Julia and Julia and Warren

I've perfected the elusive Cordon Bleu, so this morning I figured I'd tackle the holy grail of French Haute Cuisine and started researching Beef Bourguinon. Ever since Carol and I watched the Movie, "Julia and Julia", I've had a hankering for this hearty stew.http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe/julia-childs-beef-bourguignon-8222804 

 After psyching myself up with the above posted link, I set off for the local Intermarche for the ingredients. For the most important ingredient, I found a great Cotes de Rhone red wine (3.20 euro) from just downstream of where Hannibal rafted his elephants across the Rhone river. The dish was originally a peasant dish before becoming a "haute cusine" as was evident with the really basic ingredients. Onions, wine, poor cuts of meat, mushrooms.....This should be no problem.

After sampling the wine to ensure it's quality, I printed out the recipe and started on the project. Everything was going according to plan until Carol showed up. At this point things quickly began to spiral out of control; "According to this recipe", she says after reading it, " we won't be eating until eleven o'clock tonight. What do we do about the kids?".
Damm, I think to myself, I should have read page two of the recipe....ok, just act cool. "Don't worry Baby, I've modified the recipe a little so we'll be eating at seven" I reply.
"What's that smell? Smells like vinegar."
"Just the wine cooking off Honey, why don't you take the kids with you and go grab a couple of Croquise down at the bakery." I suggest, looking to buy some time.
After she'd gone, I read page two and then page three of the recipe and began to grasp the magnitude of creating the perfect Beef   Bourguinon  and realized that it wasn't going to happen tonight. I would need to start around noon if we wanted to eat at a decent hour. There are several different elements that are cooked separately and then brought together at the end in one final dish. The separate processes are important to get the unique flavours that make the Beef  Bourguinon  the cornerstone of French cooking.

With a few modifications to Julia's recipe, I managed to create a pretty decent Beef  Bourguinon  after all and we were eating by seven-ten. Most importantly, I received the elusive "thumbs up" from both judges.
With some wine, time and practice, I'll perfect this dish, and then it's on to Coq au Vin.