Betty Ford was a loyal Golden Malted Waffle Mix customer

One of biggest fans of the classic Carbon’s Golden Malted Waffle Mix, which was created in Buchanan, Mich., was First Lady Betty Ford, wife of President Gerald Ford.

 

While he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, living in Grand Rapids, Mich., from 1949-74, the Golden Malted company would deliver product directly from the factory to the Fords’ door – about 110 miles north of Buchanan.

 

When the Fords moved into the White House in Washington, D.C., in 1974, Betty Ford required that Golden Malted become the official presidential waffle mix. Whenever she was speaking at a breakfast event that offered waffles, the sponsor or host had to agree to only use the Golden Malted product.

President Ford tried to eat heart-healthy breakfast meals, but “Sunday breakfast” was an exception. The White House kitchen staff would routinely whip up President Ford’s favorite dish: Golden Malted waffles topped with strawberries and sour cream.

 

The town of Buchanan derived its name from James Buchanan, who served as U.S. president from 1857-61. What was the favorite breakfast of America’s only unmarried president?

 

Born in rural Cove Gap, Pa., Buchanan was partial to homemade scrapple, reported Linda Brandt, food and beverage writer at the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune.

Popular within the Pennsylvania Dutch communities, scrapple is a traditional mush containing pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal, buckwheat flour and spices. The concoction is usually pan-fried until it reaches the desired crispiness. (Scrapple is often jokingly described as being made from “everything in a pig but the oink.”)

 

Kat Kinsman, a freelance journalist based in New York City, also delved into the breakfast preferences of all the former presidents, including the three who have North Carolina roots – Andrew Jackson, James Polk and Andrew Johnson.

Andrew Jackson of Waxhaws, who served as commander in chief from 1829-37, was partial to a breakfast that consisted of chicken hash (typically leftover chicken cooked in a pan along with potatoes and onions) along with waffles or corn cakes served hot with blackberry jam and coffee.

 

James Polk of Pineville, who was president from 1845-49, enjoyed a good tomato omelet served with bear steak or Tennessee ham. His favorite sides were corn pone (shown below) and laplands.

 

Corn pone consists of cornmeal, water, salt and oil or bacon drippings, shaped in the palm of one’s hand. It was often baked in the hot ashes of a fireplace, using a hoe-shaped board with a long handle. Northerners called them johnny cakes.

Lapland cakes are made with a much larger quantity of eggs than ordinary wheat popovers. Yolks of five eggs were beat and stirred into a pint of sweet cream to make this delicate oven-baked pastry.

Andrew Johnson of Raleigh, who served as president from 1865-69, allowed his daughter Martha to establish a White House dairy with two Jersey cows that yielded fresh milk and butter.

Kinsman wrote: “First Lady Eliza Johnson was a semi-invalid but loved to take part in household activities when she could, including making her famous beaten biscuits, which she walloped with 1,000 strokes of a wooden mallet.” No coffee for Johnson; he preferred elderberry blossom tea.

 

In their independent research projects, Brandt and Kinsman uncovered a wealth of information about the presidential breakfast leanings. The “most-caffeinated” president was Theodore Roosevelt. He was known to consume 40 or so cups of coffee from morning to night.

 

Those who typically ate the biggest breakfasts were a trio of beefy Ohio boys who became president – Warren G. Harding, William McKinley and William Howard Taft. We’ll set their tables next time.

 President Harding