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CNN Live Today

Cooking with the Clintons

Aired November 19, 2003 - 10:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: He's a notorious fast food junkie, and we're not so sure this is a good thing, but now you, too, if you want, can eat like Bill Clinton. The Clinton Presidential Center Cookbook contains 250 recipes. It's intended to help raise money for the president's library in Arkansas. Shannon Butler tracked down celebrities and former White House aides and assistants to get their favorite entrees and desserts, and she's joining us from Little Rock this morning to dish about the dishes.
Good morning.

SHANNON BUTLER, CO-AUTHOR, "THE CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER COOKBOOK": Good morning. Thanks for having me.

KAGAN: This is no joke, this is the real deal?

BUTLER: This is. This is a great project that I, along Neal Devore (ph), put together. We really wanted to do something that people could get involved in and we sent letters and e-mails out to former staff and old friends and new friends and everyone really enjoyed putting in their recipe and sending in their story.

KAGAN: OK, let's see what some people contributed, right from the former president himself. We heard from that soundbite he loves chicken enchiladas, and sure enough in the book, they're there.

BUTLER: Absolutely. He used to eat that all the time and the governor's mansion. Liza Ashley (ph) made it for him. So this is one of the recipes he wanted to include here.

KAGAN: There also is a sense of humor in the book. One of the contributions comes from a soundbite that comes from the first presidential campaign. Let's now listen to the now Senator Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FMR. FIRST LADY: I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had tea, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, that soundbite back then caused a lot of problems for Hillary Clinton, but just to show she has a sense of humor, tell us the recipe she contributes to this book. BUTLER: Hillary Rodham Clinton submitted her chocolate chip cookie recipe, and as you may or may not remember, in both the '92 and '96 campaign, there were several competitions. They put up her cookies against Barbara Bush's in '92 and again Elizabeth Dole's in '96, and in both of those bake-offs she won hands down. So it's a great recipe.

KAGAN: Have you actually made them?

BUTLER: I have made them actually. They're really, really good.

KAGAN: Another woman in the administration, Madeleine Albright, she has a book out. She is the former secretary of state, talking about how pleased she is to be an American, but goes to her Czechoslovakian roots for what she wants to donate to the book.

BUTLER: Right. She was born in Prague and moved here in 1948. She submitted her Czech sauerkraut zeli (ph). And when in July of 1996, she accompanied first Lady Hillary Clinton to the Czech Republic and was thrilled to be able to have the opportunity to share this recipe with her. It was a favorite recipe that she grew up with. So they went to an authentic restaurant. They brought a little side portion of the zeli out for her. And Secretary Albright asked the chef if they would make more for him, and he went a little crazy and came out with piles and piles of this dish. After about the second bite, Secretary Albright realized that it was not going be one of Senator Clinton's favorites, and...

KAGAN: We only have a couple seconds of here. I just have to ask you one that really got our attention. It's by the former FEMA director James Lee Witt. He has a recipe for something that sounds like a disaster that FEMA might have to answer to, biscuits and chocolate gravy.

BUTLER: Absolutely. This recipe is actually submitted twice, by him and by Barbara Mailer, who is Norman Mailer's wife. This is just one of those recipes, I think, that most Southern people have had before, and we really enjoy it, and I think he wanted to share it with everyone else.

KAGAN: And here in the South, you can have biscuits for breakfast, biscuits for dinner.

BUTLER: Biscuits for dessert.

KAGAN: Shannon, thanks for sharing. Appreciate it. Once again, the book is the Clinton Presidential Center Cookbook. And I guess people can get more information online.

BUTLER: That's right, they can go to clintonpresidentialcenter.com. All right, thank you for that.

KAGAN: Good eating. Appreciate it.

BUTLER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 19, 2003 - 10:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: He's a notorious fast food junkie, and we're not so sure this is a good thing, but now you, too, if you want, can eat like Bill Clinton. The Clinton Presidential Center Cookbook contains 250 recipes. It's intended to help raise money for the president's library in Arkansas. Shannon Butler tracked down celebrities and former White House aides and assistants to get their favorite entrees and desserts, and she's joining us from Little Rock this morning to dish about the dishes.
Good morning.

SHANNON BUTLER, CO-AUTHOR, "THE CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CENTER COOKBOOK": Good morning. Thanks for having me.

KAGAN: This is no joke, this is the real deal?

BUTLER: This is. This is a great project that I, along Neal Devore (ph), put together. We really wanted to do something that people could get involved in and we sent letters and e-mails out to former staff and old friends and new friends and everyone really enjoyed putting in their recipe and sending in their story.

KAGAN: OK, let's see what some people contributed, right from the former president himself. We heard from that soundbite he loves chicken enchiladas, and sure enough in the book, they're there.

BUTLER: Absolutely. He used to eat that all the time and the governor's mansion. Liza Ashley (ph) made it for him. So this is one of the recipes he wanted to include here.

KAGAN: There also is a sense of humor in the book. One of the contributions comes from a soundbite that comes from the first presidential campaign. Let's now listen to the now Senator Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FMR. FIRST LADY: I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had tea, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, that soundbite back then caused a lot of problems for Hillary Clinton, but just to show she has a sense of humor, tell us the recipe she contributes to this book. BUTLER: Hillary Rodham Clinton submitted her chocolate chip cookie recipe, and as you may or may not remember, in both the '92 and '96 campaign, there were several competitions. They put up her cookies against Barbara Bush's in '92 and again Elizabeth Dole's in '96, and in both of those bake-offs she won hands down. So it's a great recipe.

KAGAN: Have you actually made them?

BUTLER: I have made them actually. They're really, really good.

KAGAN: Another woman in the administration, Madeleine Albright, she has a book out. She is the former secretary of state, talking about how pleased she is to be an American, but goes to her Czechoslovakian roots for what she wants to donate to the book.

BUTLER: Right. She was born in Prague and moved here in 1948. She submitted her Czech sauerkraut zeli (ph). And when in July of 1996, she accompanied first Lady Hillary Clinton to the Czech Republic and was thrilled to be able to have the opportunity to share this recipe with her. It was a favorite recipe that she grew up with. So they went to an authentic restaurant. They brought a little side portion of the zeli out for her. And Secretary Albright asked the chef if they would make more for him, and he went a little crazy and came out with piles and piles of this dish. After about the second bite, Secretary Albright realized that it was not going be one of Senator Clinton's favorites, and...

KAGAN: We only have a couple seconds of here. I just have to ask you one that really got our attention. It's by the former FEMA director James Lee Witt. He has a recipe for something that sounds like a disaster that FEMA might have to answer to, biscuits and chocolate gravy.

BUTLER: Absolutely. This recipe is actually submitted twice, by him and by Barbara Mailer, who is Norman Mailer's wife. This is just one of those recipes, I think, that most Southern people have had before, and we really enjoy it, and I think he wanted to share it with everyone else.

KAGAN: And here in the South, you can have biscuits for breakfast, biscuits for dinner.

BUTLER: Biscuits for dessert.

KAGAN: Shannon, thanks for sharing. Appreciate it. Once again, the book is the Clinton Presidential Center Cookbook. And I guess people can get more information online.

BUTLER: That's right, they can go to clintonpresidentialcenter.com. All right, thank you for that.

KAGAN: Good eating. Appreciate it.

BUTLER: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com