Posts Tagged Review

Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife: Book Review & Giveaway

Posted by Sarcastic Mom, aka Lotus in Book, Humor on October 6, 2009

Giveaway has ended: Congratulations to the winner, Martha Foster.

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Anyone who tells you their marriage is *perfect* is either still on their honeymoon, lying, or is stark raving mad. (Or drunk, oh so drunk.)

If you’re years (or even months) in, you know that all is not of fairy tales and dreams. Hey, marriage takes work (and that rat bastard rarely does his share of it, freaking good for nothing… oh! I digress!) and any woman today knows that there are bumps and humps and lumps. And other umps.

This is not to say that we don’t love our husbands, or that we don’t want to have a happy home.

But hell, we KNOW there are stinky moments.

Secret recipes cover smallSecret Recipes for the Modern Wife by Nava Atlas is a parody of a recipe book that will make you laugh at any and all of these types of moments. You’ll find “recipe” after recipe that makes you nod along and belly laugh in understanding. (And I pray not too many of them will have you crying with woe, but that’s another topic entirely.)

I read a few of these “recipes” out loud to my husband. He fidgeted a little while I laughed my butt off. A couple of times I think I stressed a few words to much, and raised my eyebrow a little too hard. I may have actually pierced him with a few hard glares. I can’t remember if I actually shook the book at him or not. But I definitely laughed out loud. Long and hard. (After I wept a little.)

Then he quietly backed out of the room. Not sure why.

Some examples of “recipes” in the book:

  • Beans ‘N’ Weenies of Sexual Tension
  • Midlife Stress-Stuffed Cabbage
  • Control-Freak Cookies

About the author, from the back cover of the book:

“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 husband and two sons. You can visit her website at NavaAtlas.com.”

Want to grab a free copy, signed by Nava Atlas herself, and chuckle through it like I did?

To enter to win a free copy of Secret Recipes for the Modern Wife, leave me a comment below.

Comments will be accepted from 4:00 p.m. (CST) October 6, 2009 until 4:00 p.m. (CST) October 10, 2009. The winner will then be notified by email, and must respond to claim the book.

Please use a valid email address on the comment form.

Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents only.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.


Disclosure: This is an uncompensated review. I received the book for review, free of charge.

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26 Comments

I Can Do That! Monkey around with Curious George.

Posted by Sarcastic Mom, aka Lotus in Games, Kids, Toys on March 23, 2009

Congratulations to our winner: Jessica

I Can Do That!I Can Do That! Games are a great way to foster self-confidence in your young children while they are laughing and and having fun. They can play board games just like older kids – that are designed for things that they can do!

There is a full line of Dr. Seuss games that will have your little ones getting a kick out of being silly, and learning in the process.

The latest games feature everyone’s favorite monkey, Curious George. Or, as my 2 year old calls him, “Doo-is Dorge!”

I had a chance to play with one of the games myself – The “Curious George Hide and Seek Zoo Game.”

curiousgeorge_hideseekzoo

It’s designed for children ages 4-8, so it’s a bit advanced for Braden. I can tell you, however, that it comes with a yellow Walkie-Talkie, which he immediately commandeered and used as his own personal telephone on which to have important discussions with The Man in the Yellow Hat.

Once he took a nap, I set up the game and tested it out. You basically follow the prompts given by the Walkie-Talkie and a spinner on the game board to collect cards and earn points. It’s very easy to understand, and offers problem solving, turn-taking, and direction-following opportunities. The most fun happens when The Man in the Yellow Hat freaks out about the animals escaping. This is when everyone else slaps on an animal mask and hides, while the person in charge of the Walkie-Talkie must find them before the music stops (2 minutes).

giraffehead

This part of the game actually encourages running around. When was the last time a board game gave your kids an opportunity to problem solve AND get some exercise?

The game is fun, exciting, and educational. And I have a feeling that the rest of the products at I Can Do That! Games are similarly entertaining and enlightening.

If you’d like to score one of these games for yourself, head over to the I Can Do That! website and have a look at the games. Then, in the comments section here, tell me which game you like the best. Your comment earns you an entry.

You may leave a comment through March 25.

On Thursday, March 26th I’ll randomly draw one winner to receive a free copy of the Curious George Hide & Seek Zoo Game.

(Please use a valid email address on the comment form, and respond when contacted in order to win.)

Disclosure: This is an uncompensated review. I received the Curious George Hide & Seek Game for review, free of charge.

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9 Comments