“In reading Beth Ricanati’s Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs, one feels as if one is drinking from a spiritual fountain that allows a new wave of life to surge within them. This book offers both a recipe and a path to personal growth and healing. Packed with insight and wisdom, it is one of those rare books that every woman should read. ”

“Ricanati’s memoir with recipes is a well-written investigation into her maturation as a doctor, her growth as a wife and mother, and the increasing wisdom she gained while pondering Jewish rites and rituals.”

“ I knead for my needs,’ the author insists—and readers are likely to join her. ”

“I smiled while reading this book—I couldn’t help it. It is not about making challah healthy, it’s about challah making as healthful. Buy this book for any friend. They’ll get it; they’ll smile, and they’ll learn why you honored them with it.”

“This is the perfect prescription for a happy life. Slow down, be present and bake challah. Beth Ricanati has taken the mindfulness movement to kitchens everywhere. This book inspires readers to practice being fully present with yourself and your friends and family during the most nurturing of times. Through the ancient practice of baking challah, Beth Ricanati encourages all of us to rise up and join the challah movement .”

“Beth Ricanati has written a unique book: part recipe, part health, with a whole lot of soul. Reading her book is like making a new friend— you feel transported to her California kitchen, sharing her life’s journey and prescription for being present with one hand, while kneading challah dough with the other. A yummy, cozy and inspiring read.”

“Beth’s book is like having coffee with a girlfriend: honest, interesting, and thoughtful. Part memoir, part cookbook, part health guide - but more than all of these, Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs will inspire you to dig deep, think about life, and make challah, maybe even at the same time.”

“A women’s wellness doctor who prescribes the practice of baking bread? I feel like this is exactly the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that is going to save the world right now.”

“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. ”

“Who knew that baking challah was the perfect entry point to a simpler and more fulfilling life? This is not just a book about making bread. It is a book about making choices, and like a good challah is at times chewy, evocative and a little sweet. Its wisdom transported me back to the kitchens of my grandmothers and the knowledge that in complicated times the way forward is always the simple and beloved. ”