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George Washington was our second tallest president. At 6'2", he was second only to Lincoln and the same
height as Lyndon Johnson. His weight fluctuated between 175 and 210 lbs
due to a constant series of illnesses. His size automatically made him
appear heroic at a time when the average man was 5'7" and weighed
140 lbs .Washington had a terrible
complexion pitted and scarred by the smallpox that he contracted when he
was nineteen. The disease also left him sterile, an ironic condition
for "the father of our country." Washington was also fairly
promiscuous which led to his nickname "the stallion of the Potomac."
The legends about Washington's
life are as extraordinary as some of the miracles assigned to early saints.
"Most of the poplar legends including the cherry tree story, were invented
by Parson Weems, an eighteenth century preacher/writer/publicist.
Weems wrote several successful fictional biographies of national heroes,
including Benjamin Franklin, William Penn, and Francis Marion. However, it
was Weems' History of the Life, Death, Virtues, and Exploits of General
Washington that became a best-seller for more than a century.
There were three culinary
tributes to Washington that were popular during his lifetime. The George
Washington Cake recipe goes back to 1780 and is a light pound cake
flavored with citron. The George Washington Pie is basically a single
layer white cake, split, and filled with strawberry jam and sprinkled with
powder sugar. The cherry pie did not become associated with Washington's
birthday until the middle of the nineteenth century after Weems inserted the
apocryphal story in one of the latest editions of his biography of our first
president.
One of Washington's favorite
foods was a combination of four omelets served on a plate. overlapping each
other The first omelet was filled with applies; the second with either
asparagus or morels; the third with fines herbes, and the
fourth filled with cheese. Originally called Omelettes
à la
Macédoine, it was also
called Omelettes à la
Washington because of
his fondness of the dish.
Washington has been portrayed
in numerous films and TV special including the TV mini-series George
Washington (1964), the ten-part History channel's The
Revolution (2006), the PBS six-hour
documentary Liberty! The
American Revolution (1997), The
Patriot (2000), and The Crossing
(2000).
To celebrate our first president's birthday, we suggest the classic
George Washington Cake and watching the campy
The Washingtonians
(2007), the twelfth episode of the second season of TV's Masters of
Horror, in which George is portrayed as a cannibal.
In this alternate history of the birth of the
United States, we are told that George was addicted to the taste of
human flesh, having one man killed a day to satisfy his addiction, and
intended to lead the country on a mission of turning everyone into
cannibals.
Cake Ingredients |
Frosting Ingredients |
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