A Soothing Broth

All cookbooks before about 1940 or so had a section in them entitled "invalid cooking". This little book helps us now. We generally do not have this information. This is a great place to start. It covers a wide variety of suggestions for food that can used for ailments that everyone encounters ... upset stomach, sneezes, sniffles, and "out of sorts days". I have found it to be a wonderful resource for my classes that I teach. Charli Vogt, RN,MN, MPH herbalist, health teacher, radio show host [...]

Pat Willard brews together family and tradition like few writers today. Just reading her stories is a tonic. In fact I tried some of the recipes and they worked. However, I may have had a heavy hand in the liquor section a bit. A good read. This is the second Pat Willard book I enjoyed, and look forward to the next. Also, I heard the interview on NPR, and Pat sounds like an enjoyable person. I'll pass on the vinegar and cayenne, though.

My wife the cook swears by this book, and though I'm not competent myself to answer questions about cooking, being all thumbs, I do teach history, and I find this book fascinating on historical grounds. Its account of the history of nursing, interwoven with recipes, is judicious, lively, insightful, and an excellent read.

"A Soothing Broth" is exactly that!! Pat Willard's gem of a book is thoroughly researched & splendidly written. Wrought with witticisms & wise cracks, Willard's tone brings as much comfort as the numerous concoctions she describes & it is a joy to have so much healing humor added to the mix as in the eel vs. vipers debate & the pig Miss Glover knew personally. The historical recipes are utterly compelling & crammed with great stuff including the truly useful & the just plain fascinating like the cure for nymphomania! (Ah, the good ol' days when cocaine & marijuana weren't yet controlled substances...) The wonderful introductions to each section are mini memoirs with an array of colorful characters & their various approaches to attaining and/or maintaining good health like Willard's maternal grandmother's seaweed soup & Miss Glover's kidney-cleansing dandelions. Structured around a firm foundation of an amazing & practical collection of tonics, treatments & cures, "A Soothing Broth" is imbued with the spirit of Florence Nightingale whose important contributions to the health-care field continue to influence modern-day medicine. This book is a real pleasure to peruse with its impressively wide range of info for whatever ails you.

This is an endeavor written by my sister with lots of advice from me, the nurse. I have enjoyed reviewing each recipe while holding the perspective of the patient in mind. I have found in my own clinical practice (HIV/AIDS) that sometimes caregivers are at a loss in some of the most needed things of the patient - nourishment. The caregivers have a great deal of satisfaction in fulfilling the most basic - food - for their patients. This book will be a help to them as well as for other health care providers who are often at a loss with this most basic request. This book is not to be a substitute to professional health care and the recipes should be shared with your health care provider as you strive to partner with them in the move to wellness. Enjoy and be well!!