looking too good but I scored a great parking spot on E 81st right after a Range Rover pulled out. I took that as a good omen. I didn’t have to pay $33 with my discount parking coupon!
I hadn’t been to the Met in a long while and we took in the Antonio Canovas exhibit (even though I’d rather be at the beach in a Manuel Canovas bathing suit – but I digress). Then we had a lovely little lunch overlooking the park in The Petrie Court Café. Very nice little beet salad and Salmon filet with a swath of cauliflower purée. And, Sally had this:
I just ate the kumquats!
Yes, the snowy park looks inviting from inside! I could have had a great day with the camera! Kudos to all those running in the cold and on the ice! It was rather Norman Rockwell-ian!
Wow, the Met IS so amazing – I’d forgotten just how amazing! I’m the first one to raise my hand and say “guilty” to not taking advantage of all the great museums in New York while blithering on about my love for those in Florence, London and Paris, etc……. And, I’m the first one to admit that I took the “snooze pill” all those years when we were forced on museum-field trips back in grade school. I’ll tell you that, after going to the Frick last month and the Met yesterday, I am about to reform myself as far as NY museum offerings are concerned and to get into what’s right here. Stepping inside the Met is the perfect way to divert oneself at this time of year into another world and be amazed at the work that has been done here. Thank goodness for the multitudes of people who have dedicated themselves to the growth of this collection since its “humble” beginnings in 1870!
Here’s a little history: http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/history-of-the-museum
After lunch, we took a guided tour of the Early American Interiors exhibit. Our guide, Anne was phenomenal and I thoroughly enjoyed the tour which took us through a series of rooms acquired into the collection beginning with 17th century homes. Guess what I loved the most? The bread oven inside the reconstructed beehive fireplace in one of the rooms! I would have taken a few of the furniture pieces and paintings as well if I could have fit them in my coat, hmmmmm.
Anyway, we finished up by visiting a Frank Lloyd Wright room from Wazata, Minnesota(sending this off to Sharon Hawkins) – wow! and a visit to some of the Tiffany windows. We got the full 411 on exactly how Louis Tiffany made these in his studio in Queens. The dogwood window is my favorite, with the wisteria right behind. And, oh, I could live in the atrium – the light is fantastic. There was a young sculptor working in there in clay – so inspiring……..
Where am I going with this? Suffice it to say that as I sit here typing this morning, I am working hard to consider the redeeming qualities of this Winter weather…….. Yesterday was one of them. In spite of having to put a half bag of sand down on our driveway so someone wouldn’t kill themselves and driving cross-town through not-so-well plowed streets in NY, it was well worth going into New York yesterday. I found myself once again wishing I lived there – so I could don my boots, hat and scarf in the am and trudge off to a bakery, a lovely little lunch in some oasis spot later on and re-live all the amazing offerings so categorically priceless that are right here in New York. Suffice it to say, I could spend the rest of my days wandering here and not experience all that there is to be seen. So, Février, you go right on casting your wrath upon us, I’ve got a new list in hand!
as I sit here this morning – looks a little tundra-like, no?
Top 10 Museum Destinations in NYC for a Winter Day:
1. New York Food Museum
2. The Met
3. MOMA
4. The Guggenheim
5. The Frick
6. The Museum of Natural History – one for me! – The Butterfly Conservatory – http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/the-butterfly-conservatory
7. The Whitney
8. Museum of the City of New York
9. New York Historical Society
10. Brooklyn Museum and Botanic Garden
guess which one I’m going to next?
So, now that I have this list, I can occupy myself until Mr. Phil here decides it’s time to get things going in my direction!
And, I do have to say, how fool-hardy it was, that I didn’t think to pay a visit to Julia Child’s kitchen at the Smithsonian last weekend. What was I thinking?? Oh well, Have a lovely day! I now have a million more things to think about doing!!
photo courtesy southcarolina1670.wordpress.com