~ This is the third in a series of posts about Presidential Food

“You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jelly beans.”  ~ Ronald Reagan

Weren’t they a beautiful couple?

The Reagans brought elegance, glamour and a degree of formality to the White House. Over the course of 8 years, they supposedly entertained about 75,500 guests per year, including seven kings, three queens, thirteen princes, and seventy-seven prime ministers. Not to mention all those movie stars.

With the expertise of White House Executive Chef Henry Haller and Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier, Nancy orchestrated many, many finely tuned, exquisite private and official State Dinners, luncheons and teas. 

The President had a sweet tooth, always taking a large serving of dessert, and then having seconds. He loved honey-baked apples and chocolate. Nancy took great pride in their “dessert dinners,” constantly challenging the Chefs to create new dishes that were light (fruit oriented), sophisticated, and pleasing to the eye. 

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