Our April/May Cook the Books Pick - Life from Scratch by Sasha Martin

Cook the Books has been memoir heavy for our 2017 early selections.   So far we have read about the trials and triumphs of author Jessica Fechtor in Stir.  We have met a lovely older gentleman  and have been graced by his wisdom in Isabel Vincent's Dinner with Edward.   We'll round out the first half of 2017 with Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing.  

For the current April/May selection, Life from Scratch by Sasha Martin, we read another memoir about the healing power of food.

Martin tells of her unorthodox childhood in Boston, her troubled teenage years in Europe, her days in culinary school and her first "adult" job in Tulsa, Oklahoma.   The travels don't stop there and Martin challenges herself to cook her way around the world from her tiny kitchen in Oklahoma.  She chronicles this quest on her blog, Global Table Adventures.  Through the course of Life from Scratch, Martin finds love, acceptance, forgiveness and family.

There are plenty of international recipes included in Life from Scratch  and you might also be inspired to cook a meal from one of her many childhood memories centered around food.  Or, you might find your inspiration from her blog.

I hope you pick up a copy from your local bookseller or library and join us for this round.

Submissions for this round of Cook The Books Club, hosted by Debra at Eliot's Eats, are due by end-of-the day on May 31, 2017. Anyone can join by reading the current selection, preparing a dish inspired by its contents and writing about it. Let me know when your entry post is up by commenting on this post and/or sending me an email at eliotseats@gmail.com.   If you are new to Cook the Books Club, you can find out more at the Guidelines page.

 Postscript:   Through an amazing bit of serendipity, I was able to attend a two-day food writing symposium with Martin this past weekend.  I have a totally new appreciation of her book.   It was so interesting to hear her talk about writing this book in only one year, the publisher's demands and ultimately how the book took on a life of it's own and morphed into something unexpected.