THE ROOSEVELTS – PART II

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd US President, Cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, and a graduate from Harvard.  He earned a law degree at Columbia University. He later became a democratic Senator for the state of New York. He was elected Governor of New York twice, 1928 and 1930. Elected president in 1932, he is the only president to have served more than 2 terms (he served for 12 years, until his untimely death in 1945, just before the end of WWII).

A political genius, Roosevelt laid the groundwork for American dominance in the post-war world. FDR steadily guided the country through the Great Depression and the war. He was succeeded by Harry S. Truman, whom he selected as vice-president. 

FDR was married to his cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt (the niece of Theodore Roosevelt).  They had five children who survived to adulthood and one who died ion infancy:  Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Halsted (1906 - 1975),   James Roosevelt (1907 - 1991 --  U.S. Congressman from California, 1955-65).  Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1909 - 1909),   Elliott Roosevelt (1910 - 1990),  Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1914 - 1988) and John Aspinwall Roosevelt (1916 – 1981 the only one of President Roosevelt's children to become a Republican).

I gerw up loving the Roosevelts because ours was a largely supportive family of FDR.  My Father, a Navy Seabee during World War II, was honored to serve under this Commander and Chief and his admiration of him remained until the end of Daddy’s life.  He took us o a family vacation to the Little White House on Warm Springs, Georgia … a trip we will never forget.  And until the day he died, my Grandfather kept a portrait of President Roosevelt hanging on his bedroom wall.  

The Roosevelts were the plainest sort of people, so far as eating habits went.  And their dinner tables, both public and private, reflected the fact that opposites attract. No one knew what they were going to eat for dinner. Hot dogs served to the King and Queen of England!

The Roosevelts enjoyed hearty, typically American food, like creamed chipped beef, bread puddings and fried cornmeal mush.  Welsh rabbit was a family favorite for Sunday night suppers, and cheeses of all types were always on hand for Roosevelt snacks or desserts. The family liked doughnuts both at breakfast and teatime.  The President took his breakfast on a tray in his room. His choice of coffee was a dark French roast, prepared in the White House kitchens from green coffee beans.  A coffee maker was placed on the President's breakfast tray so that he could regulate the brewing to his satisfaction. Luncheon was not really a family meal for the President. Very often he would lunch at his desk from a tray. Dinner brought the Roosevelt family together. Sunday-night suppers at the White House were intimate occasions.  Supper consisted of Mrs. Roosevelt's scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, or sausage, a dessert and coffee.  The President loved scrambled eggs any time of the day. 

There never was such a family for soups as the Roosevelts. All the years they occupied the White House big steel soup kettles were kept singing in the White House kitchen.  Cream L'Amande soup was Mrs,. Roosevelt’s favorite, while the President preferred clam chowder.  And the soup was always served with something called “Fairy Toast” (thinly sliced toasted bread,  much like Melba toast).  Toast fingers (toast cut in narrow strips), bread sticks, whole-wheat crackers and saltines were also served with the soup. 

Birthdays were special White House occasions and great attention was given to the cakes.  It was always angel food for Eleanor’s birthday and fruitcake for the President's.  Candy was always brought on with the coffee. Nuts were always on the table.  Apple pie was the President's preference among pies.

The Roosevelts liked cheese as an appetizer, in salads, for snacks and as a main course or a dessert, one of  the President's favorite desserts. He liked Camembert, Roquefort, Swiss, Gruyere, and Liederkranz, along with sharp American cheese that was the mainstay of many a meal and also had to be kept on hand for sandwiches, especially FDR’s preferred food, a gooey6 grilled cheese sandwich.  .

The Roosevelts were unusually fond of fish...There was nothing the President liked better than Lake Superior whitefish, boned and planked. Lobsters were great favorites of his, and a blessing during the rationing period. 

Here are some of Franklin and Eleanor’s favorite recipes:

 

The Little White House - Warm Springs, Georgia

Val-Kil - The Home of Eleanor Roosevelt

FDR’s Favorite Fruitcake

Growing up, we had many Holiday traditions,  For many years, one of these traditions was watching a TV movie of Truman Capote’s lovely essay “A Christmas Memory”.   The set-off line to this wonderful  memoir is: “Oh my, it’s fruitcake weather.”   Capote recalls the seasonal rituals of his eccentric Cousin Sook in rural Alabama, who would every year make her fruitcakes for holiday delivery to her neighbors, always reserving one to send to President Franklin Roosevelt.  Thus begins the story of their annual gathering of the ingredients.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s cake of choice actually was none other than the Christmas favorite — fruitcake.  The Roosevelt’s cook and housekeeper, Henrietta Nesbitt, wrote a cookbook filled with recipes the family enjoyed called, The Presidential Cookbook – Feeding the Roosevelts and Their Guests. 

Henrietta Nesbitt’s Fruitcake

1-1/2 pounds brown sugar
1-1/2 pounds butter
1-1/2 pounds flour (6 cups)
18 eggs
1-1/2 cups honey
2 lemon rinds, grated, and juice
1-2/ teaspoons mace
1 nutmeg, grated
2 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons cloves
6 pounds dates

6 pounds raisins (seeded muscatel)
1-1/2 pounds almonds cut lengthwise
2-1/2 pounds mixed peel (1-1/2 citron, 1/2  lemon, 1/2  orange)
3/4  cup brandy, poured over fruit the night before
3/4  cup sherry, poured over fruit the night before
1 cup of above flour sifted over fruit before adding to batter

Cream butter and sugar together. Beat whole eggs light, then add some of the creamed butter and beat very light; next the flour, and so on until all are mixed. Add the fruit last. Set cake forms in pans of water and bake in slow oven for 3 hours. All flour for cakes should be sifted twice before measuring. Bake in bread tins in pans of water in 350 degree oven for 2 hours. Yield, 3 pounds in bread pan. Yield, 8 loaves.

 

FDR & Two of his grandcihildren in from of the White House Christmas Tree, 12/25/1939

BLUEBERRY PUDDING

1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 T. fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon cornstarch

10 oz blueberries (2 cups)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup whole milk

1 stick  unsalted butter, melted & cooled slightly

1 teaspoon vanilla

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.

Stir together 1/3 cup sugar with water, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a small saucepan, then stir in blueberries. Bring to a simmer, then simmer, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a medium bowl.

Whisk together egg, milk, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl, then add flour mixture, whisking until just combined.

Spoon batter into baking pan, spreading evenly, then pour blueberry mixture evenly over batter (berries will sink). Bake until a knife inserted into center of cake portion comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.    Makes 6 to 8 breakfast or dessert servings

 

Mrs. Roosevelt's Scrambled Eggs in Chafing Dish

2 Tbsps. butter
1/2 cup cream or milk
5 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsps. minced chives or parsley

Melt the butter in the chafing dish pan over hot water; add the cream, mix, pour in the eggs and cook slowly.  Beat or stir till set; add the salt and a little pepper.  Serve at once, garnished with parsley or chives.  

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Pink Clouds on Angel Food Cake

1 cup cake flour--sift before measuring
1 1/4 cups egg whites (10 or 12)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon almond flavoring

Sift flour at least twice. Beat egg whites with hand beater until foamy; add cream of tartar and 1 cup of sugar carefully, continuing beating until the whites stand up in peaks. Add flavoring. Sift 1/2 cup sugar with salt and flour and very carefully fold into whites. Bake in angelcake pan in 375 degree F. oven 30 to 35 minutes.

Whipped Cream and Strawberries (Pink Clouds)

1 pint strawberries cut in half

1/2 pint heavy cream, whipped

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Whip heavy cream and powdered sugar.  Fold berries into whipped cream.  Spoon on top of Angel Food cake.   

Fala, a cute, black Scottish terrier, was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's constant companion in the last years of his life.

Fala was born on April 7, 1940 and given as a present to FDR by Mrs. Augustus G. Kellog of Westport, CT. After a short stay with FDR's cousin, Margaret "Daisy" Suckley, for obedience training, Fala arrived at the White House on November 10, 1940.

As a puppy, Fala had been originally named "Big Boy," but FDR was soon to change that. Using the name of his own 15th century Scottish ancestor (John Murray), FDR renamed the dog "Murray the Outlaw of Falahill, which quickly became shortened to "Fala."

Roosevelt doted on the little dog.  Fala slept in a special bed near the President's feet and was given a bone in the morning and dinner at night by the President himself. He wore a leather collar with a silver plate that read, "Fala, the White House."

Fala traveled everywhere with Roosevelt, accompaning him in the car, on trains, in airplanes, and even on ships. Since Fala had to be walked during long train rides, Fala's presence often revealed that President Roosevelt was on board. This led the Secret Service to codename Fala as "the informer."

While in the White House and while traveling with Roosevelt, Fala met many dignitaries including British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Mexican President Manuel Camacho. Fala entertained Roosevelt and his important visitors with tricks, including being able to sit up, rolling over, jump up, and curl his lip into a smile. 

Fala became a celebrity in his own right. He had appeared in numerous photographs with the Roosevelts, was seen at major events of the day, and even had a movie made about him in 1942. Fala had become so popular that thousands of people wrote him letters, causing Fala to need his own secretary to respond to them.

After being President Roosevelt's companion for five years, Fala was devastated when Roosevelt passed away on April 12, 1945. Fala rode on the President's funeral train from Warm Springs to Washington and then attended President Roosevelt's funeral.

 

Fala listens to one of FDR's Fieside Chats

Fala spent his remaining years living with Eleanor Roosevelt at Val-Kill. Although he had lots of room to run and play with his canine grandson, Tamas McFala, Fala never quite got over the loss of his beloved master.

Fala passed away on April 5, 1952 and was buried near President Roosevelt in the rose garden at Hyde Park.

The FDR Memorial

SWEET, SAVORY SCRUMPTIOUS SCOTTIE SCONES

2 Cups White Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 Tablespoon Honey

1/4  Cup Vegetable Oil

1 Egg

1/2  Cup Skim Milk. 

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, baking powder, and honey in a bowl. Add oil, egg, and milk, and then stir until mixed thoroughly. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and knead.

Roll out to 1/2 –inch thick, cut into 2-inch squares and place on a well-greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, allow to cool on a rack, then serve. Store in an airtight container. 

Makes around 25 pet scones.

(Recipe from The Three Dog Bakery)