Kate Gabriele contacted Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com – my co-host on our BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com – about Kate's military cookbook project. The email from Kate about this project was so interesting that I got her permission to reproduce part of it here.
I am Kate Gabriele, a chef at a small restaurant in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and I've been working on a personal project called the "Military Cookbook Project."
I am seeking recipes from men and women who have served or are serving now in the military and what meals they missed most from home while they were away – a story of why it was so special and picture of their smiling face in uniform or civilian clothes.
How the project came to be:
While on a business trip home from Milwaukee my flight was delayed in Philadelphia. As I was waiting to go home I spoke to a soldier named Joe Serna on his way back to Afghanistan.
We started talking about food, and I asked him what he missed most. He missed his Grandma Serna's tomatillas. And he sent me the recipe and his photo, which I still have.
That stirred something in me. Why not compile a cross-section of America's military and create an heirloom or keepsake book with stories, recipes and pictures of our fabulous heroes?
We are losing our WWII vets very quickly. I want those stories, I want their pictures – it's important. I truly believe this with all my heart. What better way to pay tribute to those that served and all those whose hearts are with them back here while they fight for freedom and protect us?
Both of my uncles served. Uncle Phil was in Airborne and jumped in Germany. My other uncle, Uncle Angelo, served as an MP in New Mexico while they were developing the atomic bomb. My dad was going to join the OSI but due to a medical condition wasn't permitted to join.
Both my dad and Uncle Angelo went on to work for Boeing near Philadelphia and helped build the Chinook helicopters for the Vietnam War. And Uncle Phil later went into law enforcement to become a police officer.
Check out the website www.militarycookbookproject.com and let me know if you could lend a helping hand. This is a grassroots project and there isn't any commercial sponsors connected to it. It's my sister Felicia and myself working on this.
Please contact me anytime if you have any questions or have an idea how I can effectively spread the word about this important project. Maybe you know of someone who might want to contribute by submitting a recipe, story and photo.
Every recipe, special story and photo counts ... just like every one of our military personnel out there right this very minute.
Submit a recipe here.
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Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs as a National Internet Business Examiner and at Operation Support Jews in the Military and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life.
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