Book review: Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife
THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED.
Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife is not your usual cookbook. In fact, none of the recipes can be cooked up into dishes that you can serve to your family… as food. Rather Nava Atlas, the author of several vegetarian cookbooks, has done something much different.
Cooked up with a 50s flair, she’s provided us with all of the real-life ingredients we need for a long marriage, for better or worse. For instance, her “Happily-Ever-After Ambrosia” includes the following ingredients: shavings of fresh coconut, harmony, pineapple rings and candied fruit, affection and mutual respect, glistening cubes of ruby red gelatin, security and support, mint ice cream, children who turn out well, rich frosting and whipped cream toppings, lasting love and happiness, and chocolate syrup.
To make the ambrosia, she says, “…Realize that real life doesn’t always resemble a dessert buffet, filled with sensuous pleasures and emotional fulfillment. Still, it’s human nature to feel hopeful, and even though you know that ‘happily ever after’ exists primarily in fairy tales, it may be possible to grab morsels of love and happiness from time to time.”
Other so-called recipes include “Completely Fried Wife,” “Mother-in-Law Fruitcake,” and “Psychotherapy Pie.” In addition to the recipes, Atlas offers lots tongue-in-cheek tips, such as, “Just as you can avoid home baking from scratch, you can sidestep the important issues in your marriage by sweeping them under the rug. Doing so will probably come back to haunt you in years to come, but why worry about it today? You’ll deal with your snowballing problems later (or not). Now, go and treat yourself to something starchy and sweet.”
The book is a good laugh for those at any stage of marriage. It’s the perfect bridal shower or wedding gift.
Want to know who won? Check out the winning Recipe for a Happy Marriage.
THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. Atlas was kind enough to offer a copy of her book as a prize to Project: Happily Ever After readers. To win it, all you have to do is comment on your personal recipe for a happy marriage. I will judge your “recipes” (with some help from a select team of disgruntled marrieds.) We’ll give bonus points to any recipe that 1) makes us laugh out loud 2) makes us say “wow, so true” 3) provides advice that really works. Deadline for entries: 8-21-09.
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August 10th, 2009 at 8:53 am
love the contest! My recipe: 2 dogs, one OCD hubs, one ADHD wife, a dash of travel, a cup of love and patience, a winning lotto ticket and a house on the beach. That sounds about right.
August 10th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
1 Cup each of the following:
Trust
Kindness
Honesty
Compromise
Great or at least, frequent, sex
2 Cups of:
Love
Patience
Respect
Forgiveness
Communication
Validation
Equal Parts:
Appreciation
Belief that you only want the best for each other
Pure Grit & Determination
Individual Responsibility
Willingness to grow
Ability to say sorry and mean it
Loyalty
and at least a 1/4 to a 1/2 a cup of “sweet cherries,” such as the occasional butt pinch, spontaneous kiss and “just because,” flowers, note, or thoughtful deed!
Realize that these ingredients won’t always be fresh, or easy to obtain! Life will inevitably throw you some sour times. You’ll be hit with some hard grains of salt, and perhaps even, too much spicy–heated pepper! When this happens, bring out the chocolate for her, the ice cream for him–and don’t forget the cherries!
Be willing to discuss this recipe from time to time and see which ingredients are most important to spouse during certain life-stages! This recipe may take some tweaking and a while to learn, but have no fear, it is a fool-proof, no fail recipe for a truly happy lasting marriage!
Oh, and most of all, enjoy your efforts–and each other!
Many Blessings,
-Sarah Liz
August 10th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
6 cups reliance on God
2 cups trust
1/2 cup of sex
10 glasses of wine
Stir all ingredients together, paying particular attention to God and trust in each other. Make sure to pepper with the sex. If all else fails; get drunk and laugh!
August 11th, 2009 at 8:21 am
This recipe is done by feel. No exact measurements because nothing is the same everyday.
A couple handsful of love and respect
Seasoned with willingness to listen no matter the mood
Allow some silence for alternative communication to bubble up
Throw in a dash of self confidence and a pinch of independent thinking
Mix with hands being careful not to overdo as dough could become tough
Combine the fruit of our labor with a sprinkling of sweetness and place into crust
Dot with the butter of life to “grease” the wheels
Pop into a warm oven to bake until death-do-you-part!
Serve while warm.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
LOL, funny so far!
Okay so mine includes the following and done in grandmotherly fashion with no exact measurements:
A dash of sugar (goes a long way)
A handful of rose petals (for romance)
A dribble of honey
A bucket of faith
A cup or two of patience (or 12…)
A truck load of humor (don’t hedge on this one ladies!)
And even amounts of love, trust, companionship, and sex!
Stir it all up with God’s powerful wand (via a prayer will do), and grab the Mylanta!
August 11th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Okay, it’s been a while, and I can’t claim any type of expertise, but I am simply not going to pass up the chance to win a free book…
1 cup compassion and tolerance
1 cup forgiveness
2 cups joy and fun
1 cup commitment
several handfuls common vision
2 cups respect
1 cup humor
5 cups chocolate (yeah, everything is better with chocolate)
Mix in bowl of life and bake until everything looks yummy and right
August 12th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
2 full time working parents
3 kids under the age of 3 (2 of which are 2.75 year old twin boys)
5 horses for the “relaxation” escape from our careers
1 90 pound Golden Retriever
toss in a kiss in front of the kids
and voila
a priceless moment of family humor no one can escape in (excuse the borrowed phrase) our crazy life!
August 14th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
We’re still technically newlyweds, so I’m not sure I’ve got the recipe down yet, but so far there is a heaping cup of each of the following: listening, patience, affection, humor, and respect…sprinkle liberally at all stages of mixing with love and a coupla gropes here and there…
August 24th, 2009 at 9:33 am
THANK YOU everyone for entering this contest. The contest is now closed for entries and we will be judging them and announcing a winner shortly!
August 29th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
This comment somehow got posted with the photo. I thought it should go here, where others can see it, so I’m reposting it. It’s from Trent:
Happy Marriage? Coming From a Guy.
Patience. Love. Caring.
Giving the correct answer when asked about Hair and Clothes… oh, and weight…. Did I say patience?
Look and don’t touch approach to life. Grass can and is always greener. Take Your Sexual thoughts out on your your wife. You thought about doing what to whom where? Try it out. If your wife agrees, of course….. Agrees to the action not the whom you wanted to do it to… The energy you would have spent spilling all your little sperms is directed into the moment with your wife.
… Read More
Figuring out what your wife needs.
Emotionally…. number one
Everyday Number two
If there is any energy left, sex…. number three
Weather it be a massage. Help around the house. Or leaving her alone. Figure it out.
Wife’s always want some control and reassurance. They spend their days doing the stupid stuff no one wants to. Dishes, Laundry, Cleaning, etc….Kids that want to make you lose your mind…
September 24th, 2009 at 3:32 am
Thank you for that nice recipe