Even busy statesmen have to eat.
Sir Winston Churchill was no exception, but he wasn't one to let a simple thing like dinner with Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin get in the way of his work. Author Cita Stelzer discovered this for herself when researching her new book, "Dinner with Churchill: Policy-Making at the Dinner Table" which she promoted at Westminster College with a book singing Wednesday. The book details Churchill's use of the dinner table as a diplomacy desk during World War II.
Prior to the signing, Stelzer was part of an intimate dinner with National Churchill Museum Executive Director Rob Havers, Westminster College President Barney Forsythe and others that recreated the meal the former British prime minister had before giving his famous Iron Curtain speech here in 1946. She said the traditional Callaway County dinner of cured ham, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and corn likely stood out as a favorite.
"If he were to design the perfect meal, he'd have smoked salmon or a clear turtle soup - he hated creamy soups for some reason - and a simple food like roasted chicken and a plain potato," said Stelzer. "He only mentioned green vegetables once that I found, and it was as a joke. For dessert he'd have had ice cream and a pear."