White House

As many of you know I visited the White House this past week with many other Olympians.  We had a big celebration dinner at our hotel the night of the sixth.  It was nice to see many people on the swim team and other teams that I hadn't seen since Beijing.  The US Olympic Committee made a really cool highlight video of the events in Beijing that we all watched and ended up getting really pumped up to!

The morning of the seventh we all woke up and left the hotel by 6:30 am.  It ended up taking us about an hour and a half to actually get to the White House due to traffic.  We showed up and went through security to get onto the front lawn.  

I was taken into the first floor of the White House because Michael Phelps, Shawn Johnson, Nastia Luikin and I were in a video with the First Dog named Barney.  The past eight years Barney has had a video where he takes viewers around the White House and shows them the holiday decorations.  All four of us had individual roles and then we had a role with our fellow teammate.  Michael and I talked about swimming and the relay of course.  Shawn and Nastia told Barney it looked like his decorating job was a perfect 10.  The lines were all pretty corny but it was fun.  At one point I was sitting on the couch with Barney and discussing the decorations with him.  

We finished the taping and went out to the stage on the front lawn where President Bush was going to speak to us.  Shawn, Michael, Nastia and I all had marked spots right behind Laura Bush and President Bush.  It was really cool to see them.  He came out and shook our hands.  We all listened to him speak and then he came and talked to us briefly afterwards.  I got my picture taken with him but unfortunately the person taking the picture took it before he was looking at the camera:(

At the conclusion of the festivities outside, Michael and I were escorted inside and got a private tour of the White House with a secret service agent and a White House representative.  The coolest thing about the White House is certainly the history of the building, much more than the beauty of the decor.  It is nice inside but just thinking about what went on in all of these rooms is incredible.  The room we did the filming of the video in was the strategic meeting room where President Eisenhower planned the D-Day invasion.  Wow, Amazing huh!!!

My favorite part of the tour was when I stood and got my picture behind the podium in the news conference room.  There have been a lot of important speeches that have been given there and I was at the same spot...

Bacchus Celebration Dinner

Wow I had the most perfect night on Monday!!!

A fine-dining restaurant in Milwaukee called Bacchus held an event of Olympic proportion in my honor and to raise money for the American Heart Association.

The event began promptly at 6:30pm.  Guests began to show up at 6:00 and were taken into the dining room at about 6:15.  In the dining room I set up a table of Olympic Memorabilia.  My medals were there as well as huge frames that are filled with Olympic tickets, credentials, pins, lanyards and other novelties.  

I began by talking to the audience about my Olympic experience.  I divulged the mystique of what the Olympic village was like, how phenomenal the Water Cube was, what the food was comprised of in Beijing, and of course how crazy that 400 Freestyle Relay was!  My talk at the beginning of the meal lasted for about 20 minutes.  I was really rushed because usually all that takes me at least 45 minutes to say ha ha.

The dinner consisted of four courses.  The first course was an Israeli Cous Cous with sugar snap peas, roasted peppers, roasted heirloom cherry tomatoes, a bit of crumbled feta, topped with spinach and a lemon infused oil vinaigrette.  The second course was a knock off of my Salmon recipe.  We had salmon with tomato, red onion, Parmesan cheese all on top of fingerling potatoes and baby carrots.  After these two courses I talked for about 15 minutes about the food that made up the menu.  I thought it was important to let the audience know that the menu was prepared with a healthy low-sodium consumer in mind.  The reason for this is because I have high blood pressure and try to maintain a low-sodium diet.  I really attribute a lot of my success to eating healthy.  During this time I also talked about the product line of low sodium foods I want to start in order to help others eat low-sodium diets too.

The fourth course was a bison fillet with a bison and red wine reduction sauce.  The bison was set on top of steamed spinach and garlic.  Accompanying the bison were sweet potato wedge fries that were grilled.  This was an outstanding creation.  Finally the dessert was a flourless chocolate cake topped with mango sorbet and an orange cookie.  On the side was a raspberry coulis and chopped pieces of mango.  The dessert really topped the meal off well.

During the course of the night I made my way around and talked to every table.  It was important to me that I got a chance to really speak to everyone and thank them for coming.  Bacchus really did a wonderful job, I couldn't have been happier!  

One of the most exciting parts of the night for me was at the beginning when the special events manager for the restaurant, John, presented me with a chef's jacket with the Bacchus logo and my name embroidered on the front.  I literally felt like a million bucks walking around in that thing!!!!  Maybe it is a sign???

Nice Photos from ESPN site

White House photo link.

on my way...

I am sitting on the bus waiting to go meet the President of the United States of America, in the White House...all the hard work and sacrifice has definitely paid off. I have done some really cool stuff. A new post will be made later with details of the experience.

Weekend of Contrasts

Kayaking down a scenic river on a stunningly beautiful day as fall sweeps across Wisconsin. Fish, turtles, muskrat, cranes, wood ducks...too much to see.

Taking about Beijing, smiling for photos, signing autographs, all to help raise money to find a cure for arthritis. So many people need help. This annual ball in Milwaukee helps support a kids' camp. It's a great cause.

Tomato, Basil and Cheddar Sammy

MMMMM There is nothing better than combining fresh-from-the-garden ingredients into a wonderful meal. Enjoy!!!

"Chefs" on TV

Garrett with Bacchus restaurant Executive Chef Adam Siegel as they prepare to go live Saturday morning on WTMJ 4 to promote their "Dinner of Olympic Proportions."

Siegel is a winner of the prestigious James Beard Award for culinary excellence.