Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day! A day where the nation recognizes all the things that we as Spouses do for our Service Members. So, give a Military Spouse a hug today, will ya?
A few weeks ago, I was sent a copy of “The Military Wives’ Cookbook” by Carolyn Quick Tillery, and asked to do a review of it in honor of Spouse Appreciation Day. Always a fan of a good cookbook, I quickly said yes and was excited to start pouring through some of the recipes.
The first night that I actually opened it up and looked at it, I was sitting at the dinner table with a girlfriend of mine, and we were flipping through it together. What I loved about it was that along with the recipes [which I will get to in a second] it is full of old pictures of Soldiers and their families, along with stories and letters of military past; a quick little snapshot into what life was like prior to our time. The introduction alone gives a little synopsis of most of the wars this country has fought in, so if you’re looking for a history lesson while you’re cooking in the kitchen, the “Military Wives’ Cookbook” is for you. 
The recipes are broken up into six different sections:
- Teas & Coffees
- Buffets, Brunches & Lunches
- A Taste of Home: Dinner Family Style
- Alfresco Dining
- Over There: An International Affair
- Home for the Holidays & Other Celebrations
I thought this was nice change from the typical “appetizers, poultry, meat, bread, etc” labels that typically come associated with cookbooks these days. The “Teas & Coffees” section in particular, while I don’t typically throw tea parties (and I don’t really know who does anymore), the recipes were very brunch oriented, filled with recipes such as blueberry scones, cranberry orange muffins, creamed chicken croissant, and a savory salmon spread. Along with all of these recipes (which in every section, for the record, are grouped together so that you would have a menu plan for an entire meal. Love it!) there were plenty of recipes for making your own tea. After All, it was the “Teas & Coffees” section!
The section of the cookbook that I most enjoyed was the Alfresco Dining section. This seemed to be the section that I tried most of the recipes, simply because a) they were fairly simple and b) as a Spouse with no kids whose Husband is deployed, I really only cook for one these days [you can also find the story behind the Flag Folding Ceremony and why it's significant in this section!]. The Dinner Family Style section has some great recipes as well — I just don’t cook that much food. And I loved the miso soup recipe in the “Over There” section.
All in all, I found the cookbook to be very interesting. It’s obviously not your typical cookbook, and not all the stories are that interesting [I for one thought the two pages on Lisa De Los Santo's weight loss journey and how she helps others stay fit was very random and out of place]. But the recipes are all pretty easy, and while a handful of them required some ingredients that I had never heard of, and therefore will never make because I have no clue where to get said items, I can definitely see myself using this cookbook from time to time.
All in all, I would recommend it to other MilSpouses out there, and may actually give this as a gift to a few others who I know would enjoy it.
