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Cooking & Screaming
An inspiring, recipe-filled memoir about loss, recovery, and finding oneself through food and cooking.
"I rose from my wheelchair slowly, using the arms of the seat to steady myself; I managed to lift my weighty limbs and limp the three steps to the counter. Stirring left-handed, I did not want to leave the warmth of the kitchen. I felt good. And for a moment I forgot about the life that I was living. Being in the kitchen, the sights and smells, the smear of crimson tomato sauce on my borrowed apron, felt like a bit of home, a place that felt so far away."
Adrienne Kane always loved food. Waiting by the oven for the sweet, crisp cookies she baked with her mother to emerge. Learning to create a simple yet delicious frittata with her best friend. Fueling long hours of work on her senior thesis with a satisfying tagliatelle.
But just two weeks before her college graduation, Adrienne suffered a hemorrhagic stroke that left her paralyzed on the entire right side of her body. Once a dancer and aspiring teacher, she was now dependent on her loved ones, embarrassed by her disability, and facing an identity crisis. The next several years were a blur of doctors, therapists, rehabilitation, and frustration.
Until she got back in the kitchen.
It started with a stir. A stir and a taste. A little more salt. Maybe a side of crisp, sautéed potatoes. She learned to wield a chef's knife with her left hand, and to brace vegetables with her right. As she slowly stumbled from her quiet resting place at the kitchen table to where her mother stood by the stove, food became not only her sustenance and her solace, it became Adrienne's calling.
She tested new recipes and created her own, crafting beautiful, delectable feasts for the people who had nurtured her -- her mother and father, who himself had survived a stroke several years earlier; the friends who encouraged her to write a cookbook; and, of course, the boyfriend-turned-husband who stood beside her all the way. Eventually, through determination, hard work, and a healthy portion of courage, she turned her culinary love into a career as a caterer, food writer, photographer, and recipe developer.
Filled with simple, tempting recipes and complex, hard-won lessons, Cooking and Screaming is Adrienne's moving and heartfelt story of food, loss, work, and joy...and finding her identity through the most unlikely combination of ingredients.
"I rose from my wheelchair slowly, using the arms of the seat to steady myself; I managed to lift my weighty limbs and limp the three steps to the counter. Stirring left-handed, I did not want to leave the warmth of the kitchen. I felt good. And for a moment I forgot about the life that I was living. Being in the kitchen, the sights and smells, the smear of crimson tomato sauce on my borrowed apron, felt like a bit of home, a place that felt so far away."
Adrienne Kane always loved food. Waiting by the oven for the sweet, crisp cookies she baked with her mother to emerge. Learning to create a simple yet delicious frittata with her best friend. Fueling long hours of work on her senior thesis with a satisfying tagliatelle.
But just two weeks before her college graduation, Adrienne suffered a hemorrhagic stroke that left her paralyzed on the entire right side of her body. Once a dancer and aspiring teacher, she was now dependent on her loved ones, embarrassed by her disability, and facing an identity crisis. The next several years were a blur of doctors, therapists, rehabilitation, and frustration.
Until she got back in the kitchen.
It started with a stir. A stir and a taste. A little more salt. Maybe a side of crisp, sautéed potatoes. She learned to wield a chef's knife with her left hand, and to brace vegetables with her right. As she slowly stumbled from her quiet resting place at the kitchen table to where her mother stood by the stove, food became not only her sustenance and her solace, it became Adrienne's calling.
She tested new recipes and created her own, crafting beautiful, delectable feasts for the people who had nurtured her -- her mother and father, who himself had survived a stroke several years earlier; the friends who encouraged her to write a cookbook; and, of course, the boyfriend-turned-husband who stood beside her all the way. Eventually, through determination, hard work, and a healthy portion of courage, she turned her culinary love into a career as a caterer, food writer, photographer, and recipe developer.
Filled with simple, tempting recipes and complex, hard-won lessons, Cooking and Screaming is Adrienne's moving and heartfelt story of food, loss, work, and joy...and finding her identity through the most unlikely combination of ingredients.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published February 10, 2009
3 people are currently reading
250 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
March 17, 2009
inspiring read from a woman who had to reinvent herself, just as she was finishing college and thought she knew who she was. She had her ups and downs but the book doesnt come across as pitying or whiny at all.
June 29, 2010
This book did draw you in, and the beginning of the book where the author becomes disabled is the most interesting part of the read. As someone who hasn't followed the author or her food blog I was just reading it as a book. For a memoir (of roughly 6-8 years of the authors life) it was actually quite a bit self indulgent and maudlin for the last half of the book. I liked the authors descriptions of food, but she lost the point of the book which started out as a person dealing with a disability and took an abrupt turn in the book where it becomes barely mentioned, and is more about her career as an author and a cook. All though I'm sure Adrienne Kane is a fun person and kind, I wasn't left thinking man I would like to meet her or be her friend. She seemed to turn away from those who sacrificed and had hardships of their own (her mother and father) way to soon. The recipes included in the book are unique and new for me which was neat, but I did often find myself just skipping over the recipes to get back to the story.
June 11, 2009
For a memoir, it was an excellent cookbook.
I don't mean that badly, actually. Kane's story is compelling in that she emerges as a very self-possessed person in the face of what to anyone else might have been a psychologically devastating event: the stoke-like experience of an ateriovenous malformation in the brain.
I find it telling, however, that she pitched the story of her recovery after failing to sell a cookbook. I found all the recipes in the book more appealing than those found in the average food memoir, and the memoir itself less satisfying than might have been expected given the situation.
I look forward to trying some of these recipes out (especially the chicken tandoori sandwich); if she were ever to publish a cookbook, I think there's a good chance I'd buy it.
I don't mean that badly, actually. Kane's story is compelling in that she emerges as a very self-possessed person in the face of what to anyone else might have been a psychologically devastating event: the stoke-like experience of an ateriovenous malformation in the brain.
I find it telling, however, that she pitched the story of her recovery after failing to sell a cookbook. I found all the recipes in the book more appealing than those found in the average food memoir, and the memoir itself less satisfying than might have been expected given the situation.
I look forward to trying some of these recipes out (especially the chicken tandoori sandwich); if she were ever to publish a cookbook, I think there's a good chance I'd buy it.
March 12, 2009
At the age of 21 Adrienne suffers a stroke just before graduating from college and uses her love of food and cooking to gain confidence, independence and start a life anew. I loved reading about her new-found joy in food and her descriptions of a fresh apricot or how she came to cater her first food job. Her strengths lie in her food and I love that each chapter begins with a recipe relating to the story. However this would have been a more more meaty memoir if Adrienne would have gone into depth about her recovery, her relationships with her parents and her loss. Quibbles aside, an enjoyable read.
May 24, 2009
This was a very interesting memoir. The author had a stroke right before her college graduation, and the memoir documents the next few years of her life as she tries to figure out how to live with her new disability as well as dealing with the question we all deal with right after college - what do I do next? The book also included recipes that were important to her throughout her recovery and stories to go with each. They all sounded delicious and I'm planning to try a couple of them before I have to return the book to the library. Overall, an enjoyable read.
For Nest Spring Book Club - read a book and cook a meal inspired by it.
For Nest Spring Book Club - read a book and cook a meal inspired by it.
August 3, 2009
A memoir with a strong cooking theme throughout (as the awful wordplay in the title tells you)... Kane suffered partial paralysis at a very young age, and had to rethink all of her life plans. I liked that she didn't try and turn it into a self-help book, it's a very honest account of what she was experiencing, including her cynicism about people's intentions and her worries about how she was viewed her in social settings. The last couple of chapters are somewhat anti-climactic, but I suppose that's the be expected when someone writes a memoir in their twenties. Some of the recipes mingled into the book look really good.
July 11, 2009
a dancer loses a good deal of mobility from suffering a stroke in her early 20s, just as she's finishing up college. recovering from losing control of one side of her body, and ashamed/embarrassed about her disability, she regains her confidence in life by cooking for friends/family and writing a cookbook. love the recipes included (and integrated into) each chapter - simple steps, easy-to-find ingredients, moving and memorable back story.
October 21, 2010
I was rather conflicted to give this book either a 3 or a 4 Star review. But I guess to sum it up, I would probably give it a 4 star as a memoir, and a book about food writing a 3. That being said, this book was still a good and easy read filled with little gem of moments, like plain simple dishes that pique certain taste sensation that brings you back to that particular moment back in time and place when preparing and sharing of food was a quotidian comfort.
October 13, 2010
Just before her graduation from UC Berkeley, Adrienne Kane suffered a massive stroke, causing partial paralysis and leading to a long road to rehabilitation. Kane recounts how her close-knit family, dedicated boyfriend/husband and love of food inspire her ongoing recovery and self-discovery as a caterer, recipe developer and food writer. Each of the 20 chapters begins with a recipe, followed by a story about its inspiration. A compelling story and quick read.
July 3, 2009
I seen to be on a roll of cooking stories lately.This book tells of a young girl who has a stroke during her last wekks of college. It follows her physical rehabilitation and her finding her direction in life through her love of cooking. The recipes at the beginning of each chapter relate to the chapter and look interasting to cook.
January 5, 2011
We really were inspired by the author's way of viewing life after a traumatic medical event that changed everything for her. Kudos as well to her boyfriend, later husband for sticking with her and treating her as she wanted to be seen, not as a disabled woman. There are lots of life lessons to be taken away from this book.
July 15, 2009
I loved this book. Not only did I identify with the author, it also made me think a lot about the experience that Karen Kampwirth went through (a professor at Knox, for those of you who don't know her).
March 12, 2010
I finished this in about a day; I really got into Adrienne's method of story-telling interspersed with recipes. Some of them are definitely ones I'm going to copy before I return the book to the library!
January 15, 2012
While I read this book a long while ago, today it reminds me of Gabby Giffords. This story of Adrienne Kane's recovery from a stroke is poignant, but tells an important story about the process of recovery. It provides hope and advice on how to handle such medical crises.
June 25, 2015
A memoir about loss, recovery, and the love of FOOD. The author, at only 22, suffered a stroke and lost the use of her right side; she was lost until she made her way back into the kitchen. Inspiring and filled with recipes that stir your sense!
January 2, 2009
Adrienne is recovering from a stroke that occurred when she was in her very early twenties. This frank telling about a life built after a debilitating incident is very encouraging.
July 18, 2010
Adrienne always loved to cook, but she suffered a stroke at the age of 22. Her memoir describes how she used cooking in her recovery. I loved it.
April 18, 2009
Good, but occasionally over the top on obsessing over her 'disability' rather than embracing her project/cooking/talents. And she IS talented!
April 28, 2009
I almost stopped reading this early on, and then she had a stroke. After that it was compelling.
August 24, 2009
Some good recipes. Story kind of lags after the first few chapters. She doesn't keep you really interested in her life after the initial recovery period.
June 11, 2010
What an inspirational story. Great read.
January 1, 2010
THe stories were inspirational and interesting and the recipes looked delicious. I just wish the two had correlated a little more.
Want to read
February 22, 2010memoir; loved food; 20's suffered stroke; paralyzed until she got back in the kitchen
April 8, 2010
This is the author's real struggle with overcoming her disability by using her talent for cooking. I thought it was very inspiring.
April 23, 2011
Never marked this off my 'to read list'. Finished it back in November. Oops.
February 17, 2014
Excellent book I had something similar happen to me. I woke up one morning stiff as a board. Couldnt get out of bed the pain was so bad. It turned out I had Gout. A very painful disease.
May 21, 2011
This is another one that I started with gusto but made myself finish. It wasn't bad, or boring, really...but I lost steam with this one. I guess I'd recommend this one to serious foodies.
August 17, 2011
Well, after reading the first 100 pages I realized that I had already read this book! Yep, I need to keep better track of what I have read!
November 25, 2011
Good recipes included in this book about the authors recovery from brain "blowout".
August 17, 2012
Non-fiction. A memoir. She goes to college in Calif. Has a kind of stroke. Can't use right hand and limps. Discovers cooking. Goes into catering and writes cookbooks.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews