Democracy served hot: Presidential recipes for your Election Day spread

Use this list as a guide to try a variety of meals as you wait on election results to roll in.

🦅Dwight D. Eisenhower’s vegetable soup

The 34th president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, had a variety of dishes he regularly ate. Eisenhower’s staff released a list of his favorites, including turnips, corn pudding, veal, quail and even apple pie. The list also includes a recipe for “Ike’s Vegetable Soup.”

This meal calls for a quart of canned tomatoes, celery, onions and other vegetables. Eisenhower also recommends making the soup “a day or so after you have fried chicken and out of which you have saved the necks, ribs [and] backs uncooked.”

🦅Richard Nixon’s final meal as president

Credit: U.S. NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Credit: U.S. NATIONAL ARCHIVES

On a warm August morning in 1974, Richard Nixon woke up for what would be his last day as the leader of the free world. In the afternoon, he would announce his resignation as president of the United States live on national tv. Before changing U.S. history, Nixon would end his presidency with a meal consisting of pineapple slices, topped with cottage cheese, served alongside a glass of milk.

Before being served to the disgraced president, photographer Robert Knudsen would capture the unusual meal in a picture described by NPR photographer Ryan Kellman as “so sad, austere, stately, funny.”

🦅John F. Kennedy’s clam chowder

In an article for bonappetit.com, Dan Piepenbring tells the story of Lynn Jennings, a young girl with disabilities who asked JFK what he liked to eat in a 1961 letter.

Upon receiving the note, one of JFK’s secretaries told him to “please reply to her, she will be extremely happy.”

Fulfilling her request, JFK responded to the girl, sending along his recipe for New England fish chowder.

Filled with haddock, pork and onions, this recipe creates enough food to serve six people.

🦅Jimmy Carter’s favorite southern dish

While Jimmy Carter is hailed by many as a hero to the American peanut industry, a 1976 New York Times article featured Amy Carter discussing her father’s love of the southern staple grits. “Daddy makes grits for breakfast, then breaks a couple of eggs into it and adds some cheese, and it’s yummy,” she said.

To celebrate his 98th birthday in 2022, The White House Historical Association released Carter’s recipe for the meal.

🦅Barack Obama’s famous chili

Credit: NYT

Credit: NYT

Former president Barack Obama is known for his active and healthy lifestyle. For example, instead of coffee, the 44th president often opts instead for orange juice or tea. His dedication to personal health also applies to his favorite meal, a classic homemade chili.

PBS published a recipe for the dish in 2013, which takes 30 minutes to prepare and features red-wine vinegar, cumin, oregano and more.

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