Just in time for Memorial Day, one of the biggest grilling holidays of the year, the Propane Education & Research Council and Food Network personality Sunny Anderson are debuting a new cookbook, The Grilling for Heroes Cookbook: Sizzling Recipes for Your Propane Grill, to raise money for wounded veterans. Ms Anderson, an Air Force veteran and co-host of the Food Network show The Kitchen, provided a foreword and original recipe for the cookbook.

Hundreds of grilling recipe submissions were collected through a contest last summer on grillingforheroes.com. Recipes were also collected from food bloggers and grilling enthusiasts across the country.

Among those selected for inclusion in the new release is a recipe and personal story of military service from Bernadette Gillen Addessi of Newtown.

Mrs Addessi’s was one of 50 recipes selected for publication in the cookbook. She found out about the contest from one of her children.

“I think she was thinking of not only me and my love of cooking, but also looking for something to make me happy,” Mrs Addessi said this week of her daughter’s suggestion to submit a recipe. “My father died a year ago this February.”

William J. Gillen, Mrs Addessi’s father, served in World War II as a bombardier in the US Army Air Corps, and was a combat infantryman during the Korean War. He died February 27, 2014, and was buried with full military honors the following week.

“He served in those two wars, and he had a beautiful sendoff at the cemetery,” Mrs Addessi said. “I think my daughter was thinking of me, in that way, and got me involved in this when she heard about it.

“I really enjoy cooking,” she added. “I always have. My mother was a terrific cook.

“We all love grilling,” Mrs Addessi said. “I think that’s another reason why my daughter thought of me when she heard about this contest.

“We never stop grilling,” she said, laughing. “Even in the winter, we grill. It’s just easier, and everything tastes better.”

The e-cookbook was launched on May 17, when Sunny Anderson did a segment on Fox & Friends. Each recipe, she said Sunday morning, is accompanied by a short story from the cook who shared his or her recipe for the collection. Some are about themselves and others, like Mrs Addessi, honor relatives who have served.

Goodwill donations are being accepted in exchange for downloads of the cookbook at grillingforheroes.com through the end of 2015. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to Hope For The Warriors, a nonprofit whose programs enhance the quality of life for post-9/11 wounded service members and their families.

The mission of Hope For The Warriors (hopeforthewarriors.org) is to enhance the quality of life for post-9/11 service members, their families, and families of the fallen who have sustained physical and psychological wounds in the line of duty. Hope For The Warriors is dedicated to “restoring a sense of self, restoring the family unit, and restoring hope for our service members and our military families.”

Visit GrillingForHeroes.com to donate and download the grilling cookbook and for tips on safe grilling including proper grill placement, what to do if the flame goes out, and proper procedures for relighting.

The Propane Education & Research Council is a nonprofit that provides leading propane safety and training programs, and invests in the research and development of new propane-powered technologies. PERC is operated and funded by the propane industry.