What does Sarah Palin eat after a day of snowmachining? Learn the answer to that and many other fun facts about US presidents' favorite foods.
Presidential Food Trivia Quiz
An August 29th US News and World Report article cited which of these hearty dishes as Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's favorite meal?
Moose pot pie
Elk burgers
Caribou stew
Moose stew
Which US president claimed to be able to assess colleagues' character traits from the way they selected jelly beans from the jar on his desk?
Lyndon Johnson
Bill Clinton
Dwight Eisenhower
Ronald Reagan
Mary Todd Lincoln, concerned about her husband's health and gaunt frame, found that he'd eat multiple helpings of which dish, a childhood favorite?
Venison stew
Turkey and stuffing
Fricaseed chicken
Apple pandowdy
A longstanding Washington D.C. rule makes it illegal for residents of the White House to run a barbecue smoker.
True
False
During which president's term was the White House Easter Egg Roll established?
James K. Polk
Calvin Coolidge
Rutherford B. Hayes
John F. Kennedy
Which president was the first to establish a French chef in the White House kitchen?
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Franklin Pierce
Banjamin Harrison
Which vegetable was banned from meals on Air Force One and at the White House during George H. W. Bush's presidency?
Broccoli
Lima Beans
Okra
Brussels sprouts
George W. Bush's tenure as president nearly came to an untimely end due to his choking on what snack food?
Potato chip
Dorito
Pretzel
Peanut
Millard Filmore caused an uproar in the White House's kitchen when he became the first president to install which now common appliance?
Refrigerator
Cooking stove
Dishwasher
Toaster
William Howard Taft loved which dish so much, he brought a chef to the White House for the sole purpose of its preparation?
Brains and eggs
Steak and kidney pie
Turtle soup
Spaghetti and meatballs
James Garfield was a particular fan of what down-home soup ingredient?
Alligator
Tripe
Squirrel
Blood sausage
Which president picked prune whip as his most favored dessert?
Lyndon Johnson
Woodrow Wilson
Dwight Eisenhower
Franklin Roosevelt
Which president and son of a Vermont cheese maker kept a private stash of Swiss cheese to make sandwiches for himself and his Secret Service detail?
Calvin Coolidge
James K. Polk
Grover Cleveland
Herbert Hoover
Cheshire, Massachusetts pooled the milk of every cow in town to present a mammoth wheel of cheese to which president?
John Quincy Adams
James Madison
Thomas Jefferson
Zachary Taylor
The Cheshire Mammoth Cheese was not the last giant hunk of fromage to make its way to the White House. Which president was gifted with a 1,400 pound cheddar by an Oswego, NY farmer?
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Jackson
James Buchanan
John Tyler
Prior to his heart surgery, Bill Clinton was known to favor which fast food staple?
Whopper with Cheese
Big Mac
KFC Extra Crispy Chicken
In-N-Out Burger
Continuing the long tradition of gentleman farmers in the Oval Office, what was Jimmy Carter's cash crop?
Corn
Cotton
Tobacco
Peanuts
Not much is known about George Washington's first state dinner, but which of these dishes was reported to have made it onto the menu?
Head cheese
Boiled leg of mutton
Oyster stew
Cornish game hen
Which president claimed tuna-noodle casserole, meat loaf and Ozark pudding as his most favored comfort foods?
Woodrow Wilson
Herbert Hoover
Harry S. Truman
Lyndon Johnson
Which of these dishes has First Lady Laura Bush claimed to be her family's favorite?
Fried chicken
Chili con carne
Enchiladas
Tacos
Richard Nixon's go-to comfort food was an odd combination of which two ingredients?
As a kid, I didn't really care too much for jelly beans. The obligatory jelly beans in my Easter basket every year were some of the last candy eaten, and only because, as a kid, I just couldn't let any candy go to waste. I was initially skeptical of Jelly Belly's because of my childhood aversion to jelly beans: I just didn't think anything classified as a jelly bean could be good. Boy, was I wrong, and I'm glad someone convinced me to give them a try.
Now, you can help Jelly Belly decide on their next flavor jelly bean. Out of thousands of entries, Jelly Belly has the choices whittled down to five. The person who contributed the winning bean flavor gets $10, 000, but sadly the voters only get the satisfaction of voting. Fortunately for me that's pretty good in my book. You have five choices, all of which sound interesting, and you have until August 31 to vote. I think I'm going for the sublime chili lime, or maybe the Thai iced tea. What flavor do you think should win?
Hershey isn't the only one buying up candymakers this week. Jelly Belly has also bought Los Angles-based Ben Myerson Candy Co., makers of Christopher's Candy and Sunkist fruit gems. Now, when I think of Jelly Belly I think entirely of jelly beans -- though the company says that they make "over 100 different candies including chocolates, gummies, candy corn, taffy, and... jelly beans" I couldn't name another candy brand they produce. (Perhaps a down-side of having a jelly bean for their corporate logo.) This purchase, however, will provide them with some new candy types to think of when the name "Jelly Belly" comes up.
Easter is just about my favorite holiday. I know this is the holiest week out of the Catholic year and that I should be reflecting and doing some serious soul searching, but in all honesty I'm thinking about food and decorations. I can't help it. I am giddy with Easter fever. So imagine my delight when I recently ran across a recipe for Easter Biscotti that uses jelly beans. What a beautiful union of colors to dip in my caffeine.
I found it on a site devoted almost entirely to recipes and food experimentation. The author, Joe, has had a lifelong love of food exploration and has created Culinary in the Desert to his wanderings and discoveries. Joe mentions that he had to somewhat modify his typical biscotti recipe to accommodate the jelly beans. He used butter, which made the recipe somewhat more sticky than usual, but by wetting his hands he was able to easily shape the loaf. He also states that the loaf must cool somewhat after baking so that the jelly beans can harden to prevent any sticking when cutting the bicottie pieces. I very much appreciate his tips about the stickiness because the sticky factor is what typically prevents my forays into cooking and baking endeavors. Biscotti is one of the few recipes I have successfully created in my kitchen so I am definitely going to give this one a try.
With all the coverage we've been giving Peeps –
good, bad and otherwise – it was quite refreshing to find a
snarky critique/history of jellybeans on the Web. The author makes short work of the jellybeans of yesteryear deriding
them as glucose-laden and cloying. Agreed, but I have fond childhood memories of the black and white varieties.
While he cheers Jelly Belly for developing treats that use natural fruit flavors, he is a purist at
heart. Hence a distaste for such great flavors as buttered popcorn. He gives no clue to his opinion of
jalapeño, one of my favorites. In a brilliant sendup of flavor formulae (one blueberry two buttered
popcorn=blueberry muffin) peach, cappucino, buttered popcorn, kiwi, French vanilla and top banana combined are depicted
as tasting like an oil spill.
Yes, there is a jellybean that this fellow actually likes: Starburst. I didn't
even know they existed, but his foodgasmic praise has got me curious.