Opinion
Bushes prepare for final holiday season at the White House
12/03/08 3:05 PM EST
Lame duck never tasted so good
White House Pastry Chef Bill Yosses, Chef Cris Comerford and first lady Laura Bush (Photo: Carrie Devorah).
Just because the election is over doesn't mean that the partying has to be. In fact, over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the first family and White House staff are gearing up for an endless stream of White House parties, events and visitors.
First lady Laura Bush unveiled the White House's holiday decorations and food Wednesday morning in a special preview for journalists, and the sheer volume of things is truly stunning.
To wit:
369 hand-decorated ornaments adorn the Blue Room's Christmas tree
1,250,000 Christmas Cards will be sent by the First Family
780 feet of garland
232 wreaths
412 poinsettias
And then there's the heartburn-inducing stats:
22,000 holiday cookies
3,000 grapefruits
600 pounds of asparagus
700 gallons of eggnog
If you're one of the 60,000 guests who will pass through the White House during the holiday season (25 holiday receptions and 7 dinners), you'll be treated to such food as lobster salad, smoked salmon with potato pancakes, herb-crusted lamb chops, shaved Virginia ham, cheesy stone-ground grits, roasted beef tenderloin, chilled gulf shrimp, brioche bread pudding, pumpkin pie, pecan pralines, chocolate truffles, blueberry cobbler and, of course, Barney, Miss Beazley and Kitty cookies.
This year's theme -- "A Red, White and Blue Christmas" -- aims to celebrate "the patriotic spirit that unites as Americas," according to the White House, and can be seen in some of the more notable decorations: Two 13-foot tall statues of Uncle Sam at the entrance to the East Wing, wreaths hanging from eagles' talons and red poinsettia arrangements in red drums. Heck, just to make sure that no one doubts how much the Bushes love America, there's even "patriotic ribbon."
The show stealer, however, is the Gingerbread White House, which replicates the North Portico. The 40" by 29" house took more than two months to construct and was created with more than 350 pounds of white chocolate and 125 pounds of gingerbread. And, yes, it includes replicas of the Bush family pets in a sleigh on the roof.
