Food Stamp Use Skyrockets...Again: Record 607,559 Americans Added To Rolls In September

To contact us Click HERE
More than 47.7 million citizens received federal aid; Spending between August and September had single highest spike in history, too...
The number of Americans receiving Food Stamps has spiked once again, but this time the increase is staggering: 47,710,324 citizens received benefits at a cost of $6,407,024,21, according to newly released Department of Agriculture figures for the month of September, the latest month for which data is available.  607,559 people were added to the rolls between August and September, the highest increase in beneficiaries in a single month during President Obama's first term in office.

Spending increased by more than $123 million between August and September, in contrast to a spending increase of $19.6* million between July and August.  The number is also a record setter.

USDA released the figures for what is officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) after the close of business on Friday.

Last month's figures, the second highest for the Obama Administration in enrollment and single-month increase in spending, were released after Election Day, in a deviation from the USDA's practice of issuing the numbers at the beginning or very end of each month.  September's dramatic uptick came as President Obama was in the final weeks of his reelection campaign, reassuring Americans with a narrative that the economy was in recovery.

More than 15.72 million people have been added to the SNAP rolls since President Obama was inaugurated in January of 2009.

The number of households enrolled in SNAP also increased from 22,684,463 in August to 22,973,698 in September.  The average benefit, according to the new data, was $134.29 per person and $278.89 per household.  Texas, California, and Florida were the states with the most recipients.

Cuts to the federal nutrition safety net are currently part of the ongoing and contentious fiscal cliff negotiations between the President and Congress.  President Obama travels to Detroit, MI on Monday to continue to pitch his plan, with an event at Daimler Detroit Diesel.

The SNAP numbers for September include disaster assistance for the states of Mississippi and Louisiana, USDA noted, but not for Hurricane Sandy.  The superstorm made landfall on the East Coast in the last week of October. 

31.9 million people were enrolled in SNAP when President Obama was inaugurated in January of 2009, with monthly spending at $3.63 billion.  Participation in the program has remained above 46 million people for all of fiscal year 2012, with annual federal spending for Food Stamps more than doubling over four years to a record $75.7 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2011. 

The September spike follows on the heels of the second-highest spike in numbers during the Obama Administration in spending and enrollment between July and August, when 420,863* citizens were added to the rolls.

USDA documents say that most beneficiaries leave the program after ten months.  About 47% of Food Stamp recipients are children, according to USDA, and 8% are elderly.

*USDA has updated its preliminary figures for August posted last month, and recorded different  numbers in November. 

*Photo by Pete Souza/White House

Recipes: Obama White House Holiday Cookies, And Other Sweet & Merry Treats

To contact us Click HERE
Joy to All from the White House to your house:  Gingerbread Cookies, Sweet Dough Butter Cookies, Ginger Crinkles Cookies, Honey Tea Lollipops...
Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses and his team are busier than Santa's elves this holiday season, baking and decorating thousands of cookies for the 24 holiday dinners and receptions President Obama and First Lady Obama will host through late December.  Holiday cookies are a staple on the dinner buffets, and Sweet Dough Butter Cookies shaped like First Dog Bo, snowflakes, ornaments, stars and Christmas trees fill silver cookies trees.  Gingerbread Cookies in the shape of decorated reindeer and sugar-sprinkled snowmen are also on offer.  The recipes for both, and Ginger Crinkles Cookies are below. The Gingerbread Cookie recipe can be used to make ornaments, too.  (Above, a tree of cookies on a dessert buffet in the East Room)


Bo is all over Mrs. Obama's 'Joy to All' decor scheme, with "Boflake" ornaments scattered among the 54 trees that fill the mansion, and a larger-than-life pom-pom topiary of the First Dog taking pride of place in the Booksellers.  The Bo cookies are the most popular with guests each year; the 2012 edition is a "seated" Bo with a red collar.  The cookies tend to get pocketed by guests, rather than eaten.  That's a good thing, because the black dye in Bo's "fur" frosting stains the lips, which has become something of a joke around the White House.

Yosses and his staff have so much to do with baking cookies, double-crust fruit pies, Yule logs, pumpkin and coconut and gingerbread cakes and other delights for the President and Mrs. Obama's 14,000 expected holiday guests that the cookie dough is made weeks ahead of time, and then frozen for daily baking, he says.  The President and Mrs. Obama's guests will include "volunteers, members of Congress, White House staff, Secret Service personnel, White House reporters and Americans from across the country," said the East Wing.  Sometimes there are two parties a day; the holidays are very busy at the White House.

For the 2012 holiday season, Yosses has newly released his recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding, a rich, moist cake, as well as the recipe for Ginger Crinkles Cookies {PDF}.  Mrs. Obama made White House Honey Tea Lollipops with children from military families when she unveiled her decor scheme.  These use candied root vegetables and a tea infusion.  More holiday recipes are linked at the bottom of this post.  (Above, Mrs. Obama displays a lollipop at the decor preview)


White House Sweet Dough Butter Cookies
*Dough must be chilled overnight.

*Preheat the oven to 350F.

Ingredients
1 lb Sugar

2 lbs Butter

3 lbs All Purpose Flour

3 Eggs

1 Tsp Vanilla

1 Tsp Salt

Method
1. Mix the butter and sugar till soft and well beaten.

2. Then add eggs, vanilla, salt and half the flour. Beat on slow speed till mixed, then add the rest of the flour and mix until incorporated.

3. Push flat onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate overnight.

4. The next day, roll dough out to one quarter inch thick, and cut out cookie shapes with cookie cutter.

5. Bake at 350F for 14 minutes and then allow to cool before decorating.

Royal Icing

Ingredients
2 cups Confectioner's sugar, sifted

1 egg white

1 Tsp lemon juice

Method
Mix with paddle attachment on electric blender (or by hand) for 5 minutes. If icing is too thick, add more lemon juice or a little egg white to desired consistency.  Use pasteurized eggs if possible, in the interest of food safety.

Decorate as desired. Number of cookie servings varies depending on size of cookies cut.

White House Holiday Gingerbread Cookies
*Dough must be chilled overnight.
Bake longer to harden for ornaments.
Ingredients for the Cookies
8 oz (2 sticks) butter, soft

2 cups dark brown sugar

2 eggs, large

1 Cup molasses

7 Cups All Purpose flour

1/4 Tsp ginger ground

1/4  Tsp cinnamon, ground

1 Tsp baking soda

1/4 Tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Zest from 1 lemon

Zest from 1 orange

Method
1. Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer for a minimum 5 minutes.

2. Add eggs one by one, then molasses.

3. Put mixer on slow, sift spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda with flour then add these dry ingredients in three increments and scrape bowl each time.

4. Add zests and mix until incorporated, but do not over mix.

5. Remove dough from bowl and place on plastic wrap and spread to 1" thickness over wrap and cover with another sheet of plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

6. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out a small piece on a floured surface. This dough is very wet, so add flour when necessary to prevent sticking and turn over often.

7. Roll out to 1/8 to ¼ inch thickness for cookies. Cut out Gingerbread shapes.

8. Bake for 12 minutes at 350°F for cookies; 25 minutes or more for ornaments.

*Serving size depends on number of cookies cut


More White House holiday recipes...
Recipes for Yosses' other holiday desserts on offer at the Presidential parties include Apple Pie and Huckleberry Pie and Pumpkin Cake.  Yosses' nearly 300-pound Gingerbread White House is a show-stopper this year, and sits beside the dessert buffet in the State Dining Room.  The savory dinner buffet menu includes recipes featured in the First Lady's Grammy-nominated book, American Grown.  Check the sidebar for all White House recipes.  (Above, a dessert buffet in the East Room)

Click here for links to all posts about the 2012 holidays.

Download:  The Official White House Holiday Tour Booklet {PDF}


*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obama Foodorama

First Lady Delivers Gifts To 'Toys For Tots'

To contact us Click HERE
Spreading holiday cheer with gifts donated by the First Daughters, White House staff, and corporations...
In what has become an annual tradition, First Lady Michelle Obama played Santa on Tuesday with a visit to Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, where she delivered about 900 boxed gifts to the Marine Corps' Toys for Tots drive, donated by First Daughters Malia and Sasha, White House staff and American CEOs, the White House said.  Clad in a sporty orange cowl sweater and black slacks, Mrs. Obama entered the naval installation along the Potomac River in Washington, DC, carrying a big red sack of gifts. (Above: Mrs. Obama was escorted by SSgt Joel Vazquez as she arrived)

The First Lady thanked the volunteers and donors for the project, noting that it was especially meaningful to attend the event on a military base, since Toys for Tots was started by a Marine reservist and his wife. 

"Since then, so many Americans -- including so many military families like all of you -- have spent countless hours bringing gifts and holiday cheer and everything else that is wonderful about the holidays to children all across this country," Mrs. Obama said. "And this is just one of many examples of how our military families are always going that extra mile to serve our communities and our countries."

Mrs. Obama's gift delivery included toys from K'NEX Brands. President Obama picked up the toys  when he recently visited the company's suburban Philadelphia factory as part of his campaign to get the public to pressure Congress to act to prevent America from diving over the fiscal cliff.

Mrs. Obama urged the public not to forget older children when donating to gift drives.

"A lot of times when we do the shopping we like to reach for the cute little bear or the little doll, but the truth is that they also need gifts for older kids as well," she said.

For children ages 11 to 14, she suggested books, games, backpacks and clothes "because if your teens are like mine, they want some clothes, something cute to wear."

Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Pete Osman, president and CEO of Toys for Tots, thanked the First Lady for being the program's "No. 1 volunteer" since she has enlisted public support and personally donated gifts during each of her four years in the White House.

"When Michelle Obama leads, the American people follow," Osman said.

"The military families are what inspires my work," Mrs. Obama said.  "Because even though all of you are dealing with your own hardships and challenges and struggles, you're moving from base to base every couple of years; even though you've endured deployment after deployment, the miraculous thing about you all and your spirit is somehow you always are the first people to volunteer for something." 

Mrs. Obama's next holiday outing will be to the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, on Friday, Dec. 14th.

Click here for links to all posts about the 2012 holidays. 

*Photos by Lawrence Jackson/White House.

2012 Holiday Recipes: Sweet Potato Quick Bread And White House Turkey Sliders

To contact us Click HERE
Guests at the President and Mrs. Obama's holiday receptions and dinners are treated to dishes made from 'American Grown' recipes...
For this year's menus for President Obama and First Lady Obama's holiday parties at the White House, Executive Chef Cris Comerford is spotlighting recipes included in Mrs. Obama's Grammy-nominated book, American Grown, published last May.  The dishes are being offered alongside the annual staples on the Obamas' dinner buffet tables--roast beef, lamb, seafood--where guests are invited to serve themselves from laden silver chafing dishes.  At carving stations set up in the State Dining Room and the East Room, tiny muffins made from the American Grown recipe for Sweet Potato Quick Bread are being offered with sliced turkey and honey-baked ham.  The recipe is below.  (Above: Chefs working the East Room carving station)


"I love the sweet potato bread," Mrs. Obama said in one American Grown interview. "It’s really good, and it’s really moist."  (Above, the Sweet Potato muffins, right, with biscuits & stuffing balls, left)

Created by Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses, the recipe uses honey, Greek yogurt and lots of ginger.  It is designed to make loaves in the book, but foods are served in small proportion at the Presidential holiday parties because guests are not allowed to use knives due to security concerns.  Thus all foods are designed to be easily "biteable," or served in miniature.  Guests' plates are also small, but repeat visits to the buffet tables are invited.

At a recent reception, the carving station chefs were getting creative, making bite-sized White House Sliders by splitting the Sweet Potato muffins in half, and inserting ham or turkey in the center.  These were topped with gravy and fresh cranberry chutney, or spicy mustard.  The tiny biscuits and stuffing balls were also being split and turned into sliders.  Guests were enchanted by the savory mouthfuls.  To make these at home, use Comerford's recipe for White House Thyme-Roasted Turkey.  (Above, a Sweet Potato and Turkey Slider, right, with a Stuffing and Turkey Slider)

The buffet spread includes rare roast beef, cut into small chunks; tiny lamb chops to be eaten by hand; smoked salmon and crab from Maine; oysters from Fisher’s Island in New York; Gulf Coast shrimp (the holiday recipe); Latkes, tiny garlic potatoes (the holiday recipe); winter salads and Green Beans with Almonds, another American Grown recipe.  A variety of sauces and dressings--mint jelly, sour cream, lemon vinaigrette, cocktail sauce, fresh horseradish--and fluffy dinner rolls were accompaniments.


American wines and artisan cheese are also offered on the buffet tables, as are a wide variety of desserts, which are on separate tables (all the holiday dessert recipes are here).  The President and Mrs. Obama's guests dine at tables in the State Dining Room and in the East Room, and can carry their plates into the other rooms on the State Floor to enjoy the feast, too, as they view the beautiful 'Joy to All' decor.  About 14,000 guests have been invited to 24 dinners and receptions this year.  (Above: The buffet in the State Dining Room)

Despite its name, Yosses' Sweet Potato Quick Bread is not quick to make, with baking time at more than an hour.  A food processor or blender is needed to purée the sweet potatoes.  Muffin tins can be used to replicate the White House holiday buffet, but otherwise the recipe calls for two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans.  Parchment paper is needed to prevent sticking.


White House Sweet Potato Quick Bread
Ingredients
*2 medium sweet potatoes - about 2 pounds

*3 large eggs, at room temperature

*3/4 Cup honey

*1/2 Cup Canola or other neutral-flavored vegetable oil

*1/2 Cup plain Greek yogurt

*2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose flour

*1 Cup Whole Wheat flour

*2 Tsp baking powder

*1 1/2 Tsp salt

*2 Tsp grated fresh ginger

*2 Tbsp crystallized ginger, finely chopped

*2 Tsp ground ginger

Method
*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

1.  Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into large chunks. Place in a medium pan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, 25-30 minutes.

2.  Drain sweet potatoes and purée in a blender or food processor.  You should have two cups.  Set aside to cool.

3.  Grease two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans.  Cut parchment paper to the width of the length of each pan; the strips should be long enough to hang over the edge of each pan.  Line bottom of each pan.

4.  In a large bowl, mix together the puréed sweet potato, eggs, honey, oil and yogurt until well blended.

5.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder and salt.

6.  Add the flour mixture to the sweet potato mixture and combine. Add the gingers and mix until just combined.

7.  Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tins and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Start testing the loaves at 60 minutes.

8.  Allow the loaves to cool in the pans for at least 20 minutes before turning out on to a rack to cool completely.

##


Above, the buffet table in the East Room.

Click here for links to all posts about the 2012 holidays.

Download:  The Official White House Holiday Tour Booklet {PDF}

*Photos by Eddie Gehman Kohan/Obamafoodorama

President Obama To Host Hanukkah Party On Thursday, With Menorah That Survived Sandy

To contact us Click HERE
The reception marks the second time a menorah reclaimed after a devastating hurricane is lit at the Obama White House...President Obama will celebrate Hanukkah with a White House reception this Thursday, Dec. 14th, the sixth night of the eight-day holiday.  Each year, the menorah used for the President's candle-lighting is loaned to the White House, and has symbolic significance that ties in to the Jewish story of overcoming vast challenges.  This year's brass, 90-year-old menorah is being loaned by Temple Israel of Long Beach on Long Island, New York, which was decimated by Hurricane Sandy.  A hurricane-surviving menorah is something of an Obama tradition:  In 2010, the President's guests lit candles on a menorah borrowed from a New Orleans temple, reclaimed after Congregation Beth Israel was ravaged by Katrina.  (Above, the President and First Lady with the Katrina menorah) 

Thursday's Hanukkah reception will be the second holiday event at which President Obama spotlights Hurricane Sandy.  When he lit the National Christmas Tree last week, the President told a story about a group of neighbors on New York's devastated Staten Island who banded together to create a community Christmas tree: "The tree has one message.  It's Christmas time, not disaster time," he said.  
The White House contacted Temple Israel's Rabbi David S. Bauman about two weeks ago to arrange the loan of the seven-foot-tall menorah, The New York Times reported.  Located on the temple's second floor, the menorah survived a ten-foot storm surge during Sandy, though a chapel, a library, religious books and six Torah scrolls were destroyed.  After the Rabbi sent photos of the menorah to the White House, the deal was rapidly sealed. 

"The next thing I know I’m talking to the White House curator and the Secret Service," Rabbi Bauman, 41, said. "It’s an incredibly humbling experience."

The Rabbi is a reserve chaplain in the Marine Corps, and he will travel with the menorah to the White House for the President's party.  

“The Hanukkah story and the story of recovery from a hurricane are not dissimilar,” said Jarrod Bernstein, the White House director for Jewish outreach and a Long Island native who helped select the menorah.  Though the stories are not entirely the same, Bernstein said, "the spirit of reconstituting and re-sanctifying is still there."  The menorah will honor the 200 or so congregants of Temple Israel, and everyone impacted by the storm, Bernstein added.

The White House serves kosher foods at the Hanukkah receptions; a video of the kashering of the kitchen and the 2011 reception menu is here.  It is identical to the menu served in 2010.  The President's guests typically include a Jewish family invited to light the menorah; Members of Congress; Cabinet Secretaries; a few Supreme Court Justices; members of the Diplomatic Corps and Jewish religious and community leaders.  A different menorah is currently on display in the White House, placed in the Grand Foyer.

The 2009 menorah the President's guests lit was sterling silver, and dated to 1783, the work of Viennese silversmith Cyril Schillberger.  It was loaned to the White House by the Jewish Museum in Prague at the request of Mrs. Obama, who visited when she was touring Prague's Jewish Town in April of 2009. (Above: The President and Mrs. Obama as the menorah was lit by children)

In 2010, the menorah borrowed from Congregation Beth Israel in New Orleans, Louisiana was found covered in mud and mold after the temple was filled with eight feet of water during Hurricane Katrina.  But it was recast in silver and lit for the first time in 2007, the White House said.

In 2011, the menorah used for the President's Hanukkah party was created in a displaced persons’ camp after World War II, the White House said.  It was dedicated to General Joseph T. McNarney, who served as the Commander in Chief of United States Forces in the European Theatre from November 1945 to March 1947.  It was loaned for the occasion by The Jewish Museum, New York.

The Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, an organization that helped communities in New York City and on Long Island during Sandy’s aftermath, notified the White House's Bernstein about Temple Israel's menorah, the Times reported.

*The President's 2012 Hanukkah message.

*Top photo by Pete Souza/White House; second by Samantha Appleton/White House

Walcott Finally Tests PS 114 In Belle Harbor, Finds Mold And Asbestos In The School

To contact us Click HERE
Test happy Chancellor Dennis Walcott refused to test PS 114 for mold after Sandy.

The school took on five to six feet of water, but Walcott said a sight review of the school showed everything was safe.

The DOE reopened the school, but many parents were afraid to send their kids back and called for mold tests to be conducted on the building.

The UFT joined them in that call.

Finally Walcott agreed and - you guessed it - the school came up positive:

Department of Education officials found mold and asbestos in a storm-damaged Queens school that last week was cleared for students to return — but only after parents insisted that the officials check.

It took scores of complaints from parents and meetings at the school before officials agreed to conduct tests for moisture and other hazards at PS 114 in Belle Harbor, which had been shut for more than a month after Hurricane Sandy.

Late yesterday, DOE officials quietly posted findings of subsequent tests online showing that areas of mold and asbestos in the auditorium and a nearby stairwell require removal.

Additionally, two of 14 water fountains showed elevated levels of copper.

In a letter to parents, Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm committed to removing the mold and asbestos over the coming two weekends.

Great - not just mold, but asbestos and elevated levels of copper in the water.

But Dennis Walcott said he had the results of all the necessary tests for PS 114 in hand and that he KNEW the school was safe.

It turns out Walcott was wrong.

Just as was the case at PS 51 where Walcott and the DOE continued to send students and staff to a school that they knew to be unsafe (in the case of PS 51, with cancer-causing toxins), Walcott and the DOE have sent Rockaway children and school staff into harm's way at PS 114 for god knows what reason.

Walcott was on record last week as saying the following:

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said the water is safe.

"It's part of people's perception that it hasn't been tested," Walcott said. "But it's being tested on a regular basis by the Department of Environmental Protection. That's for the community and the school is part of that community.

Oh, yeah the water is safe - except for the elevated levels of copper in two water fountains.

Teacher, why does my mouth taste like old pennies?

Walcott's refusal to test 114 for mold and other harmful toxins was unconscionable and you can bet those tests never would have happened had the parents, the union and the media not jumped all over him for refusing to conduct them.

Now it behooves everybody to watch closely and make sure the DOE follows up on the testing and removes the mold, asbestos, and copper.

It is not beyond reason to describe Dennis Walcott as one of the worst human beings on the planet.

Seriously, to refuse to test PS 114 for mold after all that storm damage and send kids back in to the school when all it was going to cost was the price of one DOE consultant overrun to test the place is beyond the pale.

The chancellor is happy to spend hundreds of millions on standardized testing but didn't want to spend $50,000 on mold tests - even though kids were back in the school and could get sick from the mold.

Really, one of the worst human beings on the planet.

Sign The Petition Demanding A Membership-Wide Referendum On The Evaluation Agreement

To contact us Click HERE
Some people are under the impression that the UFT rank and file will get the chance to vote on the teacher evaluation agreement that Michael Mulgrew and the UFT leadership are currently negotiating with the NYCDOE.

That is not the case - there will be no up or down vote on the agreement.

Whatever Mulgrew agrees to with the NYCDOE will become the new evaluation system that you will work under.

The MORE caucus is demanding Mulgrew and the UFT put the agreement to a membership-wide referendum.

They have created a petition here that you can sign if you think the membership ought to get a say on the new evaluation agreement.

Here is the text of that petition:

A controversial new teacher evaluation system is under negotiation that will include the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers.One expression of the controversy is that one out of every three principals in New York State has gone on record opposing the state law that provided the framework for the negotiations.Once negotiated, the new system will be the largest change to our working lives in years, greater than the changes in many union contracts.  Yet, there are no plans for a ratification vote by the membership.Therefore, we request a membership-wide referendum on whether to accept the new evaluation system once it is negotiated with the city, after a broad and democratic discussion about the new system within our union.

I urge you to sign that petition and send it to all your colleagues.

It may too late to stop the impending UFT sell-out on evaluations, but if thousands of teachers sign a petition calling for a membership-wide referendum, it will give Mulgrew and the leadership around him pause.