Hey, folks!
Jim Hill again. Once again, I’m pleased to introduce JHM’s newest columnist, Jim Korkis. Though — as I read the first paragraph of today’s story — I was somewhat saddened to see that mention of Jim’s Mom.
Why was I saddened? You see, Mrs. Korkis passed away this weekend. And — given how close Jim was to his Mom — well, I’m sure that her sudden passing was a huge blow to he and his father.
As you might expect, Korkis is going to take a bit of a break from JimHillMedia.com. Which I completely understand and support.
Mind you, that doesn’t actually mean that JHM is going to be without any new Jim Korkis stories for a while. Just before his mother’s unfortunate passing, Jim e-mailed me this huge pile of brand new columns. Which JHM will be carefully parceling out over the next few weeks.
Even so, the whole crew here at JHM still feels for Jim Korkis’ loss. And we ask that JimHillMedia.com’s readers keep our friend and his father in their thoughts and prayers during this extremely difficult time.
Thanks for your indulgence and understanding,
jrh
I remember my dad warning me that “you are what you eat” in a vain attempt to curb my passion for hamburgers, pizza and chocolate. I also remember my mom telling me to clean my plate because children were starving in Europe. It took me many years before I realized that even though I cleaned my plate, children kept starving in Europe but I was getting fat. So thanks to my dietary habits, I ended up looking like Baloo the Bear instead of Cary Grant.
Later in life, I was delighted to discover that my simple tastes in culinary choices were similar to Walt Disney’s favorite foods. Walt’s daughter, Diane, has stated that many early years of trying to save money resulted in her dad developing “a hash house-lunch wagon appetite. He liked fried potatoes, hamburgers, western omelets, hotcakes, canned peas, hash, stew, roast beef sandwiches. He doesn’t go for vegetables, but loves chicken livers or macaroni and cheese.”
Walt’s wife, Lillian, would complain, “Why should I plan a meal when all Walt really wants is a can of chili or a can of spaghetti?”
Walt even carried nuts and crackers in his jacket pockets so that he could have a simple snack if he felt hungry Without a doubt, one of Walt’s favorite meals was chili and beans. At the studio, if he had no visitors for lunch, Walt would eat at his desk. He would often combine a can of Gebhardt’s chili (which had more meat but few beans) with a can of Dennison’s (which had less meat and more beans). The meal was preceded by a glass of V-8 juice and accompanied by soda crackers. Visitors to Walt’s office were often offered V-8 juice which puzzled European guests who were used to a stronger beverage choice. Walt’s secretary often warned visitors that if Walt offered them a glass of “tomato juice” they had better accept it.
When Walt traveled he’d bring along cans of chili and beans and other canned foods he liked to eat. At the fancy Dorchester Hotel in London, the waiters would serve him chili and beans and crackers that he had brought from the United States much to the embarrassment of Harry Tytle, who was a producer of a number of Disney films and who was dining with Walt at the time.
Gertrude Booth collected “favorite recipes of famous men” in her book, KINGS IN THE KITCHEN (A.S. Barnes & Co. 1961 New York) (There was a second printing in 1964 and both are available inexpensively at used booksites.) Along with Bob Hope, J. Edgar Hoover, John F. Kennedy and Alfred Hitchcock and many other “famous men”, Walt Disney shared his special secret chili recipe and here it is for your enjoyment. The recipe has been reprinted several times including the Spring 1995 issue of DISNEY MAGAZINE (without indicating the original source) but here is how it appeared in the book.
WALT’S CHILI RECIPE
2 pounds ground beef (coarse)
2 whole onions (sliced)
2 whole garlic cloves (minced)
2 pounds pink beans (dry)
1/2 cups celery (chopped)
1 teas. chili powder
1 teas. paprika
1 teas. dry mustard
1 can solid pack tomatoes (large can)
salt to tasteSoak beans overnight in cold water. Drain. Add water to cover 2 inches over beans and simmer with onions until tender (about 4 hours). Meanwhile, prepare sauce by browning meat and minced garlic in oil. Add remaining items and simmer 1 hour. When beans are tender, add sauce and simmer 1/2 hour. Serves 6-8.
As part of the 100 Years of Magic Celebration at the Walt Disney World Resort, several restaurants wanted to offer special desserts based on Walt Disney’s favorites. One of Walt’s former secretaries, Lucille Martin, as well as Walt’s daughter, Diane Disney Miller, provided the information that Walt’s favorite desserts were very “homestyle” like Lemon Meringue, Apple and Boysenberry pie.
The Disney’s family cook prepared a dessert every night. Walt’s other favorites including Apple Brown Betty, Custards, Bread Pudding, Baked Apples, Red Jell-O® with Fruit, Lemon Snow Pudding, and Lemon Chiffon with a Graham Cracker Crust. He liked Gingerbread and another type of cookie made with Chow Mein Noodles and melted Butterscotch.
When Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower published a cookbook (FIVE-STAR FAVORITES: Recipes from Friends of Mamie & Ike. Golden Press 1974) and solicited recipes from their friends, the Disney family provided one of Walt’s favorite desserts which was also a favorite of Walt’s first grandson, Christopher Disney Miller, who provided the name for this lemon chiffon concoction on a graham cracker crust.
CHRIS’S COLD PIE
4 eggs, separated ¼ tsp. Salt
½ cup lemon juice 1 tbsp. grated lemon rind
½ cup water 1 graham cracker crust (recipe on box)
1 tbsp. unflavored gelatin Nutmeg
1 cup sugarIn a small bowl, beat egg yolks with lemon juice and water just until combined. Mix gelatin, half the sugar and the salt in the top of a double boiler. Pour in egg yolk mixture, blending well. Cook, stirring constantly, over boiling water (water should not touch top section of double boiler) until gelatin dissolves and mixture thickens. Remove top from boiling water. Stir in lemon rind. Let set 20 minutes in a bowl filled with ice cubes, stirring occasionally. Remove from ice when mixture thickens enough to mound when dropped from a spoon.
Meanwhile, beat egg whites (at room temperature) in a large bowl until soft peaks form when beater is raise. Gradually add remaining sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time beating well after each addition. Continue beating until stiff peaks form when beater is raised. Gently fold gelatin mixture into egg whites just until combined. Turn into piecrust. Dust top with nutmeg and chill several hours. (If desired, omit nutmeg and serve topped with whipped cream.)
Walt’s love of simple fare also sparked the creation of a Disney architectural term. At Disneyland, Sleeping Beauty Castle is known as the “weenie” that draws guests down to the hub. Architectural scholars have described the “weenie” as “the visual icon that causes people to gravitate naturally towards a location.”
To Walt, it was simply the “weenie” and the term had its origin in Walt’s personal experience and his simple Mid-Western vocabulary. Some cast members embarrassed by the modern connotations of the word “weinie” mistakenly substitute the term “carrot” because of the well-known image of being able to direct a donkey or a horse forward by dangling a carrot in front of it. However, Walt’s choice of the word “weenie” was deliberate.
In the early Fifties when Walt was developing the concept of Disneyland, he would come home late in the evenings. He almost always entered his house through the kitchen, which was nearer the garage. He also used it as an excuse to check to see what his housekeeper, Thelma, was preparing for dinner.
If she was preparing steaks or lamb chops or broiled chicken, Walt would say, “You know I don’t like that” with a sigh in his voice to indicate disappointment. It seemed that no matter what was being prepared for dinner, it was never what Walt wanted at that moment and he would grumble.
Walt sometimes had a big lunch at the studio (because he used that time for interviews or meeting with guests) and then would pick at his dinner. His grumbling still upset Thelma even though she understood that fact and she would try to hide the dinner she was preparing if she heard Walt’s car.
Despite the pleas of Mrs. Disney to Walt to avoid coming in to the house through the kitchen because it upset Thelma, Walt continued to do so because part of his evening ritual was to go to the refrigerator and grab a raw hot dog wiener. Walt called it a “weenie” based on what he heard it being called when he was growing up.
He would get the weenie for the family dog, a small white poodle named “Lady”. Walt loved that particular dog despite his frequently quoted statement that “I can’t even have a male dog. I’ve got nothing but females around here” referring to his wife, two daughters and housekeeper. “Lady” even appeared on a few of the early Disneyland TV show introductions with Walt.
Walt’s daughter, Diane, remembered in a Fifties interview that her father loved “this old dog we had, the old poodle. Mother wanted her put to sleep. Dad said ‘no’. Well, she was sick. She was just miserable during the day but she’d perk up in the evenings when Dad came home. That’s the only time Dad saw her. In the evening, when Daddy came home, Dad would play with her with this hot dog.”
Like many dog owners, Walt discovered that by wiggling the hot dog in the air, he could get “Lady” to follow it and go from side to side and jump up and down. She followed wherever Walt wiggled the weenie. As Walt was developing Disneyland, he remembered this fond experience and translated it into an architectural term (“the weenie”) when he tried to describe to his team how to get guests to go in a certain direction and to reward the guests for that choice.
It turned out that the term also became a memorial for “Lady” who passed away around the time of the opening of Disneyland. She died at the veterinarian’s while she was being bathed. Fearing foul play, Walt insisted on an autopsy which revealed that “Lady” had died from a normal blood clot.
Spaceship Earth, American Adventure, the Sorcerer’s Hat, the Tree of Life and more are the “weenies” that help subconsciously move guests through the Disney theme parks. At the original Disneyland, “weenies” like the Mark Twain Steamboat or the TWA Rocket Ship were supposed to pull guests into Frontierland and Tomorrowland. It was Walt’s love of simple food that resulted in the creation of an often imitated design concept. If the old expression “You are what you eat” holds true, then the current Walt wannabes might want to explore the diet of a true animation genius.