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 (Paperback)

~ Nava Atlas (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Flavored with frustration, simmering with rage, and iced with affection, these recipes will make you laugh as you multitask your way through the challenges and joys of matrimony.

Whether you're a new bride or an old hand at marriage, it's always handy to find fresh and fascinating recipes to add to your repertoire. And the recipes in this collection are perfect for you, the busy, overextended, and occasionally conflicted modern wife. Enveloped in them are the secrets -- delicious, distressing, and everything in between -- that accompany women on their marital journeys. Here are recipes you won't find in just any cookbook:

Beans 'n' Weenies of Sexual Tension

Midlife Stress-Stuffed Cabbage

Control-Freak Cookies

Soufflé of Fallen Expectations

A Fairly Satisfactory Family Stew

Though she grills societal norms with gleeful relish, Nava Atlas never loses sight of marriage's simple, loving rewards. The result is a feast of retro art, sly wit, and cultural commentary. No woman will be able to read this without thinking of five friends she must share it with!

About the Author

Nava Atlas is an artist and author who is best known for her bestselling vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, including the classic Vegetariana.  She lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York with her huisband and two sons.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Fireside (April 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416580840
• ISBN-13: 978-1416580843
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #568,258 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A 50's Style Cookbook with Lifestyle Recipes, June 9, 2009

By	Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

Atlas departs from her business of writing vegetarian cookbooks, to skewering happy family life through a 50's style cookbook (complete with classic food photos and illustrations) with lifestyle recipes. These "recipes" aren't going to fill your stomach, but they will fill your need for snarky commentary. Starting with Recipes For Accommodation (Gender Role Casserole), Recipes For Trouble (Old Boyfriend Buffet), and Recipes For Disaster (Souffléof Fallen Expectations), Atlas walks you through the stages of the relationship from courtship and engagement to pending divorce or seperation. But Wait!--There may still be hope. There is also Recipes For Reconciliation and (Gasp!) Romance-Sometimes I Feel Like a Tart and Happily-Ever-After Ambrosia. //Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife// will make you re-think the names you use for your standard meals, and give you a laugh or two along the way (Beans `n Weenies of Sexual Tension? Try serving that one to your spouse with a straight face.)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recipes for laughs, April 14, 2009

By	Cathe Olson "natural foods cookbook author" (In the kitchen) - See all my reviews

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fun., July 4, 2009

By	Holly (United States) - See all my reviews

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".