Presidents Day

Finally getting to the end of the days and events backlog. So, I'm a few days late. Anyways, I found a great website that talks about foods that past presidents like to eat. There some that are pretty common knowledge or foods that we just relate to different presidents. These are cherries for Washington, peanuts for Carter, jelly beans for Regan, and definitely not broccoli for Bush Senior. But, we don't know much more beyond that so this website was pretty helpful.

The food I chose to make for this meal represent the first three presidents (George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson) and Abraham Lincoln. It was his birthday this month.  John Adams tastes were really quite simple and was known for serving veal, bacon, and neck of mutton. So, we have bacon and why wouldn't one serve bacon if he had a chance. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson liked to travel and try new things? In fact, while in Holland, he had waffles for the first time. He liked them so much he bought a waffle maker and brought waffles to the U.S. Thanks Tom! What goes great with bacon? Waffles. Then we add some cherry sauce on top and now the first three presidents are represented. For dessert, find that Lincoln had fond memories of gingerbread. Now, the story refers to gingerbread men, but I can not bring myself to make them in February. So, I made a spicy gingerbread to try something new.

Let's talk the recipes. Bacon is bacon. I did follow the advice on one web page for making the perfect bacon in the oven. I am picky about my bacon, crisp but not burnt. I baked it on a sheet at 375, turning at 15 minutes and leaving it for another 15 as instructed. It took longer for my liking. I do NOT like undercooked bacon.

For the waffles, I had some expired half and half in the fridge and decided to try a Classic Buttermilk Waffle. As a disclaimer, I must add that I do have issues with waffle makers. My first waffle in any batch always turns out as a scrambled waffle sticking to the iron. Not sure if it's not hot enough, greased enough, or just not cooked long enough. Suggestions? The recipe turned out tasting good. I did add additional flour, because it seemed thin. I really need to spend sometime analyzing the flavor and texture while I'm eating it to give a better review. Please forgive me. I'm new at this.

Tart Cherry Sauce

I tried two cherry sauce recipes, one using tart cherry and the other using sweet. I must say the Tart Cherry Sauce did taste better to me than the Sweet Cherry Sauce. In the end my family was in different to both saying that they were OK. It had either to do with the brandy that was added or that were just used to what came in a can. But hey, I'm stretching my skill base either way. The sauce using the tart cherries, I didn't have any orange liquor; I used some zest of orange and brandy. The sauce thickened up nicely and was fairly easy. The sauce using the sweet cherries didn't go as well. The directions were not clear as to when to add ingredients. It included salt, which I skipped, because I really didn't see the need. It said to toss cherries in salt and then cook down. It didn't tell me when to add anything else until a small amount of cornstarch which I increased when the mixture wasn't thickening, because the directions weren't complete, this is what I recommend:



Sweet Cherry Sauce

I left out the salt and added the sugar tossing the cherries in that. I would add a tablespoon of water and the brandy, then cook it down until cherries are soft and liquid. Mix a tablespoon of cornstarch and two tablespoons of water until the cornstarch is dissolved and add to the sauce for thickening purposes. Bring it to a boil and then simmer until thickened. You can add more brandy and the lemon juice if you feel it is needed.

As I said previously, I made Spicy Gingerbread for dessert. I have never made one before, so for my recipe I went into my archives of cookbooks. I don't know about you, but I love cookbooks. Not that I make every recipe in them, but I just love to look at them and imagine. I might even get this from my mom. My mom loves to go to this thrift shop called Bibles for Mexico. I think that is where she picked this one up that she gave to me. It's The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, published in 1962 by the Harvest Corporation. I like old cookbooks, because they don't try to be highbrow. No strange ingredients that you can't find at the local grocery store. The Spicy Gingerbread recipe can be found on page 535, if you have the book in your possession. The recipe follows:

Spicy Gingerbread

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1 cup molasses
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 cup boiling water


Early in the day (I love it, every recipe in this book starts this way.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour one 9-inch square cake pan. Into a large bowl, measure all ingredients; with mixer at low speed, beat until well mixed, constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat at medium speed 3 minute, occasionally scraping bowl. Pour batter into pan and bake 55 to 60 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack. Makes 1 small cake.

The recipe goes on to recommends some frosting recipes, but I just sifted some powdered sugar on top and added whipped cream. This was different. It is NOT a sweet cake. It's not like any cake that I've made before. It has a very strong flavor, you can taste the molasses, ginger, and cloves. You definitely need the whipped topping on it. It was good and I may make it again. The thing is, if I made all of the desserts that I have in my dessert rotation, I would be making desserts more times a week than I care to count. Who's going to eat it all? I wouldn't be able to get out of the house due to the size of waste. I don't have time to workout to burn all the calories and make them.

Well, that's it for this week. I'm still thinking about next week. It's John Steinbeck's birthday and the foods from the Great Depression aren't all that inspiring. Mayonnaise sandwiches?

Oh hey, movie recommends: Lincoln, JFK, John Adams HBO miniseries, or All the Presidents Men. Less serious? Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer, Air Force 1, Murder At 1600, or The American President just to name a few.