What would Bill Clinton’s cookie recipe be?
February 20th, 2008
Now that it looks like Obama has all but wrapped up the Democratic nomination, it’s time to come to terms with the thought that we may not get a cookie recipe out of Bill Clinton.
Every four years since 1992, Family Circle magazine has sponsored a “cookie cook-off” between the two First Lady nominees. For the cook-off, the wives of the two major party presidential candidates each submit a cookie recipe, and the magazine’s readers then vote for their favorite one. In all four presidential contests, the woman who submitted the winning recipe has gone on to become (or remain) First Lady.
The thought of the former President taking part in this contest excited me. Not because of the full-circledness of having Bill weigh in on a contest that was started because of a “controversial” statement Hillary made during the 1992 campaign. (During an interview with Nightline, she said, “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life.”) Never mind the pensive essays Bill’s recipe would inspire about gender roles. Never mind all the reading into what having a potential First Man would mean.
I was just really excited to see the guy’s cookie recipe.
Bill’s on the books as loving Spago pastry chef Sherry Yard’s Oatmeal Cookies. At the same time, he’s a smart enough politician to know that submitting a cookie recipe that doesn’t include chocolate is practically ceding the election to your opponent. (Cookie recipes without chocolate are 0-3 in the contest — Liddy Dole’s Pecan Rolls, Tipper Gore’s Ginger Snaps and Teresa Heinz Kerry’s Pumpkin Spice Cookies all lost.)
Hillary won twice with her chocolate chip cookies; her recipe called for shortening while Barbara Bush’s chocolate chip cookies called for butter. Here’s the problem: the former president is allergic to chocolate. Would he buck the odds and go with a cookie he could actually eat? Or, would he forgo his own personal pleasure and submit a people-pleasing cookie loaded with chocolate?
We’ll probably never know. But just for fun, let’s assume that Hillary does come back and get the nomination. What do you think Bill’s cookie will be?
Update: Today in Slate, Mimi Sheraton does a Brillat-Savarin survey of Hillary’s eating habits.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
[…] You just bumped into your sexy date on a date with another date, and decide to impress your girlfriends with some South American food based on the few ingredients available in your fridge. That’s basically what CookThink offers you. Browse the tag cloud and select all the relevant items. So that would be in this case consoling, Argentinian, chicken and onion. And you get… French Onion And Shallot Soup! OK, I guess that the search engine needs some fine tuning. Give chance another spin by clicking on “Almost… show me more recipes”, which is actually my favorite page on the site. I also dig the related tips, the Meal Builder and their blog. […]
February 21st, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I guess oatmeal-chocolate-chip would be too obvious of a choice? Maybe a with a dense chocolate cookie with roasted pecans and more chocolate chips. Mmmmmm! Now I must go bake…
February 21st, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Classic Clinton triangulation. Maybe so. But does it matter though that Laura Bush’s recipe in 2000 was an oatmeal-chocolate chip cookie? I don’t think he’d copy her. Maybe he could do an oatmeal raisin cookie and include a chocolate dipping sauce for it.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:20 pm
He has pretty straight forward food preferences, has a serious sweet tooth and likes apples and bananas (according to a little online research), so frosted apple bar cookies with an oatmeal base would be one guess. Pecan bars would be another.
I don’t know why, but I can’t dispel a peanut butter-banana cookie with mini chocolate chips.
He’s probably a sticky bun (caramel roll with pecans) kind of guy.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:22 pm
On second thought– brownies.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Allergy? Well, that nixes the chocolate ideas. Guess I need to read more carefully.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
That may be a low-grade chocolate allergy. Evidence? In Slate yesterday, Mimi Sheraton reported that Bill took a bite of Hillary’s Snickers blizzard at a Dairy Queen in Iowa. I like the peanut butter-banana cookie idea. Would also go well with an optional chocolate dipping sauce.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I remember Bill had a penchant for snacking on roasted cinnamon almonds while he was in the White House. I’m thinking a crispy crunchy almond meal cookie with dried tart cherries and a quickie dash of cinnamon spice. Dipped in white chocolate on one end. Sweet and tart. Smooth. With a bite.
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:45 am
I’m not thinking cookie- more like a little humble pie!
June 4th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
[…] You may have seen this back in March on Good Morning America, but now that Obama is the Democratic nominee, we might all want to examine the candidates’ go-to recipes a little more closely. (No cookies for Bill.) McCain is a ribs guy while Obama’s one trick is chili. Having edited a lot of recipes, I appreciate Obama’s precision (though his option of using turkey meat will probably take Texas out of swing state contention). But having eaten too many oversauced ribs in my life, I like McCain’s simple rub. Then again, the ribs are grilled. […]
June 17th, 2008 at 9:41 am
[…] Months ago, when it looked like Obama had locked up the Democratic nomination, I mentioned one sad side effect: no cookie recipe from Bill Clinton. […]