What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?

Ever had someone recommend a place to you that they were so crazy about that you felt that you just had to go?  That happened to me recently during a trip to Washington DC.  Two of my sons and I spent a few days over the Fourth in DC touring the sites.  During a visit to the Capitol, a fellow tourist recommended to me, that, if I had the time, I should not miss a tour of Gettysburg.  He’s been there five times.  He just loves it!  So, we ventured off to the Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center in Pennsylvania since this was the second recommendation we had received for the place - my son’s history teacher being the first.  Well, it was nice and all, but, you’ve really got to be a Civil War buff to get a charge out of it!  

As George from Seinfeld says, “How do you get to be a buff?”  J

Well, I guess we’re just born with certain propensities for one thing or another and we have no choice but to just go with it!

So that’s what we did.  We went to something that had to do with food.

The new exhibit at the National Archives - What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam – had everything that interested me and, I think, interested my kids, too.  The exhibit focuses on America’s relationship with food:  how and when we began to plant the particular varieties of crops that we grow in the US; the government’s regulation of food production; USDA’s dietary recommendations; promotional food campaigns during war time; the culinary favorites of our Presidents; the school lunch program … everything from soup to nuts! 

You should go!

Oh, and don’t miss the gift shop with items related to the exhibit, and of course, lunch at the Smithsonian Castle, a walk through Union Station, the Hirshorn sculpture garden …

(images are extracted from http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/whats-cooking/)