Our First Give-Away! Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife

December 1st, 2009

Exciting news I tell you, our first give-away! The Lisa Ekus Group was kind enough to provide us with books to share with two lucky flavoristas.

Simply leave a comment to this post. Subscribers: please leave comments on the site rather than e-mail. I’ll put them all in a hat and Lollie will pick the winner. We’ll post the lucky winners and I’ll contact you to get shipping specifics.

I met Nava Atlas at an author’s retreat while she was wrapping up the book above, Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife. I picked up my copy over the summer and it is a hoot. It is the perfect book for that "hard to buy for" girlfriend.

There are no actual food recipes in the book, although Nava is a well established cookbook author. Keep on reading to check out some sample "recipes" from Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife:

Way Too Much on Your Plate
Serves one frazzled female

2 to 3 small children, more or less as desired
A small pinch of time
1 large bunch mixed obligations (try a combination of work, aging parents, extended family, community involvement and endless errands)
Generous grindings of guilt

Combine children in a house or apartment and stir together, losing temper every so often.

With time at a premium, pile up obligations and "to do" items, little by little, until you realize that you have so much on your plate that your life resembles one motley potluck. With a wire whisk, beat yourself into stiff peaks for biting off far more than you can chew.

Add as much guilt as necessary to achieve complete emotional overload when you realize that there is no way to do anything well when you are trying to do so many things at once. Ponder why your life, which was relatively simple not long ago, has become a not-too-pretty smorgasbord.

Start recipe over each morning and repeat daily for about a decade, or longer as needed, until the kids are older or until you are a complete basket case, whichever comes first.

Old Boyfriend Buffet
Fuels many hours of fantasy

Bobby or Johnny, or whatever the boy you liked in fifth grade was called
Your middle school boyfriend, name forgotten
Your high school boyfriends, as desired
The great love of your life (college sweetie, or other)
All the guys you dated before meeting the man you ultimately married
Nostalgia for glazing
Cranberries for color

After major arguments with your husband, heap memories of Bobby (or Johnny), with the middle and high school boyfriends onto a plate. Infuse this hazy hash with much longing for your lost youth.

Conjure up daydreams about the great love of your life after particularly vexing fights. Serve yourself these exquisite morsels while pondering the following:

1. Why did you ever let him get away? 2. Did he ever get over you, and does he ever think about you now? 3. Did he ever marry, and if so, a) might he be divorced or widowed by now, and hence, available? or b) would he leave his current wife for you if you were available? 4. Should you do a discreet search for his whereabouts?

Spread embellished memories of all the guys you ever dated on a silver serving dish. Marvel at how most of them, even the jerks, look awfully appetizing with the glaze of nostalgia, especially compared with the idiot to whom you’re married. Festoon your fantasy land forays with cranberries, which, like memories, can be remarkably bittersweet.

Happily-Ever-After Ambrosia
Serves to inspire hope in an age of cynicism

The stuff that makes living most delectable (choose as many as you’d like), including:
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 that turn out well
Rich frosting and whipped cream toppings
Lasting love and happiness
Chocolate syrup (lots of it)

Before starting this recipe, recognize that even in an age when impossible standards of perfection coexist with a decline in marital rates (and successes), there must be some reason why most people aspire to be part of a couple.

While arranging delicious ingredients with lofty aspirations, pause to reflect on "for better or worse," and decide that you prefer better. And observe that even those who have endured the most painful of breakups often try again, and sometimes yet again.

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.

And the winners are….

Kathy – quinnka@comcast.com and Jenny – jennymalcow@mac.com. I’ll send you both an e-mail to get shipping info. Congratulations – Hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.

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