Military Spouse Appreciation Day

Today is Military Spouse Appreciation Day – the Friday before Mother’s Day which President Reagan set apart in 1984 as a day to recognize and honor military spouses.  I am not a military spouse but I am joining others in saluting those who are.  Take for example my friend Alicia.  Her blog gives me a glimpse of what it means to be a present day military spouse.  Alicia’s Navy husband has been deployed in a classified location since January 2009.  Alicia writes about being a military wife and mom at Experiencing Every Moment.  Part of the job, or not, the military lifestyle is not without sacrifice on the part of the spouse.

I recently had another peek at the life of a military spouse when Sourcebooks sent me a review copy of The Military Wives’ Cookbook:

The Military Wives’ Cookbook is a collection of recipes, anecdotal stories, and vintage photographs tracing the history and unique contributions of American military wives.  Beginning with an Independence Tea Party featuring the foods served by the women of Edenton, North Carolina, at a party on October 25, 1774, it recreates the scenes and foods that recount the stories of the commitments and sacrifice that military wives have given the nation for more than two hundred years.

A little bit of background about me is that I love cookbooks.  I’m one of those kitchen nerds who checks out cookbooks from the library for fun.  So I eagerly agreed to get my hands on a brand new cookbook.  What I hadn’t counted on was how much I would get wrapped up in the stories and photographs accompanying the recipes.  (Perhaps I would have gotten better grades in high school had there been recipes included in my history books.)  Many of the recipes in The Military Wives’ Cookbook have historical significance while others are tried and true recipes that have been passed from family to family (or military base to military base) over the years.

Another thing that I liked about the cookbook is that it is divided into a “menu” style layout with six sections (useful for entertaining).  The six sections are:

• Teas and Coffees
• Buffets, Brunches, and Lunches
• A Taste of Home: Dinner Family Style
• Alfresco Dining
• Over There: An International Affair,
• Home for the Holidays and Other Celebrations

With over 300 pages of recipes and inspirational stories, my opinion is that The Military Wives’ Cookbook is an excellent resource for dinner and more!