The Officer’s Wives Holiday Cookbook undated “a special project of Officers’ Wives Clubs” and “proceeds from its sale supply these clubs with the funds they need to support a wide variety off worthwhile projects”.
The book is divided into menus for different holidays from Labor Day to Lincoln’s Birthday to New Year’s Eve.
There are photographs on the section dividers but I’m not sure they are of actual dishes appearing in the book but the photographs near the recipes do correlate.
Wide variety of recipes by named contributors listed along with their military connections and location.
There were some tips for each menu—put a drop of perfume on a cold light bulb so when it is turned on it spreads your scent around the room!
The menus are very complete and feature multiple breads, drinks, sides, desserts and main dishes. They are actually a little odd. When I think of a menu, I think of a list of paired items but there are just many unrelated recipes under the heading of a specific holiday. No suggestions about which recipe to serve together. The connection to that holiday isn’t always clear. For example, I expected some “lucky” dishes for New Year’s Day or Eve but there were none.
The food all looks fine and festive but it’s pretty chaotic.
To be fair themes are slightly clearer on some holidays than others. Lincoln’s Birthday is deliberately a menu of “old-fashioned” foods designed to make your family and guests “think they are back in the 1800’s” but still is a selection of very diverse foods and not a set menu. You can chose from Helen Dolenc (Sitka, Alaska)’s Moose Stroganoff or Patricia P. Jermyn (St. Regis, Montana)’s Barbecued Bear. But others seem to have no real theme despite the lengthy introductions that often include some rambling, uncredited recipes.
The “Festive Events” chapter had more complete menus for smaller events like Mother’s Day, Election Night and Derby Day which were closer to what I expected from the book as a whole.