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All the entries posted on November 30, 2006.
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Home > Window on Washington > Archives > 2006 > November > 30
Thursday, November 30, 2006
George W Trims the Tree
The current President George W. has been busy as of late so a former President George W. offered a holiday-season helping hand.
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Chicken-Fried Reidentified
Back on the ranch in Crawford - and in all of Texas - it’s called chicken-fried steak and, for some, it’s among the four basic food groups.
But when a Texan gets to the White House, all of a sudden it’s “Chicken Fried Beef Tenderloin with White Onion Gravy.”
That’s the way the southern dish - a delicacy to some - is listed on the White House holiday buffet menu, released today as First Lady Laura Bush previewed the building’s holiday decorations.
As she tour-guided reporters through the East Room, Mrs. Bush referred to the dish as “chicken-fried steak and creamed gravy.” Texans are more likely to identify with “creamed gravy” than “white onion gravy.”
The dish, along with the tamales on the buffet menu, are what the First Lady called “regional favorites.”
White House Chef Cris Comerford said the chicken-fried steak is “actually our favorite.”
“With the creamed gravy,” Mrs. Bush added.
For those not hankering for chicken-fried anything, the buffets also will include stuffed turkey breasts, sugar-cured Virginia ham and “herb-roased lollipop lamb chops.”
The dessert table includes cookies shaped like snowflakes, Christmas trees and Bush family dogs Barney and Miss Beazley. (Note to PETA: That’s cookies shaped like family dogs Barney and Miss Beazley.)
The first of 25 holiday receptions is scheduled for later today, shortly after President Bush returns from a grueling trip to Estonia, Latvia and Jordan.
For more information about the decorations, visit www.whitehouse.gov/holiday.
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New “More Meaningful” Citizenship Questions Revealed
The Citizenship and Immigration Service unveiled new questions Thursday for the citizenship test that immigrants must pass before becoming Americans.
The new questions are designed to be “more meaningful,” and go beyond memorization of facts, said Emilio Gonzalez, director of the agency.
For example, the previous test asked immigrants how many stripes are on the U.S. flag, but the new test asks why the 13 stripes are on the flag, federal officials said.
“I think they are more profound questions,” Gonzalez said.
The 144 questions will be tested in a pilot program in 10 cities including Albany, N.Y.; Boston; Charleston, S.C.; Denver; El Paso, Texas; Kansas City; Miami; San Antonio, Texas; Tucson, Ariz.; and Yakima, Wash.
Applicants who volunteer to participate in the pilot program will be given 10 of the questions and must answer six correctly. If they fail, they will be allowed to take the current test.
The redesign of the citizenship test is part of a Bush administration effort to promote stronger civic participation and assimilation of immigrants.
Earlier this year, the White House set up a “Task Force on New Americans,” which includes several cabinet members including Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The goal of the group is to support state and local governments and the private sector “to help legal immigrants embrace the common core of of American civic culture, learn our common language and fully become Americans.”
The task force will make periodic recommendations to the president on ways to change rules or propose new laws that would help immigrants with integration.
The new citizenship questions can be found here.
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