Created in 1880 to celebrate democracy and freedom, Presidents Day is a federal holiday that originally was held on George Washington’s birthday.

For the luckier among us, President’s Day means we get the day off, the better to spend time with our friends and families sharing good conversation and delicious food.

You might be surprised to learn that the White House Kitchen itself is rather humble; especially when you consider that its chefs regularly feed from 140 guests for a official White House dinner to more than 1,000 for a Congressional family picnic on the White House lawn.

For larger events, the official White House Kitchen, at 22 by 27 1/2 feet (including pantry) can be too small to accommodate the needs and supplies of both the regular and guest chefs pressed into service, so the lesser White House Staff Kitchen often ends up serving as an auxiliary kitchen.

Add to the mix the fact that the White House Kitchen is often undergoing modernizing renovations of one sort or another, and one’s own tiny kitchen at its most frazzled can seem like an island of peace and tranquility in comparison.

According to ABC News / Good Morning America, the average kitchen size in the United States is now a whopping 300 square feet, making the White House Kitchen approximately twice the size of the average American kitchen. (Alas, my own kitchen is nowhere near 300 square feet.)

While it’s unlikely that most of us will ever have the honor of eating food prepared by current White House chefs Cristeta Comerford (the first female White House Executive Chef) and President Barack Obama appointee Chef Sam Kass, you can enjoy a collection of dozens of interesting White House recipes that were made for President George Washington up to President George W. Bush.

Enjoy the Holiday!

(Photo Credit: The White House Kitchen in 1933 (during The Great Depression) is courtesy of The Library of Congress.)

Please join us tomorrow to read our new article, The Most Important Ingredient, which shares ideas to help you cope in the kitchen and become more confident in your cooking.

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