Breadsong: How Baking Changed Our Lives

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One loaf quickly escalated into an obsession and Kitty started to find her way out of the terrible place she was in. The family had always made a point of eating dinner together, but they let Kitty get rid of the dining table for more baking room/supplies. It also spoke to me as a baker and I was able to get really excited for Kitty as her journey unfolded. Kitty, of course, is also very honest: she didn't know why it happened, either, and makes no excuses for it, or for feeling the way she did. The different fonts make the dual authorship work really well, there's lovely pictures and photos throughout, and I really did sit and read the 150-odd pages in one day, because I started and then I had to keep going.

Kitty is a strong woman with a wonderfully supportive family who not only allow her to recover in her own way without worrying about her schooling but help her every step of the way. I feel like things would have played out very differently in other parts of the country, without the opportunities encountered here. So far I have made the Miracle Overnight White Loaf, which is a marvellous no-knead, overnight (duh) bread that you cook in casserole dish; and today I made the focaccia, which uses the same dough but you press it out to make focaccia. In this uplifting work, the British dad-and-daughter duo behind Oxfordshire's Orange Bakery fold innovative recipes into a moving testament to the healing power of baking .I bake (unprofessionally), although not as much as I used to thanks to a Neurological condition I have developed, but I still try to when I can. A journey which very much speaks to my own family’s experience and which has helped me enormously as a floundering parent in unchartered waters.

I actually finished reading the memoir part of this book a couple of weeks ago - the day I received it in fact. When I lost my dad, I baked an absurd amount of cakes and biscuits for the hospice staff; I bake (and eat) when I’m stressed, when I’m sat, when I’m bored, when I’m happy. On my first read, I decided I’d note down the recipes I wanted to try, but I soon gave up when I realised I was just copying out the whole book.The memoir element is a beautiful insight into a sadly very relatable theme - tackling mental health issues as a family while finding creative outlets for tension is one that I feel will strike a chord with a lot of us. Adding to the charm of this book, the photographs are beautifully shot and many clearly show the humor of this family. In reading the memoir side I did feel a little bad for her older siblings during Kitty's breakdown and the beginning of her bread obsession. It was so enjoyable, I loved every minute, it was so interesting and despite my preconceptions (thought they must have had a bit of money to start something like this) I was completely wrong and it was completely inspirational how this happened. It was a brave move for her father to give up the job of teaching to become a baker in partnership with his daughter.