Customer Reviews

Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife: All the Dishes You'll Need to Make from the Day You Say "I Do" Until Death (or Divorce) Do You Part

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a cute humor book written as a parody of a cookbook. Perhaps I should've looked a little closer, but from the VegNews review and product blurb I was expecting a vegan cookbook with a bit of humor - maybe like a vegetarian version of Amy Sedaris's entertaining book, with some adapted versions of the riotous '50s recipe booklets filled with casseroles and jello salads.. I'll have to keep waiting for somebody to write that. Instead, this is a humor book without any actual recipes.

When the opportunity to review this little gem came, I wasn't sure what to expect. Was it really a recipe book? Was it a bash on marriage? I'm pleased to say it was, for the most part, a delight.

The subtitle says, "All the Dishes You'll Need to Make from the Day You Say 'I Do' Until Death (or Divorce) Do You Part". With recipes like, "Sweethearts Engagement Buffet" and "Way Too Much on Your Plate", Nava has a fun take on marriage. There was a bit more criticism of husbands than I like, but hidden in the snark and sarcasm are also little tidbits about the rewards of a good marriage.

The book is full of great retro 50s art and advertising. There is something in it for everyone: whether you're a newlywed, a tired mommy, heading for divorce, or married to a good man who is like corn and has traits like these--maturity, tenderness, consistency and endurance. A light, easy read, and while I have nothing to complain about in my marriage, or about my husband, I laughed my way through it.

My favorite recipe? "Happily-Ever-After Ambrosia".

This book was so much fun . . . from the recipe for Way Too Much On Your Plate (which I eat daily!) to the Soufflé of Fallen Expectations, Control Freak Cookies, Midlife Stress Stuffed Cabbage, and Sweet Cakes of Hope -- there are recipes to suit every mood and pallet. A departure from Atlas's healthy, vegetarian cookbooks--this is full of black humor, hideous fifties food pictures, and a laugh (or sometimes a cry) on every page.

I giggled out loud on almost every page - this is the perfect shower gift for a bride-to-be because every marriage deserves (needs?) a good sense of humor. Thoroughly enjoyed!

In this delectable skewering of the mid-20th-century fantasies of "happily ever after" that linger to this day, Ms. Atlas has brought to the table two of her greatest gifts: a fondness for food and a salty wit. The result? A fine fondue worthy of deep dipping! Grab a long-handled fork and enjoy!

Nava Atlas has illuminated the very ingredients in our lives that both make us crazy and bring us to uproarious laughter at ourselves and our situations. Every individual in my family could find a recipe to identify with, and one to identify someone else with! Ingenious, witty and revealing, these recipes will last you through (or outlast) your family crises.

Any woman worth her salt, will relate to the clever tongue-in-cheek recipes found in "Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife." Each delivers dozens of oh-so-tangy morsels of insight into the role of women now and then. The irony is served up with a punch of humor and a dash of sass--just the right amount of spice to keep your mouth watering for more.

In her latest book, Nava Atlas has departed from her vegetarian ways and created a meaty, laugh-out-loud look at marriage with some very "special sauce" on the side. It belongs on every woman's bookshelf. In fact, keep it in the kitchen; the humor and sass will keep you cookin' for years!