Beth Ricanati
bethricanatimd.com
Before We Began
Beth is a women’s health doctor who trained at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic, and who had an epiphany about women’s health. She wanted to write about her revelation but didn’t know where to start. Her head was swirling with ideas — about medical training, motherhood, and baking bread.
What’s The Big Idea?
We sorted out all her thoughts and ideas about the way women neglect their health, and the way the medical profession often doesn’t do anything to help. She began to pin her thoughts to the page. Her book was going to be part memoir, part cookbook, and part manifesto.
Her big idea is this: “What if you could bake bread once a week, every week? What if the smell of fresh baking bread could turn your house into a home? And what if the act of making the bread―mixing and kneading, watching and waiting―could heal your heartache and your emptiness, your sense of being overwhelmed? It can.”
The Outcome
Beth’s book, Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challas, came out in 2018 and instantly began racking up national awards.
2018 NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FINALIST, WOMEN’S STUDIES
2018 FOREWORD INDIES BOOK OF THE YEAR, SILVER MEDAL WINNER, SELF-HELP
2019 WILBUR AWARD WINNER, NONFICTION BOOKS
2019 READER’S FAVORITE FINALIST, NONFICTION - COOKBOOK/FOOD
2020 ERIC HOFFER AWARD, FIRST HORIZON AWARD FINALIST
2020 ERIC HOFFER AWARD, GRAND PRIZE SHORTLIST
2020 ERIC HOFFER AWARD, 1ST RUNNER UP - HOME
2020 NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARDS WINNER - WOMEN’S ISSUES
2020 NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARDS FINALIST - BODY, MIND & SPIRIT
Beth appeared in a wide range of media outlets including these:
Some of the praise Beth has received on her events:
“Some of my favorite moments in teaching American Jewish women’s history surround the home and the politics of gender and domesticity—a contemporary space that Beth Ricanati has reclaimed for herself and for all of us through the simple ritual of weekly challah baking. In class, my students discover that contemporary Jewish women can now choose and participate in ancient traditions and rituals in ways that empower them rather than control them. Ricanati’s beautifully written story of challah, the joy of creating real food for those we love, and the healing power of being in the moment, enlivens this precious inheritance, never more needed than now. ” — Marcie Cohen Ferris, Professor, American Studies Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
In Her Own Words
“I wanted to write a book. I wanted to tell a story. I thought I wanted to tell one story; Jennie helped me realize I actually had another story to tell. After a fairly in-depth initial back-and-forth, answer a lot of questions-session, Jennie came back to me and said that the story I wanted to tell was the story of making bread. Truly, she suggested to a physician that she write a book about bread.
And that’s exactly what I did.
Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs is now an award-winning book, still selling well almost three years post-publication. Have a writing coach walk hand-in-hand with me through the process was invaluable. Let me share some reasons why, from the obvious to the not-so-obvious.
Obvious: Accountability - meeting with Jennie every two weeks or so in the thick of writing the book meant I had pages to turn in and I wasn’t going to let her down, so I wrote the pages (something I had struggled with prior to hiring Jennie).
Not so obvious: anticipating the ups and downs of the process in such a kind, gentle manner that even when she was tough, I didn’t hear that way. Rather, I heard it as this is what you need to do to reach your goal and you can do it. Whether it was cutting large swaths of text, or having to write an entire book proposal (almost another mini-book!), Jennie shepherded me through the process with aplomb.”
Listen to a video of me and Beth talking about her journey: