The White House's delicious Christmas preparations, by the numbers

The White House Christmas tree stands in the Blue Room

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 7 December 2015

As soon as the last of the Thanksgiving stuffing and pumpkin pie is gobbled up, the White House begins preparation for the December holiday season in earnest.

With all the party hosting — not to mention all the cooking and baking — to be done in the three weeks leading up to Christmas, it makes sense that this would be a month-long endeavor for the White House staff. And according to The New York Times, holiday season at the White House is quite the scene:

Navy men are pitting dates in the White House driveway. Coast Guard personnel, their arm tattoos peeking out from culinary whites, mash sweet potatoes in the East Wing's basement kitchen. Thousands of latkes deep fry in canola oil under a tent not far from the North Portico. Upstairs in the pastry shop, which is about the size of a galley kitchen in a small Manhattan apartment, bakers are preparing more than 500 pounds of dough for 25,000 holiday cookies, including some that look like Bo and Sunny, the Obamas' dogs. [The New York Times]