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Presidential Food:
Selected Resource Guide

Science Reference Section
Science, Technology & Business Division
Library of Congress

 


Hand drawn diagram of "maccaroni" maker, with notes.
Thomas Jefferson's "maccaroni" machine.

Library of Congress Website.


TITLES

General Interest

Cannon, Poppy, and Patricia Brooks. The Presidents’ cookbook: practical recipes from George Washington to the present. New York, Funk & Wagnalls, 1968. 545 p.
   TX715.C218 <SciRR>

Ervin, Janet Halliday. The White House cookbook.
Chicago, Follett Pub. Co., 1964. 510 p.
    TX715.E715

Famous White House recipes. New York, Paradyme Pub., 2000. 199 p.
Favorite recipes of presidents from Washington to Clinton.
    TX715.F19484 2000

Gillette, F. L. The presidential cook book. Chicago, New York, The Werner Company, c1895. 440 p.
    TX715.G486

Gillette, F. L. The White House cook book: a comprehensive cyclopedia of information for the home, containing cooking, toilet and household recipes, menus, dinner-giving, table etiquette, care of the sick, health suggestions, facts worth knowing, etc. Chicago, New York, The Saalfield Publishing Company, c1900. 590 p.
    TX715.G482 1900

Jones, Robert. The Presidents’ own White House cookbook. Edited by Melanie H. De Proft. Chicago, Culinary Arts Institute, 1972. 110 p.
    TX715.J82 1972

Klapthor, Margaret Brown. The First Ladies cook book: favorite recipes of all the Presidents of the United States. New Presidential ed. New York, Parents’ Magazine Enterprises, 1982. 238 p.
   Includes bibliographical references.
   TX715.K628 1982 <SciRR>  

Klapthor, Margaret Brown. Official White House china: 1789 to the present. 2nd ed. With additions and revisions by Betty C. Monkman, William G. Allman, and Susan Gray Detweiler. New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1999. 303 p.    Bibliography: p. 193-200.
   NK4427.W3K55 1999 <MrrAlc>  

Landau, Barry H. The president’s table: two hundred years of dining and diplomacy. New York, Collins, c2007. 292 p.
   Bibliography: p. 288-290.
   E176.1.L244 2007

Nesbitt, Victoria Henrietta Kugler. The Presidential cookbook; feeding the Roosevelts and their guests. Garden City, NY, Doubleday, 1951. 246 p.
   TX715 .N505

Rysavy, François, and Frances Spatz Leighton. A treasury of White House cooking. New York, Putnam, 1972. 352 p.    TX731.R88

Salomon, Sarah Hood. Politics & pot roast: an unofficial, unauthorized & completely unclassified cookbook. Albany, TX, Bright Sky Press, c2006. 208 p.
   Bibliography: p. 200-203.
   TX714.S23 200

Smith, Marie D. Entertaining in the White House. Washington, Acropolis Books, 1967. 320 p.
   Bibliography: p. 302-312.
   TX731.S53

Sommer, Beulah Munshower, and Pearl Dexter. Tea with presidential families. Scotland, CT, published and distributed by Olde English Tea Co., c1999. 96 p.
   Bibliography: p. 96.
   E176.1.S692 1999

Young, Bev. Presidential cookies: cookie recipes of the Presidents of the United States. 2nd ed. Sacramento, CA, Presidential Pub., c2005. 168 p.
   TX772.Y65 2005

White House history: journal of the White House Historical Association. White House kitchens and cooking. Washington, The Association, 2007. 90 p. (White House history, no. 20, spring 2007)
   F204.W5W64 no. 20
   Partial contents: Kitchen past: thoughts on open hearth cooking for the Presidents.--A look at the White House kitchen, by Lydia Barker Telerick.--My White House years, by Roland Mesnier.--Preparation of the menu for the Prince of Wales dinner in 2005, by Cristeta Comerford.--A bit of architectural history comes in from the cold, by William G. Altman.--White House wines, by Daniel Shanks.--Home cooking in the White House, by Barbara Haber.

Individual Presidents

Connolly, Neil, and Elizabeth Benedict. In the Kennedy kitchen: recipes and recollections
of a great American family.
New York, DK, c2007. 255 p.
   TX715.2.N48C645 2007

“Coolidge-country” cookbook: early recipes of the Coolidge family, their Plymouth Notch, Vermont neighbors and friends. Edited by Kathleen E. Donald and John Almon Waterhouse. Plymouth, VT, Friends of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation, c1988. 96 p.
   TX715.C7862 1988

De Guzman, Ariel. The Bush family cookbook. New York, Scribner, c2005. 308 p.
   TX715.D28 2005

Dining at Monticello: in good taste and abundance. Edited by Damon Lee Fowler. Charlottesville, VA, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., 2005. 202 p.   
   Includes bibliographical references.
   TX715.D58422 2005

Dyer, Ceil. The Carter family favorites cookbook. New York, Delacorte Press, c1977. 244 p.
   TX715.D9773

Eisenhower Medical Center Auxiliary Cookbook Committee. Five-star favorites: recipes from friends of Mamie and Ike. New York, Golden Press, 1974. 272 p.
   TX715.E35 1974

Hailman, John R. Thomas Jefferson on wine. Jackson, University Press of Mississippi, 2006. 457 p.
   Bibliography: p. 431-437.
   TP547.J44H36 2006

Haller, Henry, and Virginia Aronson. The White House family cookbook. New York, Random House, c1987. 441 p.
   Bibliography: p. 426-427.
   TX715.H179 1987
   Henry Haller, Executive White House Chef, 1966-1987.

Jaffray, Elizabeth. White House menus and recipes. In her Secrets of the White House. New York, Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, 1927. p. 133-200.
   F204.W5J2
   White House Housekeeper from the days of Taft to Coolidge.

The James K. Polk cookbook. Columbia, TN, James K. Polk Memorial Auxiliary, c1978. 254 p.
   TX715.J29

Jones, Evan. Another debt to Jefferson. In his American food: the gastronomic story. 3rd ed. Woodstock, NY, Overlook Press, 1990. p. 34-43.
   TX715.J76 1990

Kimball, Marie Goebel. Thomas Jefferson’s cook book. Charlottesville, University of Virginia Press, 2003, c1976. 122 p.
   TX715.K478 2003 <SciRR>

Leaves from the Wilson family cook book. In The economy administration cook book. Edited by Susie Root Rhodes and Grace Porter Hopkins. Hammond, IN, W. B. Conkey Company, c1913. p. 27-51.
   TX715.R48

Martha Washington’s Booke of cookery. Transcribed by Karen Hess. New York, Columbia University Press, 1981.
518 p.
   Bibliography: p. 469-489.
   TX705.M368 <SciRR Desk>

Mesnier, Roland, and Christian Malard. All the presidents’ pastries: twenty-five years in the White House, a memoir. Paris, Flammarion; London, Thames & Hudson distributor, c2007. 343 p.
   TX649.M48A3 2007
   Translated from the French.
   Roland Mesnier, Executive White House Pastry Chef, 1979-2004.

Lee, Ping-quan. To a president’s taste: being the reminiscences and recipes of Lee Ping Quan, ex-president’s steward on the presidential yacht, U.S.S. Mayflower, as told to Jim Miller. Emmaus, PA, Rodale Press, 1939. 278 p.   TX715.L465
   Chief Steward to Presidents Harding and Coolidge.
   Includes representative menus.

Provisions & politics: recipes honoring First Lady Sarah Childress Polk from the James K. Polk Memorial Association. Columbia, TN, James K. Polk Memorial Association, c2003. 192 p.
   TX714.P8 2003

Russoli, Edward, and Candace Russoli. Dwight D. Eisenhower: general, president and cook. Allentown, PA, Benedettini Books, c1990. 119 p.
   E836.R825 1990

Rysavy, François, and Frances Spatz Leighton. White House chef. New York, Putnam, 1957. 286 p.
   TX731.R9

Sangamon County historical cookbook: a taste of Lincoln’s era. 4th ed. Springfield, IL, I. E. R. C. Production, 2002.
1 v.
   TX714.S2825 2002
   A compilation of recipes from 1838-1887 with stories and facts by and about Lincoln
arranged in chronological order.

Photo: chefs gathered around an elaborate cake.
Chefs preparing cake for the wedding of Tricia Nixon and Edward Cox, 1971. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Scheib, Walter, and Andrew Friedman. White House chef: eleven years, two presidents, one kitchen. Hoboken, NJ, J. Wiley, c2007. 327 p.
   Bibliography: p. 303-305.
   TX731.S292 2007
   Executive White House Chef, 1994-2005.

Schifando, Peter, and J. Jonathan Joseph. Entertaining at the White House with Nancy Reagan. New York, William Morrow, c2007. 223 p.
   Bibliography: p. 222-223.
   E878.R43S35 2007

Statesmen’s dishes; and how to cook them: Practical autographic recipes by Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, and more than two hundred other women prominent in official and social life at the national capital. Washington, The National Tribune, 1890. 222 p.
  TX715.S797 <Bitting Coll>

The Taste is in my mouth a little...”: Lincoln’s victuals and potables. Compiled and edited by Wayne C. Temple. Mahomet, IL, Mayhaven Pub., c2004. 702 p.
   Includes bibliographical references.
   TX715.T21265645 2004 <SciRR>
   Includes facsim. of 1843 ed. of Directions for cookery, in its various branches, by Miss Leslie.” p. 209-676.

Verdon, René. The White House chef cookbook. Garden City, NY, Doubleday, 1968, c1967. 287 p.
   TX715.V43
    Executive White House Chef, 1961-1965.

For Younger Readers

Larkin, Tanya. What was cooking in Dolley Madison’s White House? New York, Powerkids Press, c2001. 24 p. (Cooking throughout American history)
   TX715.L31824 2001

Larkin, Tanya. What was cooking in Edith Roosevelt’s White House? New York, Powerkids Press, c2001. 24 p. (Cooking throughout American history)
   TX714.L36 2001

Murphy, Frank. Thomas Jefferson’s feast. New York, Random House, 2003. 48 p.
   E332.79.M87 2003

Photo:  Eleanor Roosevelt cutting a very large layer cake decorated with flags an bows.
Eleanor Roosevelt cutting birthday cake. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Related Titles

Anderson, Barbara. Karnack, its recipes, landmarks & memories: birthplace of former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. Collierville, TN, Fundcraft Pub., 2000. 64 p.
   TX715.A56615 2000

Clifford, Marny. Washington cookbook. New York, E. P. Dutton, 1972. 541 p.
   TX715.C635 1972

Fields, Alonzo. My 21 years in the White House. New York, Coward-McCann, c1961. 223 p.
   F204.W5F5

Harbury, Katherine E. Colonial Virginia’s cooking dynasty. Columbia, University of South Carolina Press, c2004.
479 p.
   Bibliography: p. 445-457.
   TX715.H258 2004 <SciRR>

McCreary, Donna D. Lincoln’s table: Victorian recipes from Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois to the White House. Zionsville, IN, Guild Press of Indiana, c2000. 107 p.
   Bibliography: p. 104-105.
   TX715.M474314 2000

Randolph, Mary. The Virginia house-wife. With historical notes and commentaries by Karen Hess. Columbia, University of South Carolina Press, c1984. 370 p.
   Bibliography: p. 301-321.
   TX715 .R215 1984 <SciRR>
   "A facsimile of the first edition, 1824, along with additonal material from the editions of 1825 and 1828, thus presenting a complete text."

Sgubin, Marta, and Nancy Nicholas. Cooking for madam: recipes and reminiscences from the home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. New York, Scribner, c1998. 224 p.
   TX714.S49 1998

West, J. B., and Mary Lynn Kotz. Upstairs at the White House: my life with the First Ladies. New York, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, c1973. 381 p.
   Bibliography: p. 369-371.
   E176.2.W47 1973
   Chief Usher of the White House, 1941-1969.

Zanger, Mark. The American history cookbook. Westport, CT, Greenwood Press, 2003. 459 p.
   Bibliography: p. 433-438.
   TX715.Z36 2003

Representative Articles

Bullock, Helen Duprey. Dining with the presidents. The American home, v. 67, Nov. 1964: 58-74.
   NA7100.A44

Carpenter, Frank G. The presidents as gastronomers. Lippincott’s monthly magazine, v. 38, Dec. 1886: 67 (11p.).
   Microfilm 05422 no. 324-340 AP

Cordon bleu White House, from a guest who went behind the scenes. The Economist, v. 227, Apr. 13, 1968: 26.    HG11.E2

The First Lady’s favorite menus and recipes. Redbook, v. 117, Aug. 1961: 50-57, 88.
Includes menus and recipes from Jacqueline Kennedy.
   AP2.R2829


Photo: President Ford sitting at a table with breakfast, small television and documents.
President Gerald Ford eating breakfast at the White House.
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Food fit for a king - or president: recipes of White House chef Henry Haller. House & garden, v. 153, Nov. 1981: 58-59.    NA7100.H6

Food fit for a president: J. K. Polk’s Southern favorites. The Ladies’ home journal, v. 99, May 1982: 48-56.
   AP2.L135

Hatch, Peter. Thomas Jefferson’s favorite vegetables. Twinleaf journal, Jan. 2000.
http://www.twinleaf.org/articles/vegetables.html

Home circle: at the White House, domestic life of President Arthur. Ohio farmer, v. 62, Aug. 12, 1882: 90.
   S1.O35

Kimball, Marie. Feast days at Monticello. McCall’s, v. 83, Nov. 1955: 42-47.
   TT500.M2

Pomeroy, R. F. Mrs. Johnson talks about her love for the White House. Redbook, v. 127, July 1966: 72-83.
   Includes recipes.
   AP2.R2829

Straithmore, Muriel. Mrs. Woodrow Wilson is gifted in the art of cooking. Table talk, v. 28, March 1913: 121-124.    Includes recipes.
   TX1.T3

Thomas, Katherine Elwes. Two famous White House recipes. Good housekeeping magazine, v. 53, July 1911: 109-112.
    TX1.G7

INTERNET RESOURCES

American Presidential Food Favorites, The Food Timeline
http://www.foodtimeline.org/presidents.html

Archeology in the Mansion Cellars, James Madison’s Montpelier
http://www.montpelier.org/explore/archaeology/cellars.php

Hercules and Hemmings: Presidents’ Slave Chefs, by the Kitchen Sisters. NPR, Feb. 2008
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18950467

Jefferson’s Pasta Machine, Treasures of the Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tri019.html

Life in the State Dining Room, The White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/life/statediningroom.html

Martha Washington’s Great Cake, The Kitchen at George Washington’s Mt. Vernon
http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/explore_mv/index.cfm/pid/289/


Photo:  Chef stiring a pot on the stove.
Chef Cristeta "Cris" Comerford, the the first woman to be White House Executive Chef, prepares a meal in the White House kitchen. From the White House Web site.

Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson’s Recipe for Pedernales River Chili, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/FAQs/Recipes/chili.asp

Recipes from Famous Americans, American Recipes, USA.gov
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Health/Recipes.shtml

Theodore Roosevelt’s Favorite Foods, The Theodore Roosevelt Association
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/favorite%20foods.htm

Tour of the White House Kitchen - A Cspan video with White House Executive Chef, Christeta Comerford.
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=282865-1

Truman’s Food Preferences, Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/trumanfile/foodprefs.htm

The White House Cook Book, at Feeding America: the Historic American Cookbook Project, Michigan State University
http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/cookbooks/index.html

The White House Historical Association
http://www.whitehousehistory.org/index.html

White House Holiday Recipes, 1996, 1997, 1998, National Archives & Records
Administration
http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/Holidays/Recipes.html
http://clinton4.nara.gov/textonly/WH/Holidays/1997/Recipes.html
http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/Holidays/1998/recipes.html

White House Menus. In Heinz Bender, Executive Pastry Chef of the White House Collection. Culinary Arts Museum, Johnson & Wales University.
http://www.culinary.org/collector/bender/menu/menu.htm

Alison P Kelly, December 2008

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