With the changing of the guard at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I thought I'd post a few trivia questions about food at the White House. Check the Comments at the end of this "presidential" post for the answers.
1) You probably know that the White House has its own chef and kitchen. The President and family also have their own second-floor kitchen. Question: Who foots the food bill for the President's family and their personal guests?
A. You, the taxpayer
B. The President
C. The guests
2) The White House only carries American wine. The White House stopped serving French wine during this President's administration:
A. Nixon
B. Ford
C. Clinton
B. W. Bush
3) President Andrew Jackson accepted what 1,400-pound gift? Hint: He let it age for two years in the Entrance Hall and invited the public to eat it in 1837.
4) Henrietta Nesbitt was the White House housekeeper also in charge of preparing meals during Franklin Roosevelt's four terms in the White House. Henrietta narrowly avoided being fired despite her bland fare, but she didn't avoid the next President's chopping block when she served Harry S. Truman these vegetables once too often:
A. Brussel sprouts
B. Carrots
C. Peas
D. Artichokes
5) Before 1801, the only way to cook in the White House was:
A. In a brick oven
B. In an open-hearth fireplace
C. Boiling with pots
6) Susan Ford, daughter of Gerald Ford, convinced a White House kitchen pot scrubber to show her where she could find the key to the "cookie jar"--actually a large rolling container holding __ or more types of cookies.
A. 10
B. 20
C. 50
7) Tad, the son of this President, befriended a turkey intended for a White House feast and saved the animal from the "executioner." This anecdote is often cited during the modern turkey-pardoning photo-op at the White House.
A. James Madison
B. Abraham Lincoln
C. Teddy Roosevelt
D. Herbert Hoover
8) How did Woodrow Wilson's family signal during World War I that it was observing "meatless and wheatless" days in order to save food for U.S. troops and starving Europeans?
A. A Red Cross symbol on their door
B. A flag bearing wheat and a plow
C. A red, white and blue sticker on a White House window
9) No alcoholic beverage was served at any function during the Hayes administration–a prohibition earning the First Lady Lucretia Hayes this nickname:
A. Lemonade Lucy
B. Iced Tea Lucretia
C. Lady Teetotaler
10) Name the person who said this: "The good news is, my husband loves to eat and enjoys it. The bad news is, he loves to eat, even when things are not always right for him."
A. Nellie Herron Taft
B. Grace Coolidge
C. Lady Bird
D. Hillary Clinton
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1 comment:
1) B. The President
Source: "Inside the Presidency," Elisabeth Bumiller, National Geographic, January 2009
2) B. Ford
Source: "Inside the Presidency," Elisabeth Bumiller, National Geographic, January 2009
3) A wheel of cheese from a dairy farmer. According to The White House Historical Association, "The cheese was gone in two hours, but the stain and smell in the Entrance Hall lasted for a long while."
Source: The White House Historical Association
4) A. Brussel sprouts
Source: The White House Historical Association
5) B. In an open-heart fireplace
Source: The White House Historical Association
(Some other sources pointed to the Millard Fillmore (1851-1853) presidency for the first oven. I think the confusion comes from reports that Fillmore actually had the first gas-powered ovens installed. Apparently, only open hearths were used before wood stoves were introduced in 1801.)
6) B. 20
Source: The White House Historical Association
7) B. Abraham Lincoln
Source: The White House Historical Association
8) C. A red, white and blue sticker on a White House window
Source: The White House Historical Association
9) A. Lemonade Lucy
Source: The White House Historical Association
10) D. Hillary Clinton
Source: "Bill Clinton and Food: Jack Sprat He's Not," Marian Burros, New York Times, December 23, 1992 (as quoted on foodtimeline.org)
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