Food can often be the one commonality that in times of celebration and crises draws family, people and community together to create, produce, and feed to nurture one another with love and comfort.
As Charlotte Hastings, in her role as a psychotherapist, discovered through her love of food, cooking and nurturing, it is also a wonderful way of being able to break through barriers, to offer someone a neutral ground where they can relax, chat and discuss their anxiety or distress in a positive, productive manner. Creating a meal or enjoyable treat is therapeutic, relaxing, and a delightful way to begin accepting so many of life’s little lessons.
Kitchen Therapy has taken more than twenty years to evolve and over that time Hastings has built into the narrative so many wonderful aspects of conscious living, and life lessons, along with a keen understanding of the human psyche, drawing on her own life experiences to illustrate the carefully made points of self-care and understanding.
Set in three definite sections the first deals with The Departure – moving away from the normal and learning to view time spent in the kitchen as therapeutic, essential and enjoyable. There are several case studies that make interesting reading and how food, or rather the creation of delicious recipes, has helped people move towards a healthier, happier lifestyle.
The Enchanted Kitchen, for those who love to cook or desire to understand far more about holistic, conscious cooking is an absolute treasure trove of fascinating information broken down into the four seasons.
Continuing with the seasonal theme the final section The Return is full of wonderful recipes that are broken down into wonderful ‘bite-sized’ pieces, each one with a backstory, Who it is and then a gentle message from the ingredient used to form the tantalisingly, must cook dish.
Built around a platform of psychotherapy, cooking and a love of family, Kitchen Therapy is a wonderful book for anyone who desires to expand their love of all things culinary but, would like to add a further few layers of understanding about the importance of good food well cooked and presented.
Author Charlotte Hastings
Distributor:Â Â Â Â Amazon UK
ISBN:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 978-1911383901
Publisher:Â Â Â Â Â Ortus Press
Website:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kitchen-Therapy-Charlotte-HastingsÂ
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley
consciouslivingmagazine.com.au/category/arts/book-reviews
