Presidents and First Ladies Trivia

[L Verge]

Donna - I don't have access to your cookbook at home. Is the icing recipe called Candied Fruit Frosting? That is what is carried in The Presidents' Cookbook (1968 - no citations of sources). It gives a variation of icing that is just white icing with grated coconut. They call it Merry Christmas Cake. It has always been just Snowball Cake in southern regions that I'm familiar with.

Would love to know the original source for the story of this Todd cake. Given that The Presidents' Cookbook is now over fifty years old, could the authors have started the story? I will say one thing, if the recipes attributed to the Lincoln household in that cookbook really were Lincoln favorites, old Abe should have ended up as wide as he was long!

[Donna McCreary]

Yes, it can be called a Candied Fruit Frosting. I just call it "Frosting" (page 78). It is an old-fashioned boiled icing with diced candied fruit folded in to the finished frosting. I have had the Vanilla Almond White cake with this icing, coconut icing, cream cheese icing, and a variety of flavored glazes. My favoirte way to serve the cake is with fresh strawberries, a dusting of powdered sugar, and maybe a small amount of strawberry syrup - whipped cream opitional. As good as this one can be, I still like the Todd Pecan Cake better. It has a better texture and is more flavorful.

I think the Lincoln scholar I spoke to is the original source for the story. He said he first began telling the tale in the late 1940's or early 1950's.

[RJNorton]

Which president gave his wife a gift of a greyhound puppy which he ordered from Naples, Italy?

[Rsmyth]

Who had money to do that? Rockefeller?

[RJNorton]

Hint #1: The president came before Lincoln.

[Gene C]

John Tyler

[RJNorton]

You win, Gene! Kudos.

John Tyler's wife, Julia, noted that the puppy "was very rough on the furniture and rugs and required constant attention and discipline."

The Tylers named the dog Le Beau.

[RJNorton]

Which First Lady said:

"No one is immune. Families really need help to understand it and cope with it."

[L Verge]

Betty Ford, regarding her addiction?

[RJNorton]

Laurie, that certainly is a logical guess, but it was not Betty Ford.

[L Verge]

A First Lady who had lost a child?

[RJNorton]

In a very general way, Laurie, your thinking is on the right track.

Hint #1: Her reference was actually to something that had happened to her husband.

[Rsmyth]

I would also have said Betty Ford but will now guess Mrs. Reagan?

[RJNorton]

That's correct, Rich. Good job.

The quote comes from Nancy Reagan in the October 2, 1995, edition of Newsweek. She was referring to Alzheimer's disease.

[Gene C]

I don't know the answer to this, I'm just asking.....

Who was the last president to have slave help in the White House?