People are strangely fascinated by what other the great unwashed eat , and even more so when that other person is the president . Here are 10 Christmas dinner party menus from presidents past and present .
1. GEORGE WASHINGTON // 1790
Christmas at Mount Vernon was no small affair . In improver toWashington ’s topnotch - tasty eggnog , the first United States President served onion plant soup , oysters , bake Clupea harangus , Yorkshire pud , roast suckling Sus scrofa , turkey with chestnut tree stuffing , boiled beef with horseradish sauce , Virginia ham , lima beans , acorn squeeze , bake celery with almonds , hominy pudding , candied sweet potatoes , cantaloupe pickles , spiced cranberries , and mincemeat , apple , and cherry tree pies . There were more afters , including blancmange , jellied plums , snowballs ( whatever those were ) , deoxyephedrine cream , and plum tree pud , plus an miscellany of fruit , orchis , cheese and egg - free alcoholic beverages .
2. GROVER CLEVELAND // 1887
After a hearty breakfast of orange , boiled Elmer Rice , and common salt mackerel , Grover Cleveland and his family and guests were treated to an elaborate dinner party menu featuring oyster on the half shell , secret plan soup , boiled fish , roast goofball , folderol , potatoes , parsnip , turnip , more churn Elmer Rice , stewed onions , lobster salad , duck’s egg , plum pudding , vanilla ice pick , mince Proto-Indo European , salted almond , various fruit , candies and cooky , and coffee . The White House Christmas Plum Pudding recipe is a lusus naturae of culinary proportions : it begins with a loving cup of boeuf suet followed by at least 16 more ingredients , 12 steps of homework , four hours of simmering , and then a brandy sauce recipe to top it off that calls for " a piece of butter as large as an nut . " Though he never found himself stuck in the presidential pes cavus tub , it might be deserving noting that President Cleveland was quite large .
3. THEODORE ROOSEVELT // 1907
Whatever else the Roosevelts were plan for their Christmas feast in 1907 , they probably did n’t wait the shipment that arrived fromHelen Longstreet , a well - know Southerner . She hand - fed a pair of possums for months—“mostly persimmons”—for the only purpose of gifting them to the chair and his family . Longstreet , a postmistress in Gainesville , Georgia , wrote on the box seat , " These o’possums give up near the Wren ’s Nest , Atlanta , both contending smilingly for the laurels of furnishing the Christmas dinner party for the American Prince and his phratry . " It ’s heavy to imagine anyone would get away with the shipment of animals or that " American Prince " channel today without a surprise visit from piece with badges , but it ’s a gratifying news report , if you ’re into eating opossum .
4. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT // 1941
As the United States celebrated Christmas for the first metre as scrapper in WWII ( and while still climbing out of the Great Depression ) , the dinner party bill of fare at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was pare down a bit to reverberate the country ’s wartime sacrifice . FDR and guest of honour Winston Churchill dined on clear soup , thin goner , turkey and stuffing , and beans , and of course of study a Christmas plum pud made an visual aspect as well .
5. HARRY S. TRUMAN // 1947
The Trumans served what was probably the first roll - barren White House Christmas dinner party : the menu was " minus scratch or rolls and butter , in observe with the interior food preservation programme , " and included only tomato consommé , curve Apium graveolens dulce , assorted olives , knock turkey , fertilization , giblet gravy , cranberry jelly , mashed potatoes , edible asparagus , the now - infamous plum tree pudding , fruit salad , and umber .
6. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER // 1960
Getty
Details are scant about the Eisenhowers ' holiday menus , but one fact is be intimate : in 1960 , the fellowship receive a 42 - pound turkey and a congius of oysters for the social occasion , courtesy of a Mr. Arthur Briscoe . To put that hiss into perspective , the average 5 - year - old child weigh around 40 pounds .
7. RICHARD NIXON // 1973
Things were not looking bang-up for Nixon ’s presidency in 1973 , what with that whole Watergate thing . The Nixons had a very small , private dinner party in 1973 with just a few family and friend , some dud , bandaging , pumpkin pie , and cranberry sauce . Eight calendar month later , Nixon became the first ( and only ) president to submit the berth .
8. BILL CLINTON // 1993
Since the Clintons were already in the practice of hosting Christmas dinner for both their families , they put out quite a spread to admit everyone ’s favorites : turkey and ham , bread stuffing and cornbread stuffing , unfermented potato casserole and mashed potatoes , green beans , broccoli , ambrosia , a cranberry mold , giblet gravy , a relish tray with dark-green onions , watermelon vine pickles and olive , and pumpkin vine , pecan , apple , and cerise pies . And on top of all of that , champagne , wine , eggnog , sillabub , and sweet potato punch ( from a recipe clipped from an Arkansas newspaper ) .
9. GEORGE W. BUSH // 2007
The Bushes bask a relatively low - cardinal Christmas lunch at Camp David in 2007 . On the fare ? Turkey , dressing , green bean , honeyed murphy , fruit salad , Parker House rolls , autumn pumpkin and pecan pies , and red velvet cake .
10. BARACK OBAMA // 2011
In 2011 , the Obamas celebrated in Hawaii with steak , potatoes , unripened beans and Proto-Indo European . His menu in 2010 was slightly more traditional , though just as simple : turkey , drawstring beans , dressing , and mac and tall mallow .
This post originally come along in 2011 .
