Author: Modern Wife

  • Kyocera Ceramic Knife

    Kyocera Ceramic Knife

    Following the lifestyle recommendations of Dr. Hulda Clark included setting up a metal-free kitchen. (Dr. Clark would later revise her findings to allow stainless steel cookware.) We bought a few plastic knives but none could take the place of a real sharpened metal knife. That is, until we found the Kyocera Ceramic Knife.

    The Kyocera Ceramic Knife is so sharp, I regarded it with fear when we first got it in the mail. It chops and slices millimeter-fine, and there is no need for re-sharpening. It is, without a doubt, the sharpest knife in the house. The blade bites right into food, and this prevents any slipping that can happen with a dull knife.

    kyocera ceramic knifeBecause it’s ceramic, I definitely have to be more careful of breaking or chipping it. Unlike metal it does not bend. The blade is made of zirconium oxide, which is second in hardness only to diamonds. It is especially excellent for cutting fruit and vegetables that would otherwise brown if sliced with a metal knife.

    Cleaning the Kyocera Ceramic Knife is easy. I just wash it quickly under the faucet, wipe it in a towel and put it away in a drawer out of reach of my child. I never put my it in the dishwasher. My husband has gone the extra mile and created a thick cardboard holder for our Kyocera Ceramic Knife as an added layer of protection from accidental cutting.

  • A Tribute to Cornelia Schwarz Stefatos

    A Tribute to Cornelia Schwarz Stefatos

    Cornelia Schwarz StefatosCornelia was born in Manhattan on the 18th of February, 1928. She attended Yale University School of Art in New Haven, CT, taking courses in painting and sculpture. Aside from her oil paintings, Cornelia also created marionettes. She wrote and illustrated “Seventeen Poems of Fairyland” in 1952. Cornelia Schwarz Stefatos was a Democratic Party Chairwoman for 15 years. In 1973, Cornelia retreated to a Victorian Mansion in New Brighton, Staten Island, where she lived with her old dog Shempie and fellow artists. She died on the 16th of January, 1998.

    Oil Paintings
    Oil Paintings
    Pen and Ink Drawings
    Pen and Ink Drawings

    Gnomes by Cornelia Schwarz

    A Fairy Cookery

    Windows of woodland kitchens are alight,
    A-blaze with coppery kettles on the peat,
    Lids flash and ladles gallop in the pot
    As cooks, the chattering cooks, concoct a treat!
    Puddings of poppy-seed and pansy sauce,
    A soup of spicy nuts and sour-grass,
    Poke-berries rolled in yellow pollen dust,
    Mint tea and sugar-dew-drops,
    Sassafras!
    A fairy pussy purrs by every fire,
    Sparks lightly falling into smoky silk!
    Green, greedy eyes approve the fairy feast,
    Long whiskers dipping into squirrel’s milk!
    A rainbow-colored wine and star-dust bread,
    Mauve marmalade and pickled hornet’s feet,
    Thin milkweed cookies, hexagons of honey,
    Root soup, and roast snap-dragon meat!

    Excerpt from “Seventeen Poems of Fairyland”
    Written and illustrated by Cornelia Schwarz, 1952

  • Poetry by Priscilla Lee

    Poetry by Priscilla Lee

    Wishbone
    Book of Poetry by Priscilla Lee

    A fascinating, eclectic mix of tongue-in-check laughter and heartbreak, Wishbone is a reflection on life, at first seen through the eyes of a child forced to grow up before her time, and later, by a woman facing her past. These courageous poems chronicle the life of an Asian American woman at the crossroad of two cultures, transforming her conflicting experiences into self-acceptance, strength, and a wild, free, happiness.

    76 pages ( 6 x 8 )
    Volume 5 in the California Poetry Series,
    presented by Heyday Books and Poetry Flash
    co-published with The Roundhouse Press

    “Through Priscilla Lee’s Wishbone, we enter a world both magical and harrowing, where the barracudas are melancholy and porcupines are kept as pets, a world in which a firing squad and America are a telegram apart. Seldom are we blessed with a first book as poignant and absorbing as this one is, as street-pure, as wise.”
    –Carolyn Forche

    “Priscilla Lee’s wonderful Wishbone draws together cultures and varied experiences to form a mature wisdom. A sensuous intelligence of body and mind helps to unite the sacred and profane, and a tension is created in these poems that surprises and pleases. This young poet’s words dance within her well controlled, provocative images–a distilled passion that takes little for granted in this imaginative, observed arena of chance and honed design. Wishbone is bold and tender, shaped out of classical mythologies and everyday life into an earned beauty we can trust.”
    –Yusef Komunyakaa

    “In Wishbone, Priscilla Lee mixes Kuan Yin and Christmas lights, shark fin dumplings and shots of tequila, the sound of mah jong tiles and slashing punk-rock guitar riffs…Lee patrols the borders of experience with a keen eye and ear for the stories of those who, like Lee herself, perpetually cross back and forth between past and present, fortune and accident, dreams and waking life. It’s our good luck that from her relentless attention she has fashioned these rich, involving poems.”
    –Kim Addonizio

    Meditation at the Sushi Boat Place

    Don’t judge anyone
    the way you judge your mother.
    Forget ambition. Tangle in someone else’s
    sheets at least twice a week.
    It doesn’t matter if he’s not there
    as long as it makes sense. Sleep until one,
    make love until three, order in Szechuan noodles
    with chunky peanut butter. Believe you’re immortal
    until you die. Never live with your parents
    a second time. Never eat anything
    bigger than your face. Be free, but not
    too free. Don’t sleep with anyone who flosses
    his teeth with your hair; no one loves
    a plucked ostrich. Repeat to yourself
    affirmations don’t work.
    The Almighty doesn’t want you
    to sound like a leaf-wrapped parrot,
    baking in hot ashes. Always mix wasabi
    with ice cream made of green tea.

    Advice from a Former Lover, an Artist

    You and I share a hunger for this perverse world.
    We bear the mark of Cain, perpetually creating
    to justify our ugliness. Since you married
    my friend, we haven’t talked. Can I share some
    advice with you? My wife and I also tried to be
    like my parents: to dig, plant, grow, and eat
    from the same soil together. Well, Satan be praised,
    you don’t have to trail three steps behind
    your husband, and we don’t have to preserve
    turnips in brine. The force of creation is not passive.
    An artist chisels out form ruthlessly with full
    intent. Show your obsessions like a marquee
    on opening night. Pick the fruits ripe for you
    and feast on the body. Ask him what he’d like
    to sample first–red-fleshed blood oranges,
    the translucent pulp pomegranates…
    When the girl-next-door waves her supple
    scent in front of his nose and your tongue
    dances like a flame, he may want a taste.
    Sometimes, I look at my wife and say–
    do you want to seduce another woman
    while I watch? That’s how I talk to my honey.
    Other times, I tell friends my wife wants two men.
    I blame it on her, but you know I love the act
    of giving shape to desire, the inexplicable light
    that lets us look into the secrets of others.

    How to Stuff an Eggplant

    For once, forget Bongo’s Burger Joint
    & thank El Nino for the pulsing hillsides.
    Go to the farmer’s market & choose
    a glossy eggplant, just-harvested,
    that shimmers back at you.
    At home, rub its purple skin with dark oil
    carried up from a cool cellar.
    Broil the eggplant inches from the heat.
    Carefully scoop the spongy white flesh,
    leaving walls thick enough to hold.
    Fill the hollow with walnuts, tangy feta,
    & pomegranate seeds. Pack a basket.
    Walk slowly along a trail winding
    through wildflowers, a riot of color
    down to the beach. Don’t hurry.
    Scatter the fat sparrows as you shake out
    your picnic cloth stained with grass
    from last summer. Place the eggplant,
    warm & full, in the curve
    of your lover’s palm. Watch him
    savor the soft succulent meat.
    Dig your toes into the sand.
    Let the mingled juices drip
    onto the blanket while he nibbles.

    Aggression Cookies
    (A post-modern Asian American performance poem)

    2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
    1 cup sugar
    2 cups light brown sugar
    4 eggs
    1 tbsp vanilla (this brand with a long name, sold at any yuppy kitchenware
    boutique)
    4 1/2 cups flour
    2 tsps baking soda

    With thick Chinese meat cleaver, hack to pieces:
    24 oz semi-sweet chocolate bar
    12 oz white chocolate bar
    14 oz macadamia nuts

    NOTE
    You may substitute chocolate and white chocolate chips for the bars
    if you are not feeling particularly angst-ridden.

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
    In a large bowl, thrash butter and sugars until uniform.
    Beat in eggs and vanilla.
    Add flour and baking soda; whip until smooth.
    Toss in chocolate chunks and nuts.
    To avoid the "chocolate chip cookie manhole cover" look,
    refrigerate the cookie dough for a couple of hours before baking.

    Throw batter by tablespoons full onto an ungreased
    baking sheet–aim so that the cookies land 2 inches apart.
    Bake until golden, about 10-12 minutes.
    Using a spatula, pry the cookies loose from the baking sheet,
    and allow them to vent on wire racks.

    Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

    Isolde: A Way Out

    When my sadness ends
    I’ll reach outside to you
    my heart
    no longer clenched
    like teeth to haul
    the heavy blackness near
    or cut wide
    to swallow distances–
    dark hole
    drawing around me
    tight as a crinkled mouth.

    When my sadness ends
    my mind will flower–
    bloom blood
    into a heart
    no longer like
    a fetus
    coiled in
    a knot of veins
    but a core of
    splitting thistles
    my flush
    of red pine extending
    into the edges of a room.

    Related Links:
    Poetry Magazine, Dec 2002
    Poetry Magazine, Nov 2002
    Moon Cake, by Priscilla Lee
    At the Wonton Monkee

    priscilla lee
    Priscilla Lee

  • Plastic Containers Recycling Codes

    Plastic Containers Recycling Codes

    Paula wrote: I’ve noticed the numbers inside the recycle symbols under plastic containers. What do these numbers mean?

    Hello, Paula. The plastic industry created these symbols for identifying the different types of material plastic is made of. It helps recycling plants sort the plastic containers, and is now a way for consumers to know what their containers are made of. Check the bottoms of the plastic containers you purchase and see if you can identify one of these:

    1 stands for PET or polyethylene terephthalate
    2 stands for HDPE or high density polyethylene
    3 stands for PVC or polyvinyl chloride
    4 stands for LDPE or low density polyethylene
    5 stands for PP or polypropylene
    6 stands for PS or polystyrene
    7 stands for Other, which means it’s either none of the above or an
    amalgamation of more than one of the above

    In Dr. Hulda Clark‘s latest book, “The Prevention of All Cancers,” she wrote about HDPE Plastic being the best kind for food and beverage storage because it is the most dense out of all plastic materials. This means that the chemicals making up the plastic does not leak into the beverage or food that it contains.

    Ever notice that plastic taste you get when drinking water out of a clear plastic bottle? Your taste buds are telling you that your water contains more than just H2O, it also has traces of the chemicals leaking from the clear plastic container you are drinking out of.

    Because of its density, HDPE Plastic is used to make milk containers, bottles for nutritional supplements, and basically anything that needs to be protected from any chemical leakage. As consumers become more savvy about the products that they buy, there has become a demand for HDPE food and beverage containers for the home. There are now a variety of HDPE bottles and containers that can be bought for household use. We found a few of these and made them available in our shop at HDPE-Containers.com.

  • Aromatherapy for Seduction

    Aromatherapy for Seduction

    Angelica is a warm and musky, herbaceous scent that is very grounding. Avoid use in pregnancy.

    Black Pepper is a hot and spicy piquant scent that warms and stimulates. It should be used sparingly because it is easily overpowering. It may also irritate sensitive skin.

    Cardamom is a warm, sweet and spicy scent with a hint of eucalyptus. It is stimulating and head-clearing, but should be used sparingly because it is easily overpowering.

    Cedar Wood is an ancient camphor. It is a sweet soothing antidepressant with a woody undertone. It was said to have been used in the Egyptian embalming process. Avoid use in pregnancy. May irritate skin in high concentrations.

    Cinnamon is a warm and spicy stimulant. Grown in the Far East, East Indies and China, it is one of the oldest spices known – used by the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and even mentioned in the Old Testament. It could irritate sensitive skin if used in baths and massage oils. Use in very low concentrations.

    Clary Sage is an uplifting relaxant. It smells sweetly herbaceous and floral. Used by the ancient Egyptians to cure women of infertility, these dried leaves were considered sacred in those days. The Chinese have also used it medicinally for centuries. Use sparingly, and should be avoided by pregnant women and anyone who suffers from epilepsy.

    Cloves are a warm and stimulating sweet-spicy-bitter scent. It is easily overpowering so use sparingly.

    Coriander is a sweet and spicy, slightly musky scent. It is a warm, uplifting stimulant that effects light-heartedness.

    Ginger is a warm, peppery and spicy stimulant.

    Jasmine is my personal favorite. I have jasmine vines growing on the north and south fences around my home. It is warm with musky undertones. Aside from being an antidepressant, it is also known as the fragrance of sacred love. It is an ancient favorite of the Arabs, Indians and Chinese. It was introduced from Persia to Europe in the sixteenth century.

    Neroli is a soothing and uplifting antidepressant. It has a sweet floral scent with bitter undertones. Neroli is better known as the orange blossom, white blossoms of the bitter orange tree which originated in China, but also grows in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, the United States, Italy and southern France. In 1680, Anna Maria Orsini, Princess of Nerola, was said to have brought the fragrance to fashion among the Italian aristocracy.

    Nutmeg is a warm and spicy stimulant. Use sparingly because it is easily overpowering.

    Patchouli is a rich and earthy relaxant. It is warm and stimulating, one of India’s most favorite perfumes. The oil is extracted from the dried and fermented leaves of the small patchouli shrub.

    Rosemary is a sharp and fresh stimulant. This small shrub, at most three feet high, with gray-green leaves and pale blue-white flowers, was first favored by the Egyptians. Before long, though, its popularity grew with the Greeks and Romans, who believed it symbolized love and death. Use in low concentration, as excessive doses may bring about epileptic convulsions. Do not use if you are pregnant or have high blood pressure.

    Roses have long been the valentine flowers of choice. Cleopatra was said to have carpeted her bedroom in rose petals to aid her seduction of Mark Antony. In Roman times, it was used in garlands, baths, and often in ostentatious public displays. Although it is a sweet and mellow antidepressant, it has a tendency to be heady. It is not advisable to use it as a bath or massage oil when you are pregnant.

    Sandalwood is an ancient sensual scent that soothes. It is warm, woody, soft, and sweet. It is an antidepressant that mellows with age. The evergreen sandalwood tree grows to a height of up to 30 feet in China, Indonesia, and East India. It is from the roughly chipped and powdered wood that the fragrant balsamic oils are derived. Many temples in India were built with this wood.

    Vetiver is an ancient rich and earthy scent. It is warm and soothing.

    Ylang Ylang is another personal favorite. It is intensely sweet, like jasmine. An antidepressant, with a tendency to get heady. It is a tropical tree native to Indonesia and the Philippines. The ylang-ylang tree reaches a height of 60 feet and produces yellow flowers that used to be mixed with coconut oil to perfume and condition the body and hair.

  • Recipe for Personal Lubricant

    Recipe for Personal Lubricant

    excerpt from The Cure For All Diseases
    © 1995 by Hulda Regehr Clark, Ph.D. N.D.

    “Heat these together: 1 level tsp. sodium alginate and 1 cup water in a covered non-metal pan until completely dissolved. Use very low heat and stir with a wooden spoon handle. It takes a fairly long time to get it perfectly smooth. After cooling, pour into a small dispenser bottle. Keep the remainder refrigerated.

    Or, mix and heat 4 tsp. cornstarch and 1 cup water until completely dissolved in a covered saucepan. Use non-metal dishes and a non-metal stirring spoon. Cool. Pour some into dispenser bottle. Refrigerate remainder. This is many persons’ favorite recipe.”