2y38w5dlater: Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon

If you ever make one difficult thing from scratch in your life, let it be Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon. Go buy Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Do it now. It's on amazon and eligible for prime shipping. Come back to me in two days when the book is delivered.

Now that you have it, read how to make this dish (which is actually one recipe with two components requiring recipes in and of themselves). Then read it again. Maybe read it a third time. And then get started. You will not regret it. Trust me.

Before I go any further, I have to thank the one and only Ms. Erica Lynne Gordon for placing this on her own list. I completely admit to stealing the idea from her, and I am so glad I did.

The smell of this dish cooking in the oven is absolutely intoxicating. And then you go and cook onions in broth and mushrooms (don't crowd them!) in butter, and all the aromas make you feel like you're slipping slowly into heaven (or maybe that was just the cocktails). This meal takes hours to prepare, but the time glides by when you have a wonderful person with whom to do it. Jake and I will make this again and again for family, for friends, and certainly for ourselves.

For the sake of brevity, and the comfort of my fingers, I will not type out all the instructions. Instead, here is a photo montage of Jake and I in the kitchen. I'm salivating just thinking about it! Bon appétit!