Product Description
"The atmosphere crackled with excitement as JFK and his beautiful lady presided over the receiving line. Jack and Jackie actually shimmered....They were truly the golden couple...." --William Styron

The Kennedy White House years are becoming ever-more recognized as a legendary time. This book re-creates the most memorable evenings of that storied era--from the outdoor dinner at Mount Vernon to the Pablo Casals gala--with guest lists, menus, recipes, china, table settings, anecdotes from those who attended, and more. Edited by Letitia Baldrige, Jacqueline Kennedy's Social Secretary during the White House years, In the Kennedy Style is an uniquely personal and intimate tribute.

The pages of this elegant gift book are strikingly designed to combine text, quotes, photographs, anecdotes, guest lists, recipes and menus in a highly evocative way. Featured are six of the most remarkable social occasions from the Kennedy era: the outdoor dinner at Mount Vernon, the Pablo Casals gala, the André Malraux dinner, the Nobel Prize winners evening, dinner for the Grand Duchess and Prince of Luxembourg, and dinner for the Shah of Iran. In addition to photographs, recollections, and memorabilia are menus with recipes, allowing readers to re-create some of the atmosphere of those unforgettable evenings.

Amazon.com Review
Letitia Baldrige's dedication reads, "For all those who have heard about the grace and charm of the Kennedy White House and wondered, was it really that extraordinary? The answer is 'Yes.'" The vibrant couple who moved into the White House in January 1961 were unlike anything that venerable home had ever seen. They were young, attractive, and cosmopolitan, and they were intent on putting their own indelible stamp on American culture. During the next three years, John and Jacqueline Kennedy wrote an entirely new chapter in the annals of presidential entertaining. Baldrige, Jackie's social secretary, and René Verdon, the White House chef, worked with them behind the scenes to bring off state dinners that are still talked about today (like the famous "Nobel Laureate Dinner"). Alas, the Kennedy days are over, but Baldrige and Verdon bring back the memories in this marvelous book, which pairs Baldrige's fun, gossipy recollections of each star-studded social occasion with Verdon's sophisticated pre-nouvelle cuisine menus (including recipes simple enough for today's home cook). It's the photographs of the glittering guests, Jackie's ravishing gowns and perfect collarbone, and Kennedy--tan and handsome in black tie--that invoke the most wistfulness for that "one brief shining moment" that for some represented the pinnacle of American cultural history. After all the dirt, this book is like a long drink of cool water. END

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 10 reviews)

When USA was close to royalty!

Letitia Baldridge's book is unquestionably "un coup de maitre". We are most grateful to her for allowing us to take a peek into that atmosphere of class, sophistication, grace and good taste that once was the Kennedy White House. Reading this fascinating book is like going back into this elegant and refined world created by Jacqueline Kennedy where culture, arts and good conversation were a main priority. I so enjoyed reading that book!!
October 30, 2002

magical

whatever your political affiliation, you can't help but be amazed at the graciousness the kennedy family brought to the white house during his term of office. down to minute details, jackie emerges as the quintessential first lady. i especialy enjoyed the personal comments and special moments shared with the first couple. this makes a wonderful gift
August 09, 2002

A thorough pleasure!

In this small book there is a surprising amount of information on Jackie and Letitia's entertaining style, in stories, beautiful photographs, recipes and anecdotes. I especially like how she includes descriptions of the table settings (tablecloths etc) and menu choices, with short explanations of why they were chosen, and how they parted with tradition in many cases. It also provides a peak at the highly talented guests outside of politics whom they entertained, and how they entertained them! As other reviewers said, the recipes are mainly classics. Some I wouldn't dare serve today but it's nice to know what to do if I ever wish to!
July 11, 2001

A truely beautiful look at Camelot - and a great cookbook!

I already own Rene Verdon's White House cookbook which is an enjoyable read as well as a great reference. Many of his great, classic recipes from that collection re-appear in this wonderful, picture-filled book that recreates the magic of Jackie's style that made Camelot. Rene Verdon and Letitia Baldridge show that they have not lost their touch and guide us through a host of beautiful occasions. My personal highlight is the famous state dinner at Mount Vernon. We find out many intriguing details about entertaining at the highest level and are able to take a little of the glamour to our own table. Rene Verdon's recipes are great classics that are meant to be enjoyed over and over again. They can be reproduced by the capable home cook with highly satisfying results.
December 01, 2000

A Welcome Antidote To Those OTHER Kennedy Books...

This is a marvellous, beautifully presented look at the entertaining done by President and Mrs. Kennedy during their too-brief thousand days in the White House. Letitia Baldrige was Mrs. Kennedy's Social Secretary, and she has collaborated with Kennedy White House Chef Rene Verdon on reminiscences and recipes that really do evoke that very special time and place. Baldrige's anecdotes give glimpses behind the scenes that help us all understand how distinguished the hosts, guests, and entertaining really were- and her comments are often very funny indeed. Verdon's recipes are drawn from menus actually served at the White House on historic occasions, such as the famed evening when cellist Pablo Casals played for the Kennedys and their guests. The book is incredibly generous with its illustrations, which range from White House photos, to pictures of actual invitations for the events described, to fashion designer Oleg Cassini's original sketches for Mrs. Kennedy's clothes. For Jackie devotees, the book is a bonanza, with many photos showing her in her full splendour as First Lady; one 1954 photo of her lighting the candles on her dinner table may be the single most beautiful ever taken of her. I have one small, gentle caveat: Verdon's recipes have been given before, in different form, in his 1967 "The White House Chef Cookbook". The versions of the recipes in this new book have been changed a bit from the 1967 incarnations, mainly with an eye to increasing the strength of flavour; today's palates are evidently more demanding than those of the Sixties. Still, you're getting a look at the Kennedy White House from the people who made it HAPPEN- no gossip, no hearsay, no errors of research. Baldrige and Verdon were indisputably THERE, and you could do much worse than to buy their book. Come to think of it, if you've been reading some of the other Kennedy books issued recently, you have.
December 01, 2000

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

A Thousand Days of Magic: Dressing Jacqueline Kennedy for the White House
by Oleg Cassini

Jackie : The Clothes of Camelot
by Jay Mulvaney

A Lady, First: My Life in the Kennedy White House and the American Embassies of Paris and Rome
by Letitia Baldrige

Cooking for Madam: Recipes and Reminiscences from the Home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
by Marta Sgubin
by Nancy Nicholas

The Kennedy Mystique: Creating Camelot
by Jon Goodman, Hugh Sidey, Letitia Baldridge, Robert Dallek, Barbara Baker Burrows