January 20, 1965
His first inauguration took place on Air Force One, standing next to a dazed Jackie Kennedy, her dead husband’s blood still soaking her pink skirt.
His second inauguration took a very different turn.
Lyndon Baines Johnson of Texas won election in his own right in 1964, after first taking the highest office because of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Johnson also inherited and escalated the Vietnam War, presiding over a torturous quagmire that haunts America to this day.
Johnson’s inaugural luncheon menu speaks quietly of the changes coming to America, the Tomato Surprise (even if it probably was an aspic-based dish popularized by the Jello folks) and the Avocado Romaine Salad whispering of the health food changes wrought by the Counterculture and the Berkeley of Alice Waters’s Chez Panisse, still a gleam better called Alice’s Restaurant.
Johnson didn’t know what to make of those heady days, those churning and gut-wrenching times. Days when young people fought for America AND revolted against the status quo, demanding freedom of thought and expression.
No more white gloves. No more fake-fur-collared coats. And no more skinny cucumber sandwiches and proper little lunches.
The times, they did change.
Anyway, in spite of the terror being inflicted halfway around the world on our own people and the Vietnamese, the staid Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies hosted their proper little lunch on January 20, 1965, held at the Supreme Court Chamber, Capitol Building. The Senate Restaurant at the Capitol prepared and served the luncheon.
Pink Grapefruit Supreme
Relish Tray
Texas Heart of Filet Mignon, Grilled
Tomato Surprise
Blue Lake String Beans in Butter
Avocado and Romaine Salad
Hot Rolls and Butter
The President’s Delight
Mints
Coffee
I’m still looking for a mention, whispered or otherwise, of what “The President’s Delight” might have been, but let’s pretend that Lady Bird Johnson’s Strawberry Ice-Box Pie fits the bill. [Actually, a clipping from the Scranton Times states that “The President’s Delight” resembled a Bavarian Cream of some sort.]
At least McNamara eventually apologized for the Vietnam War … As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
LADY BIRD JOHNSON’S STRAWBERRY ICE BOX PIE
Makes 1 pie
1 cooled pie shell
1 17-ounce package marshmallows
2 T. strawberry juice
1 box frozen strawberries or 2 cups fresh berries sweetened to taste
1 cup whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks
Add strawberry juice to marshmallows in double boiler. Heat until marshmallows melt. Stir in strawberries and mix well. Chill two hours. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon marshmallow/whipped cream mixture into pie shell. Chill until firm.
(From Marie Smith’s Entertaining in the White House. 1967.)
TOMATO SURPRISE
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 3 oz package Jell-o lemon, strawberry or mixed fruit gelatin
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon vinegar
Pour tomatoes into saucepan, saving can to use as mold. Bring tomatoes to a boil, add Jell-o and salt, stirring until dissolved. Add vinegar. Pour into can. Chill until firm. To unmold, puncture bottom of can before dipping into warm water. Serve with mayonnaise, if desired. Makes about 2 cups, or 4 side salads, OR 6 relish servings.
If you increase the vinegar to 1 1/2 tablespoons and add a can of drained crushed pineapple, and a smidge of allspice, you can make Tomato Pineapple Surprise. You need to use both your tomato can and your pineapple can for molds in that case.
© 2008 C. Bertelsen
CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN 