12/3/18 - Janeane spoke with Beth Ricanati, MD about her book Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs

Beth Ricanati, MD is the author of Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs (now available, She Writes Press, paperback), a beautiful gem of a book perfect for the season when we focus on slowing down, baking, family time, spiritual reflection, and gratitude. We hoped you might consider her for interview. As a physician focusing on women's health, a mother, a daughter, a wife, a friend, Ricanati felt like many today—like she was on a flying carousel, always busy and disconnected from her body and spirit. But when a friend challenged Ricanati to take the time to make challah from scratch for Shabbas dinner, she was knocked out of her stupor and realized: It was time for me to change. Part memoir, part cookbook, and part manifesto, Braided is a heartwarming and powerful exploration of Ricanati's personal tradition of baking this challah every Friday. It has become a self-care practice that has sustained her for the last 10 years, allowing her to reconnect with her family, her home, her community, and her faith, and helped ground her again to be present in her own life. "I used to just prescribe medications[...]; now I also prescribe baking challah," Ricanati says. "I've learned that making food can be medicinal in its own right” – even if it is white bread! SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS: 1. You’ve made challah from scratch every Friday (give or take a few) for the past ten years, which after doing the math, you found to be over a thousand challahs! What inspired this tradition? 2. You say that you bake challah each week as an exercise in mindfulness – what does this mean to you? 3. Can the benefits and lessons learned from this meditative behavior transfer to other habits or hobbies if, say, I don’t want to bake bread every week? 4. Challah is part of the traditional Jewish cuisine – can you share with us some of its historical and spiritual context you learned over the years? 5. How has this meaningful ritual helped you cultivate new and strengthen old relationships? What was your family’s reaction over the years? 6. You spend a chapter of your book taking a deep dive into the six ingredients that make up challah. As a physician, what is your argument for baking this white loaf on a weekly basis? 7. Challah doesn’t have to be a plain white loaf – you can also jazz it up with various braiding techniques, toppings, and flavors. Can you tell us more about what works well in terms of possible flavor profiles? ABOUT Beth Ricanati, MD, author of the new release BRAIDED: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs, has built her career around bringing wellness into women’s everyday lives, especially busy moms juggling life and children. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her MD from Case Western Reserve University; she completed her internal medicine residency at Columbia Presbyterian in NYC. She spent ten years in practice at the Columbia Presbyterian’s Women’s Health Center, the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health, and the Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Institute. In addition to the frequent online writing that she does now, Ricanati has been a guest contributor for television, print, and online media, and has published medical articles in peer-reviewed journals. Ricanati lives in the Los Angeles area with her family and one challah-loving dog. Learn more at https://housecallsforwellness.com.