Book Review: Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn

Kitchen Counter Cooking School

Author: Kathleen Flinn
Hardbound: 304 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult (September 29, 2011)
Amazon Link

Note: I received this book free from the publisher, Viking Adult. The review posted below is based on my personal thoughts while reading the book.

Ratings: ★ ★ ★ 

My thoughts:

This is not an ordinary cook book as this one could also be considered as a memoir. The author, Kathleen Flinn shares her experiences and journey after she graduated in a culinary school, the famous Le Condon Bleu in Paris. I enjoyed reading this book as I can relate to some of the stories Ms. Flinn shared. However, there were a few times in the middle where I did skim over it.   As a beginner, I was expecting to see pictures to help me understand Ms. Flinn's recipes. I am so not familiar with almost all of the ingredients here so I had to search some in order for me to understand them. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading Kithen Counter Cooking School however I don't think that this is a book to recommend for someone who has NEVER cooked before. 

About the book:

The author of The Sharper Your Knife tells the inspiring story of how she helped nine others find their inner cook. After graduating from Le Condon Bleu in Paris, writer Kathleen Flinn returned with no idea what to do next until one day at a supermarket she watched a woman loading her cart with ultraprocessed foods. Flinn's "chertenal" instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy and easy meals.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School includes practical, healthy tips that boost readers' culinary self-confidence, and strategies to get most from their grocery dollar, and simple recipes that get readers cooking.

About the author:

Kathleen Flinn is the author of "The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry," a memoir with recipes about leaving her corporate life to study at the venerable Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and falling in love along the way. Her next book is "The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices Into Fearless Home Cooks" (Viking/Penguin 2011).

A long-time writer, her work appeared in dozens of publications, including the Chicago Sun-Times, Smithsonian, Men's Fitness, the Globe & Mail (Canada) and USA Today. She serves as the chair of the Food Writers, Editors & Publishers section for the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). She is at work on two additional books and teaches both cooking and food writing Seattle.