TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - The 1st Tank Battalion Cooking Class brought together spouses of the battalion for a night of food and friends at the Officer’s Club, Feb. 11, 2014.
This event marked the battalion’s first cooking class. The class introduced the spouses of the battalion and was led by Chris Ryan, sous chef of the Officer’s Club.
“It helps to build support networks for themselves within battalion,” said Jany Wasdin, family readiness officer, 1st Tanks. “Twentynine Palms isn’t the end of the world, although you might be able to see it from here, and you can make really strong bonds here.”
The event started out with an odd ice breaker. Each spouse was put in the spotlight and admitted to the strangest thing they’d ever eaten. Some came out with an unusual animal, such as elk or alligator, while others confessed to liver, pig’s feet and cow tongue.
After getting acquainted amongst each other, the ladies started shaping their culinary creations.
They learned how to use leftover pot roast to make barbecue beef sliders and shredded beef tacos. Although the pot roast was pre-made, an eight-hour process, the participants made all the trimmings from scratch.
The ingredients were laid out before them and they followed Ryan through the steps to make cole slaw, pico de gallo and cilantro-lime cream for their tacos and sliders.
The spouses were able to enjoy their creations at the end of the class as they sat down together at a large dinner table to talk and best of all, eat what they had just made.
“I don’t know very many people in the battalion right now and this was fun,” said Amy Cappadony, wife of Gunnery Sgt. Ryan Cappadony, platoon sergeant, 1st Tanks.
The battalion tries to have an event like this every month, according to Wasdin, and many of the participants from the cooking class looking forward to it.