Show & Tell: The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen Course
I’m SO pleased to announce that we’ve brought my award-winning book The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen to life as a new online course launching next week!
Colorful videos and handouts SHOW you how to prepare delicious, cancer-fighting recipes and teach you the skills you’ll need to support healing right in your own kitchen. I’m THRILLED to be able to share the life-giving, spirit-supporting foods and secrets to happy tastebuds I’ve discovered over many years of cooking for people with cancer.
This wouldn’t have been possible just a few years ago. My co-author Mat Edelson and I researched my very first cancer cookbook, One Bite at a Time, in the library on microfilm and by personally interviewing experts (can you believe!). Google search barely existed, and there was precious little research on cancer-fighting foods available in any format.
The first edition of The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen book was born out of my quest to dig deeper for solutions.
Instead of googling, we went out and learned, listening to patients and integrative oncologists. I drove to cancer centers, cooked for cancer patients, and talked with their families and caregivers. I learned from pioneers in the field of integrative cancer care, including mind-body medicine expert Dr. James Gordon, Michael Lerner at Commonweal Cancer Help Program, integrative oncologists Dr. Donald Abrams and Dr. Keith Block, acupuncturist Michael Broffman and brilliant integrative nutrition educators Kathie Swift and John Bagnulo. And instead of googling, I experimented, developed and discovered SO much of enormous value for cancer patients, including culinary flavor fixes that make eating possible EVEN when it seems impossible.
And why, you might ask, was I so passionate about finding solutions to the question of what to eat during cancer treatment? My dad.
Nothing prepares you for when a loved one or friend gets cancer, and you’re desperate to do SOMETHING to help. When my own father, Jay Katz, became ill in 2000, I was a professional healthy chef, and even I didn’t know what to do. Not only was there no Google search, there was no guide, no compass, no book nor community to instruct. We were on our own.
My father LOVED food; he worked in the food industry. But throat cancer and radiation therapy left him unable to enjoy food at all. I felt utterly helpless. I whipped up fruit smoothies for him, knowing there was something better, if I could ONLY find out what. My mother and I were like little mad scientists in the kitchen, trying to figure how to get protein into my dad - not to mention taste and flavor. My mom went into her kitchen cabinet and pulled out a little cinnamon and nutmeg. I wondered what she was doing! But her instincts were amazing, and improving the flavor was genius. We believed there was a lot at stake, and there WAS.
Today I’m thrilled to report that you will NOT have to feel lost and helpless about how to nourish yourself or a loved one through the daunting challenges of cancer treatment.
The beautiful cover of my 2nd edition coming in January, 2017! The new course is based on this.
We’ve created a well-researched, carefully curated, comprehensive course with everything you’ll need to know about food and cancer. The course is self-paced, so you can choose the module you want when you want it, and listen to just a little or a lot at a time. We have handouts with the information you’ll want to have right at your fingertips, without having to thumb through a whole book or scroll through the whole course to find it.
Cooking is such a visual experience! So many cancer-fighting workshop participants have said, “Now that I’ve watched you do it, it makes total sense!” Videos show recipes in motion, perfect for visual learners like me :) You’ll easily SEE the equipment and techniques you’ll need, and LEARN how the recipes come together with ease. It feels SO much less overwhelming!
There was a reason we had show & tell in kindergarten: actions speak louder than words and SEEING how it’s done gives you a sense of empowerment. It becomes more real. That static black and white knowledge turns to living technicolor.
My team, our mission
I could never have done this alone! My amazing co-founders at Healing Kitchens: Paul Remer, our CEO (and my friend for 12 years), Jen Yasis, multi-talented educator, natural chef and friend, made it possible to bring The Cancer Fighting Kitchen to life! Jo Cooper of Jo Cooper Studio, co-conspirator of 14 years, and beloved friends and neighbors Julie and Stan Burford, provided invaluable input. We are all the beneficiaries of the pearls of wisdom on the science of cancer and food that Dr. Donald Abrams so generously provided for the course. The man is a treasure.
The highlight of my work is when I get emails from readers or I meet them live at workshops or conferences, and they have The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen book wrapped in their arms, complete with soup stains, and they tell me their stories and their experiences with the book. Now you’ll be able to literally take me on your iPhone into your own kitchen, and we can cook together.