Celebrate JFK's 100th Birthday With Jackie's 威化饼, 华夫饼 Which Was His 最喜爱的 Breakfast 

Allegedly, First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy made really good waffles. I say “allegedly” not because the waffles attributed to her in various cookbooks aren’t objectively good; they’re actually wonderfully airy and crisp, thanks to an innovative technique involving whipped egg whites and baking powder. But did she ever actually cook or consume the waffles? Does it matter? Didn’t she do enough for her country, between being the exceptionally tolerant wife of a blatantly randy president, the widowed mother of small children expected to bear up beautifully in public after her husband was murdered before her eyes, a book editor, an arts preservationist, and a fashion deity for the ages? Nah, apparently in addition to all that, Jackie Kennedy had to make a bitchin’ breakfast. Such is the lot of a FLOTUS—and a POTUS, too.

A quick dive into the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum archive shows that both of the Kennedys were asked for recipes constantly, and one in particular surfaced in multiple publications, credited to either Mrs. John F. Kennedy (occasionally “autographed” as Jacqueline Kennedy across the bottom) or occasionally the senator-then-president, himself. Versions of this eggy waffle recipe—said to be J.F.K.’s “favorite”—appeared in 

Political Pot Luck: A Collection of Recipes from Men Only

Many Happy Returns, The Democrats’ Cook Book Or How to Cook a G.O.P. Goose

, among others, as well as a collection of recipes solicited by a class of sixth graders at the Post Avenue School in Westbury, Long Island, and the food columns of 

. Though a request came in from Martha MacBride of Sacramento asking for a casserole recipe for a book she was compiling, the Kennedys demurred and instead sent along the family’s waffle recipe.

Let’s give her that, shall we? A moment of syrup-sticky pleasure away from the prying eyes of paparazzi, the unbearable pressure of perfection. Maybe the waffles burned from time to time. Could be that they were the thing that grounded her wayward husband at the table for a moment or two in the morning. Perhaps baby John John stuffed soggy waffle crumbs into his mouth as he was strapped into his high chair, and they all cooed and laughed as a family. There was some reason that this was the recipe that Camelot offered to represent their kitchen to the world. Let’s take it. It’s the closest most of us will ever come to feeling like a Kennedy.

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*Per the request from Meg Madigan, the editor of 

 there was a loophole: “You don’t have to know how to cook. If your wife, mother, girlfriend, secretary, or local innkeeper has pleased you with a certain dish, send along the ingredients.” Another such request came in from actress Gretta Gould, who wished to include a recipe of the president’s in a book entitled 

 While the office indeed provided the waffle recipe, there is no evidence that the book was ever published. The

 read in part: “Cooking, with a man, is an urge from the heart—he has a great natural talent and he has been at it longer than woman. When the cave man hunted and made his kill, he cooked it over an open fire and brought it home to his woman.”

WATCH THIS: Natalie Portman Talks About Becoming Jackie Kennedy

1. Cream butter and sugar, add egg yolks. Beat. Add flour and milk alternately. This may be done at any time. When ready to bake fold in egg whites, and add baking powder. Mixture should be thick and fluffy.

2. Cook in a waffle iron and serve with hot maple syrup and melted butter.

This article originally appeared on Extra Crispy. 

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