Overlook the East Wing, let’s take state dinners to the honest : NPR

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Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP The East Wing of the White Home has been demolished to make manner for an enormous ballroom that may host state dinners for as much as a thousand folks. However what to do till then?

I've by no means been to a state dinner. I've milled outdoors a number of with different reporters to shout questions at a number of the politicians and celebrities going out and in. Typically, they smile.

The menus of what is served are made public. They sound like first-rate fare, with out being too daring: heirloom tomato soup, Iowa rib-eye steak, or Maine lobster, adopted by maple pecan or orange chiffon cake. However as a few state dinner company have informed me — off the document, and with respect for the proficient White Home kitchen crew, you do not go to a state dinner for the meals.

So within the pause whereas the rubble that was as soon as the East Wing is cleared away, why not transfer state dinners to a distinct location? Why not maintain them on the Iowa State Fairgrounds?

Sure, it could contain a flight. However in the event you use final summer time's invoice of fare as a information, company may stroll from stand to face, as an alternative of being caught of their seats for speeches. They may feast on a Rooster Pickle Ranch Rocket on a Stick, Flamin' Sizzling Cheetos Fries, a Full Mozzarella Korean Corn Canine, Maple Bacon-Flavored Cheese Curds, or Fairgrounds Fiesta Wontons, full of egg salad and the scale of catcher's mitts, deep-fried after which drizzled with scorching honey and pico de gallo.

Now that is America!

For dessert: the Scotcheroo Shake — peanut butter and butterscotch ice cream swirled with Scotcheroo fudge, which is a mixture of peanut butter, butterscotch, Rice Krispies and chocolate chips, topped with whipped cream with caramel and chocolate drizzles.

You may think about diplomats and politicians staggering into their limos after a fairgrounds state dinner, saying between belches, "We should finish these tariffs and open a Scotcheroo Shake Commerce Route!"

And when it comes time for the toasts, heads of state can salute a protracted, fruitful friendship between international locations with the bracing mixture of pink lemonade and pickle juice often called a "Pickled Pink."

An Iowa Fairgrounds state dinner would possibly remind us how America is a mixture from all around the world — the place folks convey their largest goals and break bread, or Fiesta Wontons, with buddies new and outdated.