Military families invited for first viewing, holiday crafts... On Wednesday, Nov. 30th,as she unveils the decorations for her third holiday season in the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama will welcome military families, including Gold Star and Blue Star parents, spouses and children, for the first viewing. At 1:30 PM, Mrs. Obama will deliver remarks in the East Room, and then she will host the children in the State Dining Room for a special holiday craft and treat session. Executive Chef Cris Comerford and Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses will demonstrate how to make edible holiday treats and decorations. White House Florist Laura Dowling will demonstrate holiday crafts. (Above: Mrs. Obama and Yosses making gingerbread cookies with kids during the 2010 holiday preview)
Yosses' annual Gingerbread replica of the White House will also be unveiled on Wednesday. Last year's white chocolate-covered extravaganza weighed 400 pounds, while the 2009 edition came in at 390 pounds. Both were created with honey from the White House Beehive, and featured marzipan miniatures of First Dog Bo, and the First Lady's Kitchen Garden. (Above: The 2009 White House Gingerbread House)
Two White House Christmas Trees will honor military families this year. Last Friday, Mrs. Obama was presented withthe Official White House Christmas Tree, and the 19-foot-tall Balsam Fir, grown in Wisconsin, will be placed in the Blue Room, and decorated with a theme honoring Blue Star families. A special Gold Star Christmas tree decorated by Gold Star families will be displayed at the visitor’s entrance on the East Wing Landing. As many as 100,000 visitors will view the White House holiday decorations in the next month, according to an aide.
In 2009, Mrs. Obama's first holiday theme was "Reflect, Rejoice, Renew." In 2010, the theme was "Simple Gifts." Both themes were inspired in part by the First Lady's Kitchen Garden, and made liberal use of fruit and dried vegetables, woven among the more traditional greens.
*Top photo by Lawrence Jackson/White House; second by Eddie Gehman Kohan/ObamaFoodorama.com
Cheering for First Brother-in-Law Craig Robinson's team, the President watches Oregon State Beavers beat Towson University Tigers... It was a good post-Thanksgiving Saturday for the Hoops Lover in Chief: President Obama began the day with the news that the 149-day NBA lockout will end, played basketball with personal aide Reggie Love, then traveled to Maryland to watch as the Oregon State Beavers defeated the Towson University Tigers, 66-46. Oregon State, of course, is coached by First Lady Michelle Obama's brother Craig Robinson, and the entire First Family was on hand to witness the victory. President Obama enjoyed a hot dog and bottled water during the second half of the game, sitting beside his wife, who was clad in an orange sweater and black pants, in honor of Oregon State's team colors (above).
Obama daughters Malia and Sasha were also clad in team colors as the First Family entered the Towson basketball arena at 1:40 PM, to a standing ovation from the crowd. The Obamas shook hands with folks in the stands and took their courtside seats, opposite the Oregon State bench. Before the tip-off, legendary actor-comedian Bill Murray, on hand for the game, stopped by to greet the First Couple (above).
As the Oregon State team was introduced, the President and Mrs. Obama smiled broadly and clapped a bit louder when Coach Robinson’s name was called out. The Oregon State hoopsters on Wednesday joined the First Family as they packed groceries at the Capital Area Food Bank, for a Thanksgiving community service event.
Earlier in the day, after playing basketball with personal aide Reggie Love at Fort McNair, President Obama was asked about the end of the NBA lockout.
The President gave a thumbs up and said, “Good deal.’’
At halftime, the Towson football team was introduced. The Tigers won the Colonial Athletic Association championship this season and are now competing in the FCS playoffs. The players posed for a photo with the President. Swarming around him, the team was warned they’d have to run laps if they didn’t give him some room.
By 4:02 PM, victory accomplished, the President and First Lady were airborne in Marine One, heading back to the White House from the Baltimore area. Daughters Malia and Sasha traveled separately, according to pool. Before heading to Maryland, the President and his daughters visited Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe in Washington, DC, for Small Business Saturday.
Wisconsin tree will be displayed in Blue Room, with decorations that honor military families... The very busy Presidential winter holiday season officially kicked off this morning when First Lady Michelle Obama accepted delivery of the 2011 Official White House Christmas Tree. Joined by daughters Malia and Sasha and First Dog Bo, Mrs. Obama was presented with the 19-foot-tall Balsam Fir, grown in Wisconsin, during a brief ceremony by the North Portico. The tree will be the centerpiece of the White House Christmas decorating scheme, on display throughout the holidays in the Blue Room with a theme that honors Blue Star families.
The tree was delivered via horse-drawn wagon, with a top-hatted coachman in control of an impressive pair of Clydesdales, their necks bedecked with red ribbons and wreathes. A band of US Marine Corps horn players gave a rousing rendition of O Christmas Tree as Mrs. Obama and her daughters watched the tree arrive.
"Let's check it out," the First Lady said to the girls as they walked around the carriage, examining the tree. Bo scampered about, trotting between the horses and his mistress. Mrs. Obama, her hair pulled back in a bun, kept the autumn chill at bay in a gray sweater, gray print skirt and knee-high gray boots. She chatted briefly with 2011 National Christmas Tree Association Grand Champion winners Sue and Tom Schroeder, who grew the tree on their farm, Schroeder’sForevergreens, near Neshkoro, Wisconsin (above). The tree was planted eighteen years ago.
Mrs. Obama's inspection was purely ceremonial: White House Chief Horticulturalist Jim Adams and Superintendent of Grounds Dale Haney, who were on hand for today's presentation, traveled to Wisconsin to select the tree on Oct. 3rd. The Schroeders harvested it on Nov. 17th.
"What do you think? Does it get the thumbs up?" Mrs. Obama asked Malia and Sasha. They enthusiastically consented, and Mrs. Obama agreed.
"Thumbs up!" she said. "Bring 'er on in!"
100,000 people will see the dazzling tree... The very tall tree will require the removal of the Blue Room chandelier as it is installed. It will be viewed by as many as 100,000 people during the holidays, according to a White House aide, between those who visit for regular tours and for the many festive receptions that will be held through Dec. 16. Social Secretary Jeremy Bernard, the mastermind for the upcoming events, was on hand for today's delivery ceremony. (Above: Carriage horse Abe, right, and Jay, delivered the tree last year, too)
The White House will be decorated by the floral department staff and a team of volunteers this weekend and through the beginning of next week. Mrs. Obama's decorating theme will be unveiled next Wednesday, Nov. 30. She will welcome military families as the first group of visitors to view the seasonal decor.
Schroeder’s Forevergreens is one of approximately 800 Christmas tree farms and lots nationwide that donate Christmas trees to the Christmas SPIRIT Foundations’ Trees for Troops program, according to the East Wing. (Above: Mrs. Obama, the girls, and Bo walk out to receive the tree)
"Trees for Troops has provided 84,000 full-sized farm-grown Christmas trees to troops and military families since it began in 2005 and this year’s goal is to deliver their 100,000th tree," the East Wing said.
Members of the National Christmas Tree Association have presented the official White House Christmas Tree for display in the Blue Room since 1966.
Slinging steaks with the President? Nope... Celebrity chef Bobby Flay is one of the few White House guests chefs to actually cook withPresident Obama--they grilled steaks together on the South Lawn during a Father's Day picnic in 2009 (above). But going mano-a-mano over hot coals with the Eater in Chief was apparently all in a day's work for Flay, who says his favorite White House memory actually involves First Lady Michelle Obama. They had a special moment in 2010, when Flay visited the White House to harvest veggies from the Kitchen Garden for the White House episode of Iron Chef America.
"I got to take my daughter and my favorite moment was watching Michelle Obama and my daughter have a five-minute conversation about being 14. It was amazing," Flay told the Vancouver Sun.
"When we walked out of the White House, I said to my daughter, 'Sophie, just stop for a second. I want you to put this in a very special place because today will be a blur in your lifetime but I want you to remember this as a very special day in your life.' She was like, 'I know, Dad'."
Flay and Executive Chef Cris Comerford teamed up to beat Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse on Iron Chef America. Their winning recipes included Sweet Potato Pie with Honey Meringue and Broccoli Soup. (Above: Flay with Mrs. Obama, Comerford, and host Alton Brown)
*Top photo by Pete Souza/White House, second courtesy Food Network
First Family's feast includes turkey, ham, oyster & cornbread stuffing, five sides, and six kinds of pie... President Obama and the First Family are celebrating Thanksgiving in the White House with a traditional menu starring turkey and six different kinds of pie, including Pumpkin Pie and Banana Cream Pie. The Obamas will share their Thanksgiving with unidentified “friends, family and staff,” according to the White House. The feast will be created with bounty from First Lady Obama'sKitchen Garden, according to assistant chef Sam Kass. Honey from the White House Beehive will also be used for the dishes. (Above: At Wednesday's Turkey Pardoning Ceremony, Malia pets Liberty as the President and Sasha look on)
"Like millions of Americans, Michelle, Malia, Sasha and I will spend the day eating great food, watching a little football, and reflecting on how truly lucky we truly are," President Obama said today.
In addition toturkey, the Thanksgiving table will be laden with ham, two kinds of stuffing, five side dishes including macaroni and cheese and green bean casserole, and dinner rolls. The show-stopping pies also include Apple, Cherry, Huckleberry, Sweet Potato, and Pumpkin. The President is a fanatic for pie, and Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses has said that Banana Cream Pie is his favorite. Yosses' Apple Pie recipe is here.
2011 Obama Family White House Thanksgiving Menu
Turkey Ham
Cornbread Stuffing Oyster Stuffing
Side Dishes Greens Sweet Potatoes Mashed Potatoes Green Bean Casserole Macaroni and Cheese
Dinner Rolls
Dessert Apple Pie Pumpkin Pie Sweet Potato Pie Banana Cream Pie Cherry Pie Huckleberry Pie
Like many Americans, the First Family enjoys the same Thanksgiving menu each year, and the 2011 menu is identical to the the 2010 menu the White House issued, as well as to the 2009 menu, minus the words "honey baked" in front of "ham."
In an annual Thanksgiving tradition, President Obama made calls to US military service members this morning, at around 9:00 AM ET from the Oval Office. The President's weekly address also thanked the troops, and today Mrs. Obama sent out an e-mail asking Americans to join the Joining Forces/USO "Thanks From Everywhere" campaign. (Above: The President made his calls to troops from the Oval Office)
On Wednesday morning, President Obama granted a Thanksgiving pardon to turkey Liberty and his alternate Peace during the annual White House ceremony. In the afternoon, the First Family packed holiday grocery bags at a local food bank.
President Obama's Thanksgiving address:
*Top photo by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama; second by Pete Souza/White House. National Turkey Federation Chairman Ricard Huisinga is in the Pardon Ceremony in the photo at top.
President calls 10 armed service members deployed in Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom... In an annual Thanksgiving tradition, President Obama made calls to US military service members this morning, at around 9:00 AM ET from the Oval Office. (Above, in action)
According to the White House, “President Obama called 10 members of our armed services - two from each the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy - deployed in support of Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom. The President thanked each of them for their service and sacrifice and wished them and their families a Happy Thanksgiving.”
The President's weekly address also thanked the troops, and today First Lady Michelle Obamasent out an e-mail asking Americans to join the Joining Forces/USO "Thanks From Everywhere" campaign.
On Wednesday morning, President Obama granted a Thanksgiving pardon to turkey Liberty and his alternate Peace during the annual White House ceremony. In the afternoon, the First Family packed holiday grocery bags at a local food bank.
Join the "Thanks From Everywhere" campaign... President Obama's Thanksgiving Address honored America's Armed Forces, and First Lady Michelle Obama is asking Americans to do the same.
Mrs. Obama sent an e-mail and video this morning from the White House, asking Americans to thank members of the military for their service. The messages will be added to the "Thank You From Everywhere" map created by the USO and Joining Forces, Mrs. Obama's campaign to support military families.
"I can't think of any better way to spend Thanksgiving than letting our servicemembers know how grateful we are for everything that they do," Mrs. Obama wrote. "So this year...We've partnered with the USO to create a program called Thanks From Everywhere."
In her video, Mrs. Obama calls Jessica Allen, the wife of a service member injured in combat in Afghanistan.
The text of the First Lady's e-mail:
Good morning,
Every Thanksgiving, Barack sits down to call some of our troops and thank them for their service.
When he tells me about these conversations, it always reminds me of how blessed we are to live in a country where men and women will stand up to protect our freedoms and preserve our way of life. And whenever I've had the chance to meet with these heroes and their families, I've always walked away inspired by their courage and in awe of their strength.
I can't think of any better way to spend Thanksgiving than letting our servicemembers know how grateful we are for everything that they do. So this year, we're making it easy to do just that.
We've partnered with the USO to create a program called Thanks From Everywhere. To get involved, simply visit JoiningForces.gov/Thanks and write a quick note that troops and veterans all over the world will be able to see.
Add your message to Thanks From Everywhere.
Your note will be added to a map with messages from people all over the country, showing our troops and their families just how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice.
If we all do our part, we'll help to build a wave of support to honor our veterans and their families -- and ensure they get the recognition they deserve this holiday season.
At a time when we are sitting down to share the blessings we've received this past year, please take a moment to be a part of this effort to thank America's heroes and their families.
The Obamas work food distribution table, gift turkeys and White House M&Ms to surprised patrons... On the chilly, drizzly eve of Thanksgiving, the First Family on Wednesday afternoon continued a longstanding tradition of holiday community service with a visit to Capital Area Food Bank in Northeast Washington, DC. President Obama, First Lady Obama, daughters Malia and Sasha and First Grandmother Marian Robinson chatted with patrons as they handed out recyclable green shopping bags full of holiday groceries to a crowd of excited visitors. (Above: The First Family in action)
"Happy Thanksgiving to you!" President Obama said repeatedly, and asked people their names and holiday plans.
The 4:30 PM outing came after a jocular turkey pardoning ceremony in the morning, where the President grinned his way through the annual reprieve for two lucky gobblers, Liberty and Peace. He was still filled with holiday spirit, and smiled, chatted and shook hands with the patrons who approached the long distribution table where he stood with his family, offering bags of baby carrots, grapes and apples from blue plastic tubs.
There was a special treat on offer, too: White House M&Ms were gifted to the delighted patrons, who were not informed that the Obama family would be at work. The special candy is in white boxes with a blue Presidential seal and President Obama's autograph.
The food bank donates 30 million pounds of food per year to those in need, according to the White House. Many of the patrons were regulars, according to pool, and surprised to see the First Family at work in the warehouse-style room, which was filled with stacked pallets and shelves of food boxes.
The President was clad casually in a dark blue shirt, the collar unbuttoned, and an unzipped jacket, and he admired a sharply dressed patron.
"Now that's a nice looking suit!" He told one man, who wore a beige pinstriped suit.
The First Lady wore a green and black dress with a maroon hooded sweatshirt. The girls had an outfit change from the morning's pardon ceremony, where their sparkling shoes had caught the attention of the press.
The White House said that members of the Oregon State basketball team were also at work during the hour the First Family visited. That, of course, is the team coached by Mrs. Obama's brother, Craig Robinson.
The President and Mrs. Obama donated two dressed turkeys to the food bank, given by Jaindl’s Turkey Farm in Orefield, Pennsylvania, the White House said.
The Obama Family Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday will be at the White House. Update:The menu. On Friday, the winter holidays begin, as Mrs. Obama is presented with the Official White House Christmas Tree during during a ceremony by the North Portico. Update: The presentation.
The motorcade left the Capital Area Food Bank at 5:17 pm and, after an uneventful ride, arrived at the White House at 5:28 pm.
*Top photo by Pete Souza/White House; other photos & Video by AP/pool
Thanksgiving is about family, friends, and guilt-free eating for the White House chef... Sam Kass, Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, mixes personal and political food policy observations as he talks about the First Family's Thanksgiving plans, and First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign in a new interview with NBC's David Gregory. Thanksgiving, not surprisingly, is the favorite holiday for the White House assistant chef; it's "about being together and enjoying delicious food and being able to not worry about it and just eat and eat," Kass said. The First Family shares the same feeling, said Kass.
"Thanksgiving is about celebration," Kass said. "About enjoying food and family and coming together...We just have fun and enjoy really traditional dishes that are being eaten all over the country."
Kass gives some cooking tips, too, revealing his secrets for perfect gravy and the ideal stuffing. Add nuts and cranberries, he advises, for ultimate deliciousness.
GREGORY: I just want to start by pointing out I wouldn't normally wear a full suit here, in the kitchen, but a) this is the First Kitchen, and you're in your dress whites here, so I mean that’s formal --
KASS: You know, this, this is my nice coat --
GREGORY: So I do have to ask you as we look at the White -- is this, is this the whole White House kitchen? I mean is this where everything happens?
KASS: This is where all the magic happens. And it's pretty amazing; it is quite small, at least to me--
GREGORY: It is small. I mean I’m looking around -- I mean it's bigger than my kitchen but it's still small. So whether you're cooking for the first family, or whether you’re cooking for a state dinner, it all was staged out of here.
KASS: It's all staged out of here, and you know this is an historic building, right, so we can't change any walls.
GREGORY: Right.
KASS: But when this kitchen was built, state dinners were closer to thirty people, as opposed to say a hundred and fifty or even up to three hundred. So this is what we have to work with and Chef Comerford and the team makes it happen -- and it's an amazing thing to see.
GREGORY: Let me first talk about you, because it’s interesting: You can be in your chef whites, but you're also spending part of the day wearing your suit, as an advisor in the White House on a lot of these nutritional issues. I mean this is a unique role that you play.
KASS: It is. It is a unique role, and it's a real honor to be able to work with the First Lady and the broader team, and we're trying to improve the health and nutrition of the country particularly as it pertains to our youngest, our youngest kids, so it's been a great honor.
GREGORY: Well let's talk more about that in just a minute, but I do want to talk about what everybody's talking about, which is: over Thanksgiving, and the Thanksgiving meal, this first family in particular is so committed to nutrition on a national scale and certainly in their own home. Does that also pertain to Thanksgiving or is it as much of a celebration of historical eating as it is for most families?
KASS: Thanksgiving is about a celebration, and enjoying food and family and coming together and really enjoying that whole, that whole process. So we really, we just have fun and enjoy really traditional dishes, just like dishes that are being eaten all over the country -- and the same way that they've been eating in their family for, since long before they got here. So it's about fun and enjoyment.
GREGORY: And let me ask you more generally: I mean is Thanksgiving to you, is the Thanksgiving meal a celebration of American food? Is that how you view it?
KASS: Oh absolutely. I mean I think Thanksgiving, you know, it comes from a celebration of the harvest, right – as the original, from way back when -- and for us, being in the White House, you know we just had a great harvest with a bunch of kids from the area and the First Lady and we're going to be using some of that produce for the Thanksgiving dinner here. But it is about tradition, and it is about togetherness and eating as a family and celebrating all that we have to be thankful for. And I think that is at the core of it, and you know personally I'll say it's my favorite holiday for that very reason -- that it's just about being together and enjoying delicious food and being able to not worry about it and just eat and eat.
GREGORY: What, what particularly interests you as a chef at this stage and working here? What is it that excites you the most about food? I should say what kind of food excites you the most -- whether cooking it or thinking about it.
KASS: Right, well in dual roles I probably have a couple different answers for you on that. But I think in terms of the cooking and as a chef, what excites me every day is being able to go down to the first lady's garden and being able to cook out of that. I mean it's just such an honor, number one, but two, as a chef, it's the best way to cook. I mean I can go down and pick whatever looks the best and is the most ripe, and then bring it up here and be putting it on the plate in thirty minutes. And that's, there's just, that's just exciting -- every day – ‘cause there's always something new getting ready to be harvested in the garden, so that's just been great.
GREGORY: And that is a great model for a lot of people who can eat that way, but one of the challenges you face and the First Lady faces is that so many Americans are not in a position --
KASS: That’s right.
GREGORY: To, you know, go into their garden and cook that for dinner, because -- you talk about food deserts, where fresh fruit and vegetables is not available for families to cook, whereas fast food seems to be everywhere.
KASS: Right. You know, we talk about choice and choice being you know the essence of what the First Lady is trying to, trying to work on here. But for families that don’t have any fresh food in their -- or any kind of healthy food in their neighborhoods, the notion of choice just doesn’t mean anything to them. So we’re working very hard to try to ensure that all communities really have access to healthy and affordable food.
Just this past summer the First Lady had a major announcement with, with retailers both big and small to target their growth and expansion in fifteen hundred locations across the country in the next five years. According to the companies this would, this will impact 9.5 million people -- families who do not have access to healthy and affordable food -- by either building new stores of refurbishing old stores that don’t have food to make sure we’re bringing in healthy food to these stores. It’s going to have a transformative impact for these families and make it much easier for them to make those healthier choices for, for their kids.
GREGORY: You’ve also, we’ve talked about the food pyramid and how the government revises those guidelines. What should the dinner plate look like?
KASS: Right. The the ‘My Plate’ has just been this great breakthrough. And it’s something that the First Lady had always said – ‘We need to give simple tools that make sense, and that are applicable to people’s lives.’ And while the pyramid, you know, was great and had its, had its strengths, we don’t eat off pyramids, and being able to put this in a plate form provides a framework that we can just see what is what is a plate should look like. But it’s open to the interpretation of any chef, and I say that in the most broadest terms -- all parents are chefs right? They’re cooking every night for their families -- to interpret this in a way that is delicious and creative and makes sense to the cultures and traditions of any family or community. So that’s why this has been so exciting and the response has just been overwhelming, it’s been great.
GREGORY: And so the key to your plate is what? In terms of getting the best nutritional value for particularly young people.
KASS: Yeah and eating balanced meals essentially. If every, if everyday we’re eating basically balanced meals with fruits and vegetables, whole grains, some good protein, some dairy: Then you know then our kids are free to do what they want and not for parents to not worry about them. So, you know, as a kid goes to a pizza party or has a, you know, splurges on the weekends, it’s no big deal. It’s if where kids are eating in that manner day in and day out is when they start to run into trouble.
GREGORY: But typically, I mean even like the old food pyramid, you want to see a lot of green on that plate.
KASS: A lot of green, a lot of leafy greens, dark orange vegetables, some whole grains, we’re really on the way if we’re doing that.
GREGORY: I have to ask: My colleague Mika Brzezinski on Morning Joe has been so upset about the news in the past couple of weeks, that somehow Congress came to the agreement that pizza was a vegetable. Can you help me understand how this could possibly come to pass?
KASS: You're going to have to ask them for those, for the answer on that one. You know, we’re working really hard to try to make sure that their standards are reasonable and that schools can achieve them, but also that are supporting the health of kids. So that kind of decision I’m going to have to say, the Hill is where you’re going to get the answer for that.
GREGORY: What about what’s happening in schools? Where do you think is an appropriate place for government generally, and for the administration given the First Lady’s concern about this, to have the best possible impact on what children are eating in schools?
KASS: I would say, you know the First Lady’s said this a lot -- that government has a role to play here certainly. But most of the answers to the challenges we face when it comes to our kids’ health are going to come from the country -- from citizens and teachers, parents, community leaders, business leaders, and not really from from the government. We do have a role to play and I think schools is one of the places where it’s clear we have a responsibility to ensure that there are good standards that are based on science, that really help make sure our kids are getting the food that they need. You know we’ve done a lot.
The passage of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act that the First Lady championed along with leaders on the Hill and lots of people from around the country is is is doing a lot of that work. But the First Lady also is championing the Healthier U.S. School Challenge, which is a challenge that has very high standards around both what’s being served but also physical activity and nutrition education. We’re seeing incredible response to this all over the country -- schools are working so hard to on their own raise their owns standards and meet these really high benchmarks, and that has been amazing.
So we’re working to be supportive in any and every way we can, and it’s happening all over the country. Everywhere we go we run into a science teacher who has built a garden and is doing curriculum, or we run into a food service professional who’s just taken it on his or her back to just make some big changes and educate their kids about how to make a better choice even in the cafeteria line. Story after story like this. So it’s just been great.
GREGORY: And along with that, a big part of the campaign is Let's Move, and being active and for kids as well as grownups to be active, because any of us know who try to live a fit life that you've got to get the eating right but you’ve got to -- that level of activity has to always be there. One can't go without the other.
KASS: That's absolutely right. And you'll see in this next year we're going to really focus a lot on making sure our kids are getting the activity we need. Right now, you know, the average American child is in front of a screen for about seven hours a day. And so long as our kids are sitting in front of a screen for seven hours a day, we're going to have some real challenges in making sure that they're going to reach their adulthood, you know, in a healthy place. So we're going to really work to inspire the nation, to work with mayors and other key stakeholders to provide better access to play, better access to being physically active, both in schools but then also in the community. So we're going to work hard on that.
GREGORY: So let me ask you a few quick ones. On the topic of Thanksgiving, is there a standout food for you that you like to eat or cook or both?
KASS: I'm a stuffing and gravy kind of guy.
GREGORY: Oh there's the fitness right there.
KASS: Hey, come on, look it's Thanksgiving, right. We’ve got to enjoy ourselves, you’ve got to blow it out.
GREGORY: And what's the secret to your stuffing and gravy?
KASS: Oh, well I mean I keep my gravy real simple. You just take the drippings from the turkey, a little flour, some herbs, a little shallot, a little onion, you're good to go. I keep that really simple. But I love in stuffing, some cranberries, some nuts, like pecans, and any kind of herb you throw in there. And whatever you do, whether you go bread or you go rice, you'll be good to go.
GREGORY: We've talked about grains. Like some hot grains right now that are being used in cooking. You know, great for your families instead of cooking rice, you can cook your kids some other grains -- talk about em, what excited you?
KASS: There's lots of great options out there that are really affordable and we just need to learn you know, practice, to practice cooking with them, cause you know we haven't cooked with them a lot. Couscous can be made in five minutes -- whole wheat couscous is literally done in five minutes; it's available in most stores, it's very cheap. Cracked wheat -- also really delicious, easy to cook, it's great. Brown rice, we always, you know, I always try to cook with brown rice whenever possible.
GREGORY: Farro.
KASS: There's also farro. Farro is a great grain, really good whole grain and lots of nutrients, lots of fiber, becoming more and more available. It's a really old grain, it's actually one of the world's oldest grains.
GREGORY: And you can make it like risotto.
KASS: Yeah, I make it like risotto all the time. Or you can cook it just like rice --there's lots of ways to use it. But we’re trying to, yeah, families are experimenting and coming up with new dishes all the time. It's really exciting.
GREGORY: What is a house standout, a White House favorite that you've cooked, you or the team have cooked?
KASS: Oh that’s, that's top secret information.
GREGORY: That's classified information?
KASS: There's no way I can disclose that. Oh a standout, I don't know, what's a standout? You know, we, to be quite honest with you, we just try to cook balanced meals, there always has to be a vegetable on the plate ,and it always has to get eaten -- that's for sure, that's non-negotiable. And we just try to keep balance, but we also make sure we're having fun. We have kids in this house and so you know, we throw them a bone every once and while, give ‘em something that's fun now and again--
GREGORY: Do you keep anything in the kitchen here for any late night snacks, or it's just like the leftover farro?
KASS: Yeah they’ve got to fend for themselves.
GREGORY: They’ve got to deal with that. What about when you really get to let loose? A state dinner, a time when you really want to be creative, what really gets your juices flowing as a chef and for that kind of setting?
KASS: Oh you know, look, it just depends on the season. I think a lot of times we really try to cook with what's the weather, what's the season like. So today it's cold and rainy, well you know that would be more exciting to get the soups, the squashes, we did, Chef Comerford did an amazing squash dish, squash soup, for the Korean state dinner that was made with squash from the garden. It was actually planned as a part of a three sister's garden, with the corned beans and squash that some young kids planted with us. So that was amazing. We got so excited about that. It's really fun to watch that whole process translate into a state dinner, I mean it's just been amazing.
GREGORY: Chef Kass, thank you very much.
KASS: It's been such a pleasure.
GREGORY: Happy Holidays.
KASS: To you as well.
##
*Photo by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama. NBC Video.
Homestead Speedway: First Lady, Dr. Biden serve as Grand Marshals, host barbecue for military families, announce new job commitments for vets & military spouses... First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will visit Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida today, serving as Grand Marshals for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale, the Ford 400. The race is the biggest prize in American motor sports, and Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden's appearance is part of the Joining Forces campaign to support and honor families.
Before the race, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden "will recognize service members and military families from the local community at a special BBQ lunch," the White House said. They will also invite a military family to join them as they lead lead the pre-race ceremony and speak what the White House bills as " the most famous words in racing"--“Gentlemen, start your engines.”
Carl Edwards of Missouri is the #1 ranked driver today. Edwards, 32, is the only NASCAR driver who is a member of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, and has worked with Mrs. Obama on the Let's Move! campaign.
The Miami visit will also "highlight new commitments by American companies to hire and train veterans and military spouses," the White House said. Representatives from companies committing to hiring 10,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2013 will volunteer at the barbecue, which will be at the Speedway’s Nationwide Garage.
Walmart, Mrs. Obama's largest private-sector partner for the Let's Move! campaign, has also partnered with the First Lady for Joining Forces. The company created the video, above, featuring racing stars encouraging Americans to support America's uniformed heroes. The video includes Edwards.
The hiring commitments, per the White House: Representatives from the following companies who have pledged support for the hiring initiative will be at the barbecue: The Beacon Council, G4S Secure Solutions (USA), Ryder System, Inc., Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc., Google, The National Military Family Association, The Boeing Company, Raytheon, Inventis Group Ltd. and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.
"This employment commitment includes a first-of-its-kind dedicated local employment effort in South Florida led by the Beacon Council, Miami-Dade County’s economic development leader, to hire veterans and military spouses," the White House said.
*The Beacon Council and their 274 companies will strive to hire 4,000 veterans by the end of 2013;
*G4S Secure Solutions (USA) whose workforce is 21% veterans already will hire 3,000 veterans by 2013;
*Ryder System, Inc. whose workforce is 10% veterans already expects to hire more than 550 veterans in 2011 and 1,000 additional veterans by the end of 2013; and
*BAE Systems, Inc. which already employs more than 3,000 veterans is committed to employing wounded warriors and veterans through their Warrior Integration services.
Dr. Jill Biden organizes a special gift for VP's 69th... Vice President Joe Biden celebrates his 69th birthday today, his second since being sworn in to office. He's spending the day in Wilmington, Delaware and has no public events scheduled, according to the White House. In 2009, Biden celebrated his last birthday before becoming Vice President at Transition headquarters in Chicago, where President Obama presented him with a dozen cupcakes (above). It's the only Obama-Biden birthday photo released by the Administration that actually includes cake in the image.
Dr. Jill Biden will not be spending the big *&%!$*# deal of a day with her spouse in Delaware. Instead, she will be in Florida, joining First Lady Michelle Obamaat Homestead-Miami Speedway as co-grand marshal for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale. They'll be hosting a barbecue for military families, and announcing a new private-sector jobs commitment for veterans as part of the Joining Forces campaign.
But on Friday, Dr. Biden orchestrated a special birthday celebration for the Vice President, sending an email to Obama campaign supporters, asking them to sign an online birthday card. It was also from the First Family, Dr. Biden said. (Above: The online card)
"I know I don't usually send you emails, but Joe has a birthday coming up this Sunday, and I'm trying something new," Dr. Biden wrote. "The First Family and I are putting together a special card for him...So help us make this birthday a memorable one for Joe."
The subject heading for the e-mail was "Sign Joe's card."
The full text:
Friend--
I know I don't usually send you emails, but Joe has a birthday coming up this Sunday, and I'm trying something new.
The First Family and I are putting together a special card for him, and we'd like as many supporters of this campaign as possible to add their names and messages for Joe.
Because the year ahead is going to be a big one -- not just for Joe and me, but for all of us. We've all got some work to do.
So help us make this birthday a memorable one for Joe. Add your names, and, if you like, your own notes and well-wishes for the year ahead:
http://my.barackobama.com/For-Joe
Thanks,
Jill
##
*Photo from Change.org, the website of the Transition
Hot lunch: How lobbyists, big food corporations, and their friends on Capitol Hill fried the Administration's school nutrition standards...
By Marian Burros
Not everyone remembers how the Reagan Administration was shamed into withdrawing its effort to put ketchup in the same category as a serving of broccoli or kale in 1981. But Dr. MarionNestle, author and professor of nutrition at New York University, remembers it well. Which is why she says the Congressional bill passed on Thursday that has turned pizza into a vegetable “makes me crazy."
“It’s about profit. It has nothing to do with the health of children,” Nestle told Obama Foodorama.
The Agriculture Appropriations bill, part of the larger "minibus" that provides funding for FY 2012, was approved by the Senate on a 70-30 vote, just after the House agreed to it 298-121. It provides $18.2 billion for school lunch and breakfast programs but contains four nutrition riders, two of which prohibit the Agriculture Department from providing healthier food for children.
The proposed changes that would reduce fat, saturated fat, sodium and sugar, add more whole grains and increase the variety of vegetables and fruits in school meals are science-based recommendations from the National Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
Congress had asked for the update to help reduce childhood obesity, one of First Lady Michelle Obama’s signature projects, the Let’s Move! campaign. But lawmakers appear to have had second thoughts, though both Mrs. Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack have repeatedly said the changes are essential to combat childhood obesity, pointing out that many children, particularly those that are disadvantaged, get up to half their daily calories from school lunch and breakfast. Better nutrition in schools is crucial for academic achievement and "winning the future," according to President Obama.
But spurred on by lobbyists for companies that might have their profit margin adversely affected by the proposed regulations, Congress is now requiring the USDA to back off from its efforts to require pizza makers to use more than 1/8 cup of tomato paste in order to call pizza a vegetable serving, and to reduce the use of potatoes (read French fries) in school lunches.
USDA wanted to reduce the frequency of potatoes along with other high-starch vegetables like corn, lima beans and peas because the IOM report said schools need to serve more orange and dark green vegetables.
The National Potato Council, in concert with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Col), made sure Congress killed the proposed potato restriction: French fries will be available every day in school cafeterias. The potato industry points with pride to Mrs. Obama’s professed love of French fries, ignoring her admonition to treat them as an occasional indulgence rather than part of a daily diet. Many schools brag that they bake the French fries before serving. But that takes place after they have been fried at the facility where they were made.
Companies like ConAgra, the industrial agriculture giant, and Minnesota’s Schwan’s Food Service, which sells 70 percent of the pizzas served in school lunches, went all out to prevent a change in amount of tomato paste required to classify it as a serving of vegetables. Under the current regulations, tomato paste has a special exception carved out for it so that the 1/8 cup used on a pizza slice is comparable to the standard serving size of ½ cup of any other vegetable. USDA wanted to take away the special exception.
Pizza purchases from schools account for the largest part of Schwan's $3 billion in annual sales, so it is not surprising hat Democrat Amy Klobuchar, the company's home-state Sentator, sent a letter to USDA warning them to leave the pizza standard alone.
At the same time Schwan's was complaining about the pending change in the pizza regulation requiring more vegetable content, it was vigorously selling itself to school lunch directors as the company that could help them meet the proposed new rules, because it had added whole grain to its pizzas and reduced the fat and sodium content.
“We’re passionate about feeding children better," Schwan's president Jim Clough told Business Wire in August. But that passion does not extend to vegetables.
The company did not return repeated calls requesting comment.
ConAgra and Schwan's have also funded the website Coalition for Sustainable School Meal Programs, which has urged parents to help change the proposed regulations, particularly the one about pizza. Barry Sackin, a former vice president for public policy of what is now called the School Nutrition Association (SNA), is running the website and has worked with ConAgra and Schwan's.
The SNA is a trade association made up of the people who are responsible for school lunches. It also has industry members, like Schwan's and ConAgra, who pay hefty fees for membership. SNA is not happy with the changes USDA is proposing. It wants another year before the changes take affect: 2013 instead of 2012. It favors leaving the exception for tomato paste, claims there is not enough whole grain in certain sections of the country to use in school meals, worries that fresh leafy green vegetables are not available in certain part of the country in certain seasons and that if they can’t put enough salt in the food children won’t eat it.
When the First Lady gathered hundreds of professional chefs at the White House in June of 2010 to launch the Chefs Move to Schools initiative, she asked them to help schools improve the meals they served. But many of the chefs were surprised to discover that the professional lunch ladies resented their efforts.
“Members of the School Nutrition Association don’t have any power,” said Nestle. “Unlike anything else in school they have to run a break-even enterprise and the only way to do it is having lots and lots of kids eat their meals, so they pander to lowest common denominator.”
The Chefs Move program, run by USDA, now has 3,700 chefs enrolled, according to Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass. But there are more than 90,000 schools participating in the federal school lunch and breakfast programs.
The other riders in the bill: Sodium and Whole Grain...
There are two other riders to the Ag bill that seem designed to slow down the process of changing school lunch rather than an outright prohibition of changes. One requires USDA to provide scientific evidence that reducing sodium is important for health reasons. That shouldn’t be too hard: the Institute of Medicine has already done that. The other requires a definition for whole grains, and USDA already has a definition.
A USDA spokesman said the Agency sees “no barriers to implementing those parts of the regulation.”
House Republicans claim these four nutrition riders will save $6.8 billion over five years, a claim USDA vigorously disputes.
According to the Agency spokesman, the changes “will have little to no affect on the cost the new standards.”
Mrs. Obama could not have imagined that her efforts to reduce childhood obesity would cause such forceful reaction from the food industry, its assorted front groups and its friends in Congress.
Another anti-Obama front group...
The Coalition for Sustainable School Meal Programs is not the first front group fighting against healthier food. The Sensible Food Policy Coalition, whose members includes PepsiCo, Kellogg and General Mills, has been working to quash the government’s voluntary nutritional guidelines for advertising food to children, quite similar to the core principles of Let’s Move!.
The coalition wants to substitute the food industry’s far less stringent standards for the guidelines put together by the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, USDA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last month, there was a hearing in the House in which the members made speeches, using text provided by the coalition’s members.
“What corporations want is free reign,” said Nestle. “They want to market anyway they want, to put any kind of junk food in kids and they’ve got Congress to back them up."
"The idea the Senate is passing laws about potatoes, putting riders on bills and the senatorial staff members are writing letters to USDA about the amount of tomato paste on pizza is power politics in action.”
Though Mrs. Obama agressively championed the school nutrition legislation that offered the improved standards for meals, the East Wing would not comment on the recent developments in Congress, instead referring queries to USDA.
##
Update, 11:00 AM: In Bali, Indonesia, today, President Obama signed the bill into law.
Ed. note: Dr. Nestle was recently named by Forbes magazine as one of "The World's 7 Most Powerful Foodies" -- #2 to Mrs. Obama's #1 spot on the list. Burros, the author of this post, was actually the journalist in the Reagan era who coined the idea that "ketchup is a vegetable," which is now part of the food culture lexicon.
*Obama pizza at top of post was created by British food artist Prudence Strait for the Daily Mail. Photo by Alistair Heap.
The US-Australia relationship is "crackerjack," says President Obama, even if we "disagree" about "the merits of Vegemite"... In Australia on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Julia Gillard hosted a lavish banquet in honor of President Obama. The "Parliamentary Dinner," held in a vast hall at Parliament House Canberra, was a formal affair, which Australian media billed as a State Dinner. The three-course menu for a guest list of hundreds, including Cabinet Ministers and Australian luminaries, starred regional favorites: Pan-fried Jewfish, lamb, and a pavlova with wattleseed. (Above: The President and Prime minister in the center of the Head Table)
Clad in a sequined black gown, Gillard welcomed the President for a "night of friendship," and admitted that she's been “a little bit nervous” about his visit. She said her significant other, Tim Mathieson, “really got a talking to from the First Lady” while in Hawaii for the APEC summit, where he joined Mrs. Obama for lunch on Sunday.
“She said to him that you often don’t eat because you are so focused on your work that you forget to eat and she wanted to make sure that we feed you well in Australia," Gillard told President Obama.
"So the only answer to that was to make sure that you had a hearty meal and had six to seven hundred witnesses."
During his own remarks after the dinner, President Obama recalled a childhood visit to the country, and used local vernacular as he hailed the relationship between the US and Australia.
"We can say with confidence and with pride that the alliance between the United States and Australia is deeper and stronger than it has ever been. Spot on. Crackerjack. In top nick."
While Americans and Australians "may not always speak the same way or use the same words," President Obama assured the crowd that there are more similarities than differences.
"I think it’s pretty clear...that we understand and see the world in the same way, even if we disagree about the merits of Vegemite."
The President was clad in a dark suit that he'd worn during his day of meetings, and had arrived with Gillard at 7:48 PM to trumpets. They stood together on stage before the dinner began, as a military band played and a chorus sang the American and then the Australian national anthems. Read the full transcript of the President's remarks.(Above: Seated on stage)
Opposition Leader Tony Abbot also spoke, telling Mr. Obama that “as the leader of the United States, sir, you are the world’s president.”
Tablesettings featured red white and blue flora arrangements, and US and Australian flags decorated the hall. As for the "hearty" meal: Mission accomplished.
Parliamentary Dinner in Honor of President Obama
First Macadamia and Thyme Encrusted Lamb Canon with Avocado Cream Quenelle Blood Orange Segments and Herb Salad Wine: Voyager Estate Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2011 Margaret River (WA)
Main Pan-fried Jewfish with Seared Prawn Mousse Crushed Kipfler Potato and Saffron Cream Reduction Wine: Hollick Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Coonawarra (SA)
Dessert Wattleseed and Passionfruit Pavlova Roulade with Fresh Raspberries
Guest list as provided by Prime Minister Gillard's office:
President Barack Obama
Prime Minister Julia Gillard
Mr. Tim Mathieson
Tony Abbott, Opposition Leader
Speaker of the House of Representatives Harry Jenkins
President of the Senate John Hogg
The Honourable Robert French AC, Chief Justice of Australia
Former Prime Minister Howard
General David Hurley
Australian Ambassador to America Kim Beazley
Premier of QLD Anna Bligh
Premier of SA Jay Weatherill
Chief Minister of the ACT Katy Gallagher
Pool also reported as guests: "Ministers and Members of Parliament, plus their partners; a number of Ambassadors and High Commissioners; a number of Department Secretaries; a number of representatives from Australian businesses, unions, business interest groups, academics and NGOs.
On Wednesday, Nov. 30th, as she unveils the decorations for her third holiday season in the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama will welcome military families, including Gold Star and Blue Star parents, spouses and children, for the first viewing. At 1:30 PM, Mrs. Obama will deliver remarks in the East Room, and then she will host the children in the State Dining Room for a special holiday craft and treat session.
Yosses' annual Gingerbread replica of the White House will also be unveiled on Wednesday. Last year's white chocolate-covered extravaganza weighed 400 pounds, while the 2009 edition came in at 390 pounds. Both were created with honey from the White House Beehive, and featured marzipan miniatures of First Dog Bo, and the First Lady's Kitchen Garden. (Above: The 2009 White House Gingerbread House)
On Wednesday, Nov. 30th, as she unveils the decorations for her third holiday season in the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama will welcome military families, including Gold Star and Blue Star parents, spouses and children, for the first viewing. At 1:30 PM, Mrs. Obama will deliver remarks in the East Room, and then she will host the children in the State Dining Room for a special holiday craft and treat session.
Yosses' annual Gingerbread replica of the White House will also be unveiled on Wednesday. Last year's white chocolate-covered extravaganza weighed 400 pounds, while the 2009 edition came in at 390 pounds. Both were created with honey from the White House Beehive, and featured marzipan miniatures of First Dog Bo, and the First Lady's Kitchen Garden. (Above: The 2009 White House Gingerbread House)
