What if the secret to unlocking your life stories isn’t hiding in a dusty journal—but in your kitchen?
In this episode, I take you into my grandmother’s kitchen for Nana Muffins, then into my own for a Thanksgiving turkey that’s been part of my family for 30 years. Along the way, I’ll show you how food can be one of the most powerful tools in memoir writing.
Food isn’t just sustenance—it’s memory, history, and love served up on a plate. When you write about what you ate, you’re really writing about who gathered, who taught you, who loved you, and who you were at that moment in time.
This episode will not only give you a taste of my own food memories, but also invite you to start writing yours. And, if this excites you, I’ll tell you about a brand-new workshop I’m cooking up: Memoir Writing Through Food. You’ll get to help me decide how to serve it—90 minutes, a full-day feast, or a slow simmer series.
👉 Vote for your favorite workshop format here:
90-Minute Tasting Session - A quick, powerful online workshop to spark one vivid memory and get it on the page.
Full-Day Feast (6 Hours) - A deep dive into cooking, memory work, and guided writing, with time to shape and share your story.
Slow Simmer Series (3 Days over 3 Weeks) - A paced, immersive journey with cooking, multiple writing sessions, feedback, and polished stories to share at the end.
✨ Key Takeaways
Food is a portal to memory. A single muffin or recipe card can unlock entire chapters of your life.
Recipes are artifacts. They hold not just instructions, but family history, rituals, and personalities.
Sensory detail is memoir gold. Smell, taste, sound, and touch bring readers to your table in ways words alone can’t.
Start small. Write about the first meal you remember as a child and notice the details that surface.
Memoir through food is both universal and deeply personal. Your story is unique, but it will spark recognition in others.
Check out my memoir course and tools for writers at www.kerrykriseman.com.
Take the quiz: What’s Your Memoir Writing Roadblock?
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