It's not every day that two-wheelers can cruise through a museum's lobby entrance. But at the first Bike Night at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts on July 16, cyclists could enjoy the museum, listen to Kid Dakota and watch "The Bicycle Thief."

Many stopped to admire Mina Leierwood's "Be Green Bee," an art bike in the form of a neon green bumblebee with broken mirror eyes. The teacher created the insect for Earth Day and expects it to last about six months. "It's part of my effort to bike more and drive less," she said.

Judging from the rows of bicycles parked in the free valet area, she's not alone.

Sara Glassman • 612-673-7177

A party that cooks It was a recipe for gourmet dreams: a screening of the upcoming movie "Julie & Julia" and a fundraiser for Women Who Really Cook, a networking organization for Twin Cities women in the food business.

At the party at Maggiano's in Edina earlier this month, WCCO's Tim Russell reminisced about working with Meryl Streep on the movie of "A Prairie Home Companion." And the secret to his spot-on Julia Child impression? "She kind of runs out of gas at the end of the sentence," he said. For the night, he left the Julia duties to whisk-wielding Tom Larson, who has been impersonating Child since 1982.

Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Mina Leierwood of Minneapolis and her Be Green Bee bike.

Sue Zelickson, who founded Women Who Really Cook and helped organize the event, once interviewed the French chef on radio and was left with dead air when Child went to answer the door. The hilarious and touching movie enlightened Zelickson, WCCO's food editor. "I didn't know Julia had such a love story," she said. "I bet Meryl will be up for an Oscar."

To celebrate Child's famous love of butter, the party featured piles of croissants with heaping bowls of salted and unsalted Land O' Lakes. Bon appétit, indeed.

SARA GLASSMAN