By Michael Woyton
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz likely drove another stake into his wholesomeness by posting a recipe on the site previously known as Twitter for Tim Walz’s Turkey Trot Tater-Tot Hotdish.
I intend to try making it because I’ve only made one hotdish in my years in the kitchen, and it didn’t put me off trying another. (I think that one was inspired by Amy Klobuchar.)
Reading Walz’s recipe brought back memories of working at King Features Syndicate back in the 1990s where one of the other editors and I were intrigued by the Family Circle presidential spouse cookie baking competition.
It was, of course, the time when Bill Clinton was running for president and Hillary Clinton famously said in response to having a job at a law firm (no other first ladies were gainfully employed at the time) that “I suppose I could have stayed home, baked cookies and had teas,” according to Time.
Family Circle got Barbara Bush to agree to a bake-off with Mrs. Clinton, which the future first lady, secretary of state and Broadway producer won. I’m not saying that was a turning point in the campaign, but … a win is a win.
Back at King Features, I challenged Sandy, who had the cubicle next to mine, to duplicate Bush’s cookie recipe and we’d bring both recipes in and have our co-workers sample them. I’m proud to say my effort producing Hillary Clinton’s Chocolate Chip Cookies won more votes from the other syndicate employees.
Full disclosure: I slightly reheated my cookies in the break-room microwave, which I believe gave me an edge, though HRC’s recipe was the superior one. IMHO.
Fast forward to 2024 and Walz’s hotdish.
I’m wondering if Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance will be offering up a hillbilly-ish version of a hotdish to compete with Walz.
If and when he does, we’ll let you know.
Perhaps someone will agree to a hotdish bake-off with me.
On Second Thought 
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