Breadsong: How Baking Changed Our Lives

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This book is such a wonderful read. It shows the deep bond of family, friends and the support of a community, and how much of an impact this can have on a person's life. The village of Watlington comes across as a wonderful place to live, with so many people helping on Kitty’s journey. The book is beautifully and simply written, with some beautiful hand drawn illustrations, and excellent photography. The story is inspiring, and shows how, with the right support you can get through most challenges in life. When you have finished the beautiful story, you then get to the recipes which were chosen to be included. They are wonderfully clearly laid out, with fantastic product photos, excellent and easy to follow instructions, and they all sound amazing. I think this book would make a wonderful gift for anyone in your life who enjoys food, and who has ever struggled with mental health. It is a perfect combination. For all the solace she found in baking, Kitty’s mental health was still very fragile, so Al gave up his teaching job to be with her and assist full-time with the baking. The whole family rallied round to support the enterprise, even though they could barely move through the kitchen for all her new baking equipment. ‘Kitty was the Formula 1 racing driver and we were her pit crew,’ Al writes. We have been following Kitty and Al's journey with wonder and amazement. It is proof, if one was needed, that a loaf of bread can have the power to heal, bring joy, bring together a family and a community and give life flavour and purpose. In this book they share with their stories and recipes, both are utterly delicious If you had told me at 14 when I couldn't even get out of bed with depression and anxiety that three years later I would have written a book I would never have believed you. But here it is - the story of the Orange Bakery. How I went from bed to bread and how my Dad went from being a teacher to a baker. You reading it means everything to me'- Kitty Tait

I chose this book because on the surface, it is about anxiety and depression, something I suffered from at a similar age to Kitty. I am always interested in how people cope with a mental health issue especially when you are still in your teens and in full time education. However, there is so much more to this book. Kitty is a strong woman with a wonderfully supportive family who not only allow her to recover in her own way without worrying about her schooling but help her every step of the way. It was a brave move for her father to give up the job of teaching to become a baker in partnership with his daughter. It is clear he knew he had no option. He writes about his amazing journey in this book and Kitty writes about hers. It doesn’t surprise me how much support this family received on their journey including from teachers at Kitty’s school. Kendall Jenner steps out in business casual for a meeting in Los Angeles... after partnering with sister Kylie Jenner for a Batman Forever costume Kitty Tait at work in the Orange Bakery in Watlington, Oxfordshire. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Observer But the recipes are only half the book. The first half of the book is a memoir. This book is written by Kitty and her father, Al - they tell the story together and they each have a distinct font. It's the story of how they ended up running a bakery together, and while that sounds all heartwarming - and it is, absolutely - but it starts because baking a loaf of bread is one thing that Al tries to help Kitty with her crippling anxiety. Like, anxiety that made going to school impossible, getting out of bed barely feasible, nothing in the world seeming worthwhile. I deeply appreciated the honesty that Al in particular presents here - that he and his wife did not see what was happening at the start, that they were bewildered by the change in their youngest daughter, and that they struggled to figure out what to do. Kitty, of course, is also very honest: she didn't know why it happened, either, and makes no excuses for it, or for feeling the way she did. It just was. Kitty’s anxiety gradually began to recede. She stopped sleeping in the kitchen and her father noticed that ‘her ear-to-ear smile began to make a regular return’.Inside Charles and Camilla's state dinner: King and Queen enjoyed lobster ravoli andsalmon as part of eight-course feast in Nairobi Breadsong is exactly the kind of cookbook I love to curl up with - uplifting, inspiring, heartfelt and with wonderful recipes to boot. The best recipes are filled with heart and this book is just that This is not just the story of Kitty and Al but her very understanding and supportive Mum and older brother and sister. And also all of the population of Watlington which seems like a wonderful community to live in.

REVEALED: The 'super comfortable' power leggings from Sweaty Betty that gym goers can't get enough of Swap 250g of the strong white bread flour for wholemeal flour. This results in an earthy loaf that makes you feel like you’ve been working in a field all day.Watlington, which claims to be the smallest town in England, has a strong sense of community and gathered Kitty to its bosom, supporting her every step of the way. A friend suggested they try doing a pop-up shop and Kitty spent 24 hours feverishly making bread and pastries. Everything sold in under half an hour and the shop became a regular Saturday event.

Geri Horner wears vintage goggles and poses next to a yellow plane as she transforms into aviation icon Amelia Earhart for Halloween This book is split into two parts, the first portion is biographical and tells the story of how Kitty Tait and her father became bakers, and how the baking helped her to overcome her own personal issues. Chilling moment celebrity medium predicted Matthew Perry's death THREE days before he drowned aged 54 Little Mix's Perrie Edwards and son Axel look unrecognisable after incredible Ratatouille transformation for HalloweenThere are some photographs scattered around the recipe section of the book, but the first half contains little sketches which I believe are done by one half of the baking team Al. They’re not necessarily professional drawings but they have their own charm. They’re simple and quirky but express what they’re meant to. It means they don’t overwhelm the text but instead complement it. Heidi Klum tantalisingly reveals just PART of her Halloween look after weeks of speculation... so what WILL the queen of the costumes dress as? Robert De Niro loses his cool in court after being asked if he urinated while on the phone to his ex-assistant and called her a bi**h