New York Chef Invited To Cook For President Obama's 2012 Greek Independence Day Party

For all of 2011 and through this month, White House aides have not announced the names of any guest chefs who have been invited to cook for President Obama at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But one lucky cook has now spilled the beans: New York's Maria Loi (l), who owns the eponymous restaurant Loi on the Upper West Side. The native of Greece has revealed that she cooked Mediterranean delights for President Obama's early and completely-closed-to-press reception for Greek Independence Day, held last Thursday in the East Room. The White House didn't release a guest list, but the party was for several hundred people.

Loi shared the news of her presidential honor with the New York Post, and said that she cooked alongside Executive Chef Cris Comerford and Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses. She opened her NY restaurant last October, after becoming famous in her own country as a TV personality and chef.

"The White House chefs welcomed me as if I were in my own kitchen," Loi said. "I could stay here and cook with them forever.”

Comerford and Yosses gave Loi a tour of First Lady Obama's Kitchen Garden--due to be replanted for Spring today--as well as the beehive that sits nearby. She used White House honey to make her signature baklava for the President's party.

“It was the most wonderful honey I ever tasted--and we have great honey in Greece!” Loi said.

Other guests chefs have also cooked for the President's Greek Independence Day parties. In 2010, Iron Chef America star and cookbook author Cat Cora, a Greek American, cooked for the party. New York chef and cookbook author Michael Psilakis was the President's guest chef for his very first Greek Independence Day reception in 2009. Psilakis was also the first guest chef who had his name announced by aides. The White House did not announce the name of any guest chef for the 2011 Greek Independence Day Reception, and no chef spilled the beans about an invite.

Last Thursday's event was the 26th time the White House has marked Greece's national holiday, which falls on March 25th. President Obama's previous parties were not entirely closed to press; these were covered by his pool reporters and transcripts and videos of his remarks were released. Not so this year.

The New York Post story noted that Big Apple chefs are now "enjoying star status" in the District.

*Photo courtesy of Maria Loi.

White House Beehive Is Ready For Spring 2012

The hive is now larger...and the special White House Honey Cupcake recipe...
The White House Beehive, the first to ever be on the grounds, has been expanded from when it was first installed on the South Lawn beside First Lady Michelle Obama's Kitchen Garden in 2009. More bee boxes have been added, to increase the output of honey. In 2011, the hive produced 243 pounds of honey, up from 164 pounds in 2010 and 124 pounds in 2009. The base the hive stands on has been changed, too, and lowered for easier access. Last week, Mrs. Obama presented Mrs. Samantha Cameron with a gift of a specially inscribed crystal vase of the honey during the Official Visit. Above, the beehive on St. Patrick's Day, on a beautiful spring afternoon at the White House.

"The honey has been amazing," said Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives Sam Kass recently.

"We have taken out some incredible numbers in terms of what we've got, and it's been amazing for the kids to see the whole process, and to learn the importance of pollinators to what we eat."

In the above photo of the hive taken exactly one year ago, Beekeeper in Chief Charlie Brandts makes repairs on the then-smaller hive. Spring came later last year to Washington: The magnolia tree beside the hive was not flowering in March of 2011, but it is already dropping its blooms this year.

Brandts has worked at the White House as a carpenter for more than three decades, and in 2009 brought his home beekeeping efforts to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at the behest of Kass, to ensure that the Kitchen Garden has optimum pollination. In addition to being given as diplomatic gifts, honey from the White House Beehive is used for State Dinners and First Family Dinners, as well as given to Miriam's Kitchen, a community organization that provides meals for DC's homeless.  Honey is also used by the chefs when they homebrew beer. The Obamas' chefs are the first in history to homebrew at the White House.

Kids who visit the Kitchen Garden for tours are given an explanation of the importance of bees in the food chain, and at the last two Easter Egg Rolls, Brandts had a booth set up in front of the Hive, explaining how it works. (Above: A longshot of the beehive on St. Pat's Day, with the White House in the background)

A delicious and easy recipe for White House Honey Cupcakes, created by Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses, IS HERE. Check the sidebar for all White House recipes, including salad recipes that use honey in the dressing.

Brandts and Kass explain the White House beehive in this fun video:



*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama

Let's Move! Success: Michelle Obama Gets Jay Leno To Eat Veggies On "Tonight Show"

First Lady talks about her new book, her childhood obesity campaign, and gifts Leno with a jar of White House honey...Video
On Tuesday, First Lady Michelle Obama achieved her goal of getting Jay Leno to eat some vegetables during an appearance on The Tonight Show to promote her Let's Move! campaign--and to talk Campaign 2012. During the taping of the NBC show in Burbank, Leno's desk was turned into a buffet, complete with slices of veggie-topped pizza, a cone-shaped basket of baked sweet potato fries, and apples. The First Lady had run a mini campaign on Twitter to encourage Leno to try some veggies, and she sweetened the deal by bringing along a big jar of White House Honey, from the beehive that sits beside her Kitchen Garden. (Above: Mrs. Obama with Leno and his buffet)

Leno told Parade magazine in a 2006 interview that he hadn't eaten a vegetable since 1969.

"I admit my diet is not good," Leno said during his monologue. "My idea of fruit salad is a bowl of Skittles. The only fiber I get is when I eat a slice of pizza and the cardboard from the box gets stuck in the cheese."

Mrs. Obama was all smiles as she encouraged Leno to try the healthy feast: "You are such a role model for millions, it would be wonderful," she said. He started with the veggie pizza, which was topped with eggplant, green peppers and zucchini, and made with a whole-wheat crust.

"This a good way for people of your ilk, who don't like vegetables, to incorporate them," Mrs. Obama said.

"That does smell very good. I assume this is sausage-pepperoni,” Leno joked, and added "it's not bad," after taking a few bites. "It would be better with sausage and pepperoni."

He hailed the sweet potato fries as "quite good."

"I heard you haven't had an apple in a decade," Mrs. Obama said, as she offered a plate of apples to Leno. "And with some of our White House honey, if you dip it, it will help it go down just a little easier."

“’White House honey.’ That sounds bad," Leno quipped. "You know, with a different president that could mean a whole different thing, ‘a little White House honey.’”

Leno dipped his apple in the honey, and took a bite. He got a big round of applause.

Mrs. Obama also discussed her forthcoming book, American Grown, which will be published in May. The book cover was flashed onscreen.

"It's about the Kitchen Garden," she said. Asked if the White House will ever have a cattle herd to go along with the beehive and the garden, Mrs. Obama said no, and credited First Dog Bo.

Asked by Leno if she has any veggies she doesn't like, Mrs. Obama said beets.

"I am not a beet lover," Mrs. Obama said. "I believe there is a beet gene, and I don't have it." It's a theory the First Lady first posited during a Ladies' Home Journal cover story in 2010.

Leno had a surprise for Mrs. Obama: He took out a plate of beets, and offered her some.

"Tricky, tricky," Mrs. Obama said.

"All I ask is that you try ," Leno said.

The First Lady took a bite, wrinkling her nose, and got cheers. Mrs. Obama may not like beets, but they were in the salad she served during her luncheon for the APEC Leaders Spouses last November in Hawaii.

"She ate every bite," Chef Ed Kenney, who cooked the meal, told Obama Foodorama.

Mrs. Obama also discussed President Obama's new career as a singer--thanks to Al Green--daughters Malia and Sasha, and the re-election campaign.

Leno eats an apple and White House honey in this clip:



Leno's White House gift...
The First Lady's beehive is the first to ever be on White House grounds, and was installed when she first planted her Kitchen Garden in 2009. Overseen by beekeeper Charlie Brandts, it produced 243 pounds of honey in 2011. The honey is used for everything from First Family meals to State Dinners, and jars of it have been included in Mrs. Obama's diplomatic gifts, including a garden-centric gift for His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, during President Obama's State Visit to the UK in 2011. White House honey is also used to make White House homebrewed beer. (Above: A jar of White House honey; the lid reads "from the South Lawn")

Mrs. Obama, on a two-day swing through Los Angeles, spoke at a DNC reception on Tuesday evening, and will tape The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Wednesday. She'll also attend a Let's Move! event on Wednesday morning, before heading to a DNC luncheon.

The President last appeared on The Tonight Show in October of 2011, and after joking to Leno that the White House was in danger of getting egged on Halloween thanks to his wife's insistence on including dried fruit in treat bags handed out to costumed school kids, more candy was actually added to the treat bags.

*NBC photo & video; honey photo by Obama Foodorama