Washington, Dec 14 (DPA) It’s party time at the White House. During December, the Obamas are set to host 28 events with a total of 50,000 guests during their first Christmas season as the First Family.
President Barack Obama’s aides note that things were no different under his predecessors. There are parties for soldiers’ relatives, for the Secret Service, for White House employees and for the media, there are receptions to mark the Jewish Hanukkah and the African Kwanzaa.
And all these events have one thing in common: guests eat “like crazy”, according to former White House head chef Walter Scheib. He catered for White House guests under former US presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton and knows what he is talking about.
In December, every willing kitchen employee can put in a 100-hour working week, he joked.
“Christmas at the White House is the single most mentally and physically challenging thing that you can do,” Scheib stressed.
The pastry chef has a particularly hard time. Bill Yosses and his team have been planning and preparing their work since October, and the freezers of the country’s First Kitchen are chock-full with dough for cookies and other delicacies.
Yosses’ rule of thumb for receptions, as he told various US media: four small cookies per guest that can be wrapped in a serviette and put into one’s pocket or handbag to take away as a souvenir.
This year, party sweets are set to include nut pralines, chocolate truffles, and lemon, pumpkin and ginger biscuits.
The highlight, however, is only fit for the eyes: the traditional gingerbread house, a sweet replica of the US president’s residence. Yosses worked for six weeks on the 188-kilogramme work of art, with a lot of white chocolate.
As a novelty, this year is set to feature marzipan vegetables. At the initiative of First Lady Michelle Obama – a renowned health-and-fitness fan – the White House now has a vegetable garden on its grounds, from which the Obamas get fresh goods for their table.
This year’s celebrations also hold other innovations. With a view to preserving the daily routine of Obama’s daughters – Sasha, 8, and Malia, 11, – there are fewer parties on weekends and evenings and relatively more while the girls are at school.
And while the economy seems to have recovered from the crisis, times are still hard enough to demand at least some frugality.
The official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room, for example, has been decorated with around 700 somewhat-recycled ornaments. They were once used under earlier administrations, but Michelle Obama sent them off to 60 community groups around the country, where they were painted to show each region’s local landmarks.
The Obamas are environmentally-conscious. The proud, five-and-a-half-metre-tall Douglas fir has been decorated with energy-saving LED lights. And of course, nature is omnipresent: garlands, wreaths and the more than 20 trees around the White House have been decorated with magnolias, hydrangeas and bell peppers, along with elements from Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden.
Not everyone is pleased with the celebrations, however. According to The New York Times, portions of the country’s Jewish community are upset about the number of guests at the Hanukkah party that is being planned for next week.
The Obamas are reportedly being targeted for only inviting about 400 people, when 800 people used to get invites under his predecessor George W. Bush. The White House, however, insists that this is not true: they are expecting 550 guests, while under Bush there used to be about 600.
What the Obamas have indeed reduced dramatically is the number of Christmas cards they sent out. Only “a few hundred thousand” have been mailed this year, compared to 1.5 million in 2003, Bush’s first year in office.
Those not lucky enough to get a first hand view can turn into a television special showcasing the holiday decorations and interview with the First Couple hosted by talk-show queen and Obama support Oprah Winfrey on Sunday.
And just how expensive is the whole affair? On that, the Obamas’ lips are sealed. The message: enjoy and keep quiet.
