Starting from scratch cover

Starting from scratch

by Patty Kirk

"Here is the story of a rich and passionate life of longing told in culinary terms. Kirk has filled this memoir with food stories and includes recipes for the foods that shaped her experience, from the fried okra she ate with her Arkansas grandparents to the hors d'oeuvres of her parents' 1960s suburban cocktail parties to the curries and stir-fries and "real" German potato salad she encountered in her travels around the globe. Starting from Scratch beckons the reader to appreciate food-and the rest of life-in a deeper, more immediate way...not merely to experience the world, but to taste it. Book jacket.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?