Military Meals at Home Cook Book

During a recent trip to my hometown of Maryville, Tennessee, I found another treasure trove of WWII memorabilia at the River Mill Antique Mall on the road to the Smoky Mountains. After our traditional stop at Becky’s Grocery & Grill for their mouthwatering burgers and homemade coconut cream pie, we decided to check out this local antique shop with its random merchandise overflowing onto the expansive front porches.

Inside, there were individual booths also overflowing with a variety of once-loved items. At first it was overwhelming trying to screen through all the displays, but my cousin’s sharp focus quickly spied two large file cabinets labeled “WWII items.” Immediately I began rummaging through those drawers packed with carefully preserved books, calendars, vinyl records and posters, and they were all calling my name. Like a kid in a candy store with too many choices, I was having trouble deciding what to buy. Eventually I purchased four items, including a book I never knew existed, Military Meals at Home, Cook Book.

Its front cover promised 250 home-styled recipes used by the Armed Forces to “build vigorous good health, strength, endurance and resistance.” But it contained more than just adapted military recipes. First published in 1943 for the Culinary Arts Institute, “one of America’s foremost organizations devoted to the science of Better Cookery,” it was also filled with patriotic messages along with nutritional advice.

The Introduction set the tone for the importance of good nutrition for the service members. It declared that “food is what men fight with” and “what men see with and fly with” and that it’s essential to have food that “builds bodies, brain and nerves, sight and hearing.” According to the editor, the recipes in this cookbook “are those that do the trick.”

The Introduction also reinforced several aspects of self-discipline practiced by the military. “It might be well to remember that body building rests, too, on the regularity of exercise and sleep as well as good food in sufficient qualities.  Many families might adopt with profit the slogan of the Armed Forces: TAKE ALL YOU WANT BUT EAT ALL YOU TAKE. No bodies are built by food that is left on the plate, and both grown-ups and children will do well to follow this lead.” Amen then and now!

There is so much richness in this forty-eight page book that captures the spirit of the times, and my brief overview is just the beginning. I am so eager to share recipes and the tasty morsels of truth that abound in the book. So each month, I will introduce you to a new recipe page so you too can embrace the culinary spirit of these times. Here’s some final food for thought taken directly from the cookbook, “Military Food Provides Vim, Vigor and Vitamins.”