The Military Wives' Cookbook: 200 Years of Traditions, Recipes, and Remembrances [Hardcover]

Carolyn Quick Tillery (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

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.

Presented in menu format, each chapter includes a story related to the recipes of the period ("A Colonial Thanksgiving" and "Christmas in the Confederate White House") and feature foods from around the world, including places like Morocco, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Japan, and Korea.

The Military Wives' Cookbook is divided into six large sections:

• 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.

The women, through whose eyes these stories are told and whose recipes are shared, are truly remarkable. They often balanced the responsibilities of maintaining home and hearth, raising a family, managing a business, and supporting a war effort. In addition, they found time to extend themselves in friendship and hospitality to one another and to women in the places where they were stationed, earning them a well-respected reputation that continues to this day.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carolyn Quick Tillery currently manages the United States Central Command Family Readiness Program, which sustains families in times of peace, crisis, and war with information that enhances quality of life, prepares families for extended deployment separations, sustains them during deployment, and facilitates a smooth family reintegration following deployment. A native of Asheville, North Carolina, she graduated from Tuskegee Institute (now University) and was subsequently commissioned an officer in the United States Air Force. She received her law degree from the University of Denver and is a graduate of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA). An NAACP Image Literary Award finalist, her writing credits include Southern Homecoming Traditions, Celebrating Our Equality, A Taste of Freedom, and The African-American Heritage Cookbook. Carolyn Quick Tillery is married to Colonel J. R. Tillery, USAF, retired, and resides in Tampa, Florida.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581826729
• ISBN-13: 978-1581826722
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Gastronomy > History

More About the Author

Carolyn Quick Tillery
It was about a decade ago that Carolyn Quick Tillery married two of her passions - history and food - to create a "pick up and go" career for herself. In 1994, she decided to write a book about the history of her alma mater, Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. And from the beginning, she decided to fold in food stories and recipes. Tillery was influenced by food and a powerful oral tradition as a child. A year and a half after beginning, Tillery published The African-American Heritage Cookbook acclaimed for its lively storytelling and Sweet Potato Soup, Mom's Devilish Catfish Stew, Smothered Yard Bird and more than 200 other recipes, rich in flavor and tradition. This was soon followed by the Military Wives Cookbook, which offers readers rare and fascinating tidbits of U.S. history from the perspective of America's military wives while framing nearly 50 sets of recipes with quotes, stories and vintage photographs, in such chapters as "An Independence Tea Party," "Yankee Doodle Pot Roast Dinner," "A Colonial Thanksgiving" and "Christmas in the Confederate White House." Martha Washington, Libbie Custer and Jefferson Davis' wife, Varina, are among the women who share their stories.
A former judicial law clerk, prosecuting attorney and United States Air Force Officer, Ms. Tillery currently manages the United States Central Command Personal & Family Readiness Program, which prepares military families for all phases of deployment and provides them with information to enhance the quality of their lives. She is the author of "A Taste of Freedom," "The African-American History Cookbook" and "Southern Homecoming Traditions," which was a finalist for the prestigious NAACP Image Award.
Southern Homecoming Traditions, the fourth installment in Tillery's African-American Heritage Cookbook series is similar in tone and style: each is really two books in one, a collection of regional recipes as well as a detailed examination of a particular facet of African-American history. Her most recent book is a celebration of the five historic black colleges and one university that comprise the Atlanta University Center: Morehouse, Spelman, and Morris Brown Colleges, Morehouse School of Medicine, Interdenominational Theological Center, and Clark-Atlanta University. Author Carolyn Quick Tillery uses the evocative power of food to take us back to the institutions where so many great African-American leaders were educated, and the region where so many great dishes were created.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My sister gives a 5 star., October 20, 2010

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grandma (Kansas) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Military Wives' Cookbook: 200 Years of Traditions, Recipes, and Remembrances (Hardcover)

My sister is a retired military wife of 30+ years. I bought this book as a gift for her. She loved it!

5.0 out of 5 stars cookbook, April 9, 2011

By 

Just me - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Military Wives' Cookbook: 200 Years of Traditions, Recipes, and Remembrances (Hardcover)

This book not only has good recipes, but it has tidbits of military history included. The snip-its show the history of life as a military wife. There are quotes and letters from the wives...there are also quite a few photographs included that chronicle the military way of life...all in all, it is an entertaining and historically interesting book!!!

4.0 out of 5 stars I love the history, January 3, 2011

By 

pilesoflaundry (the desert of TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Military Wives' Cookbook: 200 Years of Traditions, Recipes, and Remembrances (Hardcover)

I haven't tried any of the recipes yet but I love the book as a book. The pictures, history lesson and background info are really interesting and I like it a lot. The recipes have a good variety and I'm sure I will make something from the book soon.