Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How A Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks by Kathleen Flinn
304 pages
Published September 2011 by Penguin Group
Source: the publisher

When Kathleen Flinn returned to Seattle from studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, the premier cooking school in the world, she had no idea what she was going to do with that education. Then a chance encounter in the grocery store set her on a mission to teach every day women how to cook for themselves and their families. Thus was born the Kitchen Counter Cooking School.

Flinn invited a group of volunteers to weekly cooking lessons, learning everything from how to properly use a knife to how to cook all kinds of meet. Along the way the women learned to hone their taste buds, experiment with spices, and even to make bread. They gained confidence in their skills in the kitchen, learned how easy and fast it can be to make meals from scratch and discovered how much healthier it is to avoid prepackaged foods.

Following on the heels of Four Kitchens and Julie and Julia, I was pleasantly surprised by how much this book reinforced the ideas I had learned in those books. Even more surprising for me, was how much this book made me rethink the way I cook. I may not quite packaged foods altogether (c'mon, some of them taste so good!), but I'm certainly thinking about how I can do more from scratch using fewer canned and boxed goods. The book has wonderful recipes but the reason it will stay in my kitchen, where it will be handy, is for all of the helpful hints. I had no idea I should be cooking down my cream in my cream sauces.There were some industry-related revelations (for me, at least) in the book as well. Did you know that Hershey's used to the biggest manufacturer of pasta in the U.S.?

This is one of those books that I won't be lending, just recommending!

11 comments:

  1. This sounds like a fun book. I love to cook so I think I would really enjoy it- thanks for the review!

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  2. this does sound wonderful to me - must get to it soon.

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  3. I'm so glad you enjoyed this book! Have you made the white sauce? My neighbor said she will never buy sauce from a jar again (her son loves alfredo). I need to try this recipe.

    I loved all the food facts, and enjoyable novel.

    Mari

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  4. I really, really want to read this book, and see what it can teach me. It sounds like there is so much in it to learn! I am so glad that you enjoyed it! I am hoping to see it under the tree this year when Christmas comes!

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  5. This book sounds fantastic! I love books with cooking tips. Thanks for bringing this one to my attention.

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  6. I didn't know the book had recipes in it too. I am finding things to just be too expensive these days AND the need to eat gluten free has put a real dent in my pocketbook. Cooking things from scratch (no processed stuff)should be cheaper, I'd think.

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  7. I'm really curious about this one and may end up buying it because of all the good mentions!

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  8. I really have to get my hands on this one! Thanks for the recommendation.

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  9. I've been reading such good things about this - can't wait to find a copy. Are you sure you don't want to lend yours? :)

    Thanks for the review.

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  10. I have to admit that since I'm so behind in my blog reading I almost skipped this review but the last sentence caught my eye so I went back and read the entire post. I consider myself a decent cook but there is still so much I don't know and with Scott's food limitations I cook out of the box/can A LOT. Definitely think I need this one!

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  11. I read her other book and really liked it, so I'm on the list for this at the library. I'm curious how they will compare, since the first was about attending fancy cooking school.

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