Good thing they got out and walked

The menu for the Inaugural Day Luncheon topped a whopping 3,000 calories, not including the wine. I can’t imagine that anyone consumed the entire menu, but it’s kind of fun to see what the President, First Lady and other dignitaries ate. President and Mrs. Obama walked parts of the parade route. They probably just needed to work off some of that food. By the way, if you want to feel slightly presidential yourself, you can download the recipes here.

Inaugural Day Luncheon 2013

First Course: Steamed lobster with New England Clam Chowder Sauce, sauteed spinach and sweet potato hay

Second Course: Hickory-grilled bison with red potato horseradish cake and wild huckleberry reduction, baby golden beets and green beans, strawberry preserve and red cabbage

Third Course: Hudson Valley apple pie with sour cream ice cream, aged cheese and honey maple caramel sauce, artisan cheeses

By comparison, here’s what President and Mrs. Reagan enjoyed for their first Inaugural Day Luncheon in 1981:

California garden salad

Sauteed chicken breast covered with white wine sauce and capers

Rice Pilaf

Fresh Hot Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette

Fresh Strawberries Framboise

To show how times have changed, here’s the menu for Harry Truman’s inaugural day lunch in 1949:

South Carolina turkey

Smithfield Ham

Potato salad

Pumpkin pie

And the nation’s first president? It’s not recorded what George Washington ate, but it may well have been fish.  President Washington loved fish, preferring it to meat perhaps because of his famous dental problems. By the time he was sworn in in 1789 there wasn’t a tooth in his head. And he ate his inaugural lunch alone.