Lori C. (dollycas) reviewed The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks on + 704 more book reviews
Kathleen Flinn returns from Paris where she studied at Le Cordon Bleu. Back in the Seattle she is unsure what to do with her new culinary degree until a trip to a local grocery store give her an epiphany. Seeing a woman's cart filled with boxes of "ultraprocessed products" kicked her "chefternal" instincts into overdrive. As she talked to the woman she realized this woman was afraid to cook things fresh because she thought it would be too hard or wouldn't taste right. She spent some time traveling with her around the store and convinced her to put the packaged food back on the shelf and try cooking with real food. This made her start to wonder if she had found what to do with her degree.
This led Kathleen to gather a group of volunteers who felt the same as the woman in the grocery store. She enlisted the help of other culinary professionals, rented kitchen space and started a class on cooking fundamentals from making simple Alfredo sauce to proper chopping techniques and even weekly taste testing of things like olive oil and salt. This book tracks the volunteers through the classes and includes common sense recipes and details for the reader as well.
My Thoughts
I enjoyed this book. My husband is the "chef" in our family and have inserted several post it's within the pages of things I want to share with him.
This book really reads a lot like fiction, taking peeks into these people's lives with wonderful lessons and recipes as an added bonus. While very instructional it is entertaining and humorous. The author has a delightful writing style.
With fast food quickly becoming the common way to eat these days, this book will teach you that fast food can be nourishing, tasteful and does not come from a drive thru lane. I was actually stunned how easy it is to make dishes that I thought could only be found in a restaurant, with wonderful flavor and none of the preservatives found it the prepackaged dishes found on the grocery shelves. This may be a book to add to your cookbook shelf after reading the story of the volunteer's journey at the The Kitchen Counter Cooking School. It could change your life.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Viking. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 : Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
This led Kathleen to gather a group of volunteers who felt the same as the woman in the grocery store. She enlisted the help of other culinary professionals, rented kitchen space and started a class on cooking fundamentals from making simple Alfredo sauce to proper chopping techniques and even weekly taste testing of things like olive oil and salt. This book tracks the volunteers through the classes and includes common sense recipes and details for the reader as well.
My Thoughts
I enjoyed this book. My husband is the "chef" in our family and have inserted several post it's within the pages of things I want to share with him.
This book really reads a lot like fiction, taking peeks into these people's lives with wonderful lessons and recipes as an added bonus. While very instructional it is entertaining and humorous. The author has a delightful writing style.
With fast food quickly becoming the common way to eat these days, this book will teach you that fast food can be nourishing, tasteful and does not come from a drive thru lane. I was actually stunned how easy it is to make dishes that I thought could only be found in a restaurant, with wonderful flavor and none of the preservatives found it the prepackaged dishes found on the grocery shelves. This may be a book to add to your cookbook shelf after reading the story of the volunteer's journey at the The Kitchen Counter Cooking School. It could change your life.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Viking. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 : Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
Lorna C. (cookiemonster71) reviewed The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks on + 26 more book reviews
Whether you are a great cook or a horrible cook, this book is for you. Kathleen Flinn walks a class of novice home cooks through all the basics in the kitchen so they can free themselves from having others prepare all their meals.
I consider myself a good cook (haven't killed anyone yet!) and I learned many wonderful things from this book. The recipe for 5 minute bread and homemade vinaigrette using the end of a jam/jelly jar have been used repeatedly in my home.
I recommend this book to my friends who tell me how they hate to cook and are afraid to cook. Flinn helps her students (and the reader) through many different tasks in the kitchen to help you make life easier and save some money.
Well written and an easy read.
I consider myself a good cook (haven't killed anyone yet!) and I learned many wonderful things from this book. The recipe for 5 minute bread and homemade vinaigrette using the end of a jam/jelly jar have been used repeatedly in my home.
I recommend this book to my friends who tell me how they hate to cook and are afraid to cook. Flinn helps her students (and the reader) through many different tasks in the kitchen to help you make life easier and save some money.
Well written and an easy read.
Christine E. (emersunrose) reviewed The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks on + 8 more book reviews
I loved this book! It's an inspiring account of 9 women who felt lost or useless in the kitchen being guided, step by step, of cooking basics. Kathleen Flinn recognized that many people would eat better food if they knew the fundamentals, like how to hold a knife to maximum effect, creating simple soups (and making your own stock), what is braising and why/when to employ it, etc.
Ms Flinn is a wonderful writer, walking the line between informative and fun. I'm going to be reading this book again, this time with a highlighter so I can refer back to key passages in a pinch (and I'll NEVER re-sell it).
Ms Flinn is a wonderful writer, walking the line between informative and fun. I'm going to be reading this book again, this time with a highlighter so I can refer back to key passages in a pinch (and I'll NEVER re-sell it).
