Books like Stir by Jessica Fechtor


" M.F.K. Fisher meets Brain on Fire in this exquisite memoir of a 28-year-old food blogger who cooks her way back to health after a near-fatal aneurysm Jessica Fechtor was on top of the world: a Harvard graduate student, happily married, and thinking about starting a family. Then, while attending an academic conference, she went for a run and an aneurysm burst in her brain. Multiple surgeries left her skull startlingly deformed. She lost her sense of smell, the sight in her left eye, and her confidence about who she was and what mattered. Jessica's journey to recovery began in the kitchen as soon as she was strong enough to stand at the stovetop and stir. There, she learned about the restorative powers of kneading, salting, and sifting, that food had something to tell her, and that it felt good to listen. For readers of Molly Wizenberg, Tamar Adler, Laurie Colwin, and Ruth Reichl, as well as Oliver Sacks and Jill Bolte Taylor, Stir is a memoir (with recipes) of what it means to fix what's broken and live with what can't be fixed, to nourish and be nourished, to remember what it is to be hungry, honor that hunger, and learn how to feed it"-- "After suffering a brain aneurysm and a life-threatening infection, Jessica Fechtor set about cooking and baking to pull herself back together again, fixing what was broken, and living with what couldn't be fixed"--
First publish date: 2015
Subjects: Biography, Health, Therapeutic use, Rehabilitation, Patients
Authors: Jessica Fechtor
5.0 (1 community ratings)

Stir by Jessica Fechtor

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Books similar to Stir (10 similar books)

Brain on fire

πŸ“˜ Brain on fire

The book narrates Cahalan's issues with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis and the process by which she was diagnosed with this form of encephalitis. She wakes up in a hospital with no memory of the events of the previous month, during which time she would have violent episodes and delusions. Her eventual diagnosis is made more difficult by various physicians misdiagnosing her with several theories such as "partying too much" and schizoaffective disorder. The book also covers Cahalan's life after her recovery, including her reactions to watching videotapes of her psychotic episodes while in the hospital.

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On food and cooking

πŸ“˜ On food and cooking

Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is a kitchen classic. Hailed by Time magazine as "a minor masterpiece" when it first appeared in 1984, On Food and Cooking is the bible to which food lovers and professional chefs worldwide turn for an understanding of where our foods come from, what exactly they're made of, and how cooking transforms them into something new and delicious. Now, for its twentieth anniversary, Harold McGee has prepared a new, fully revised and updated edition of On Food and Cooking. He has rewritten the text almost completely, expanded it by two-thirds, and commissioned more than 100 new illustrations. As compulsively readable and engaging as ever, the new On Food and Cooking provides countless eye-opening insights into food, its preparation, and its enjoyment. On Food and Cooking pioneered the translation of technical food science into cook-friendly kitchen science and helped give birth to the inventive culinary movement known as "molecular gastronomy." Though other books have now been written about kitchen science, On Food and Cooking remains unmatched in the accuracy, clarity, and thoroughness of its explanations, and the intriguing way in which it blends science with the historical evolution of foods and cooking techniques. Among the major themes addressed throughout this new edition are: Traditional and modern methods of food production and their influences on food quality, the great diversity of methods by which people in different places and times have prepared the same ingredients, tips for selecting the best ingredients and preparing them successfully, the particular substances that give foods their flavors and that give us pleasure, and our evolving knowledge of the health benefits and risks of foods. On Food and Cooking is an invaluable and monumental compendium of basic information about ingredients, cooking methods, and the pleasures of eating. It will delight and fascinate anyone who has ever cooked, savored, or wondered about food.

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Sweetbitter

πŸ“˜ Sweetbitter

A lush, raw, thrilling novel of the senses about a year in the life of a uniquely beguiling young woman, set in the wild, alluring world of a famous downtown New York restaurant.

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The Vow

πŸ“˜ The Vow

Now a major motion picture starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, "The Vow" tells the true story of a couple that defied the odds and fell in love with each other again after Krickitt suffered brain damage and memory loss following a car accident. Life as Kim and Krickitt Carpenter knew it was shattered beyond recognition on November 24, 1993. Two months after their marriage, a devastating car wreck left Krickitt with a massive head injury and in a coma for weeks. When she finally awoke, she had no idea who Kim was. With no recollection of their relationship and while Krickitt experienced personality changes common to those who suffer head injuries, Kim realized the woman he had married essentially died in the accident. And yet, against all odds, but through the common faith in Christ that sustained them, Kim and Krickitt fell in love all over again. Even though Kim stood by Krickitt through the darkest times a husband can ever imagine, he insists, "I'm no hero. I made a vow." - Publisher.

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The Kitchen Front

πŸ“˜ The Kitchen Front


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Running On Empty

πŸ“˜ Running On Empty


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There's a boy in here

πŸ“˜ There's a boy in here

Judy Barron chronicles her son's battle with autism, discussing how she and the other members of the family learned to deal with his outbursts and special challenges.

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My Stroke of Insight

πŸ“˜ My Stroke of Insight

On the morning of December 10, 1996 Jill Bolte Taylor, a thirty-seven-year-old Harvard-trained brain scientist experienced a massive stroke when a blood vessel exploded in the left side of her brain. A neuroanatomist by profession, she observed her own mind completely deteriorate to the point that she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life, all within the space of four brief hours. As the damaged left side of her brain – the rational, grounded, detail and time-oriented side – swung in and out of function, Taylor alternated between two distinct and opposite realties: the euphoric nirvana of the intuitive and kinesthetic right brain, in which she felt a sense of complete well-being and peace; and the logical, sequential left brain, which recognized Jill was having a stroke, and enabled her to seek help before she was lost completely.In My Stroke of Insight, Taylor shares her unique perspective on the brain and its capacity for recovery, and the sense of omniscient understanding she gained from this unusual and inspiring voyage out of the abyss of a wounded brain. It would take eight years for Taylor to heal completely. Because of her knowledge of how the brain works, her respect for the cells composing her human form, and most of all an amazing mother, Taylor completely repaired her mind and recalibrated her understanding of the world according to the insights gained from her right brain that morning of December 10th.Today Taylor is convinced that the stroke was the best thing that could have happened to her. It has taught her that the feeling of nirvana is never more than a mere thought away. By stepping to the right of our left brains, we can all uncover the feelings of well-being and peace that are so often sidelined by our own brain chatter. A fascinating journey into the mechanics of the human mind, My Stroke of Insight is both a valuable recovery guide for anyone touched by a brain injury, and an emotionally stirring testimony that deep internal peace truly is accessible to anyone, at any time.

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Stirring it up

πŸ“˜ Stirring it up

Tired of the takeout dinners their parents bring home, eleven-year-old twins Molly and Amanda decide to take cooking classes with two of their friends. Includes recipes.

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Ghost Boy

πŸ“˜ Ghost Boy

In January 1988, aged twelve, Martin Pistorius fell inexplicably sick. He lost his voice, stopped eating and slept constantly. Within eighteen months he was mute and wheelchair-bound. Martin’s parents were told that he had an unknown degenerative disease and probably had less than two years to live. Then, in 1998, when Martin was twenty-three years old, an aromatherapy masseuse began treating him and sensed some part of him was alert. Since then, and against all odds, he has fallen in love, married and set up a design business which he runs from his home in Essex. Ghost Boy is an incredible, deeply moving story of recovery and the power of love.

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Some Other Similar Books

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Masta, and Dishwasher in Italy by Bill Buford
My Berlin Kitchen: A Love Story with Recipes by Luisa Weiss
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cookbook School by Kathleen Flinn
Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
A Table for All: A Cookbook for the Hungry and Hopeful by Aida Mollenkamp
The School of Essential Ingredients by Jeanette Winterson

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