Sunday, July 6, 2008

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Saturday was our first trip to Bhutan! Well, as close as you can get without a passport. The country of Bhutan, the state of Texas, and NASA were the featured subjects of this year's Smithsonian Folklife Festival which is held for two weeks each summer on the Mall.

The first Bhutanese temple built outside of the country

Although I misunderstood the food situation (I thought there were small, free samples from each subject area), we did buy a traditional Bhutanese dish called Ema Datsi and a mango lassi to share. The Ema Datsi was sliced potatoes, chiles, and a thin, cheesy sauce served with rice.

We visited a variety of tents to learn about Bhutanese culture, as well as what NASA has in the works. I guess we must have skipped the Texas tents.

Individual pieces of colored sand make up this masterpiece

Afterwards, we walked down past Capitol Hill to the Eastern Market, which is our favorite place to buy fresh ravioli, cheese, and produce. We were able to whip up fresh pesto sauce from our herb garden basil to top the Baby Spinach and Gorgonzola ravioli. Yum!