The Kitchen Counter Cooking School

How A Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks

By: Kathleen Flinn

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

After graduating from Le Cordon 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 "chefternal" instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy, easy meals. The Kitchen Counter Cooking School includes practical, healthy tips that boost listeners' culinary self-confidence, strategies to get the most from their grocery dollars, and simple recipes that get listeners cooking.

©2011 Kathleen Flinn (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The author's humble approach is inviting and shows why her students were enthusiastic." (Kirkus)

Great Motivater for Challenged Home Cooks

What did you love best about The Kitchen Counter Cooking School?

I like that she takes examples from the from grocery store boxed items and trys to show how they could be made more simply, cheaply at home without all the chemicals. I also liked the fact that she gives you some basic starting points for getting started at home cooking. This book would be best for those just starting out in the kitchen or those of us who have been stuck in a rut and have resorted to eating more processed foods. Overall, I enjoyed this book and as a health coach will recommend it to many of my clients to help them get started in the kitchen.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Marguerite Gavin?

Although I like this narrators voice, there were several places where either the editing was chopped or she didn't pronouce the word properly. These are very minor, but I did notice them and usually replayed it just to make sure I was hearing her properly.

Any additional comments?

Unfortunately, she doesn't give all the recipies, which would be out of scope for this book. However, for the recipes she does give, a PDF companion would have been very helpful. Without it your stuck writing down all the recipes as she gives them or buying the book.

This book will help you cook!

I LOVED this book! As a matter of fact, I ordered it in hardcover from Amazon after I'd finished it so that I can refer to it and to the recipes in it as I'm getting used to the stove.

Don't get me wrong...I can grill anything that won't grill me first and I can rock with a wok, but the stove has always intimidated me. I just didn't have much practice with it as I grew up and I thought it was something I could always learn later. Well...later is here and thank God, so is this book!

The author begins by explaining how the idea for this experiment came to her. Then she explains the experiment that is the focus of the book. She taught a group of women to cook by examining and critiquing their refrigerators and cabinets and then examining and critiquing what and how they cook. She taught these women about nutrition, basic ingredients, basic kitchen and shopping techniques, and basic combinations of ingredients. I used the word "basic" several times, intentionally because unlike Julia Child or Martha Stewart, Kathleen Flinn managed to keep the tone, the techniques, and the ingredients at a level that people who are unfamiliar with cooking would understand.

During the discussion of the progress of the women who participated in her "cooking school," she presents recipes, explanations of technique, and autobiographical information. Think Julie and Julia written as an instructional guide. Of course, by now, you are thinking..."But...as an audiobook? Recipes? Kitchen technique? Really? That sounds boring." I have to say that I didn't find it boring in the least. It was, for someone unschooled in the culinary arts, difficult to follow or remember everything about the recipes (thus my decision to purchase the hardcover) but it was not difficult to glean useful information that I could incorporate into my own life and view of cooking.

I found myself empathizing and commisserating with several of her students as they faced their cooking challenges and fears. The author was also very sympathetic and did not approach them in a judgmental way. Therefore, I did not feel judged as I listened to this book, I just learned better ways to approach food and cooking.

I particularly enjoyed the last part of the book where the author discusses the end results. In other words, what the participants took away from the training and how it changed their lives. It was a poignant and honest look at what and how people learn when they are properly trained, and what information was important enough to be remembered and utilized. I almost cried about the lady who was just grateful that she no longer had to feel judged about her cooking abilities, which allowed her to to try, and then to succeed in the kitchen.

I will utilize a lot of the concepts I learned in this book and I may listen to it at night before I go to sleep to incorporate the concepts into my dreams (okay...maybe this is going too far...but really...who doesn't want to dream about a good recipe?)

Fabulous Book, Terrible Narrator!

I recommend just buying the Kindle book. The narrator mispronounced so many words, it was ridiculous!

Great story; wished for the paperback!

I loved it and found the science fascinating. Wish I had a paperback for the recipes. That's all

You can learn to cook from Audio book!

What made the experience of listening to The Kitchen Counter Cooking School the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed her gaining insight from each of her students and making me feel it is achiveable to be a better cook.
I was able to incorporate many of her tips into my cooking, and I have noticed (and so has my family) a great improvement in my cooking

Life changing

This book demystifies cooking in an incredibly empowering way. You can do it friend. 💪 Good luck containing your enthusiasm, seriously.

Just as much a self-help book as a cookbook.

If you could sum up The Kitchen Counter Cooking School in three words, what would they be?

Much less fast-food.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Kitchen Counter Cooking School?

I don't particularly have a most memorable moment in the book but when I realized, while painstakingly bookmarking each location (107 so far) I wanted to revisit, that I was becoming a very good cook. At least in comparison to what I was before and even better than my wife.

What aspect of Marguerite Gavin’s performance would you have changed?

The recipes and/or references to ingredients are very hard to follow when they are being read so fast. This is one of the reasons for my more than 100 bookmarks. On top of that, I slowed the audio down to 1/2 speed when going over recipes and/or cooking instructions.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Her stories were interesting however as I said before, this was more of a self-help book and the emotion accumulated slowly, as I learned to become a better cook and really understand what I was doing, not simply following someone's written instructions.

I have since began to make dishes of my own accord, without recipes, which before was all but impossible except for the simplest of dishes.

Any additional comments?

There is a down side to reading and putting these lessons into practice. Meals that are eaten at a restaurant are scrutinized much more. They often seem bland and I''m second guessing the cook or even the chef in some cases.

I understand food MUCH MORE than I ever have in my life. I know that on average about 75% of the sodium that I eat comes from processed (packaged) foods. All the credit doesn't go to Kathleen Flinn however because I also recently read "The body fat solution" by Tom Venuto. It's not a cookbook so there isn't a comparison here.

I would recommend this book to anyone that has ever walked into the kitchen and felt challenged to cook a good meal, anyone that has children, that cares about their body condition and health and anyone that isn't rich enough, or lucky enough, to have someone else prepare your meals for you.

OK but it there are many better cooking books

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would not recommend the book. I didn't like the reader and the book needs to supply pdfs of the recipes to be worthwhile. I also found the write condescending and patronizing towards her

Did The Kitchen Counter Cooking School inspire you to do anything?

No.

Entertaining Story; Difficult Narrator

What did you like best about The Kitchen Counter Cooking School? What did you like least?

The story was entertaining and I got some great ideas for my own kitchen while listening, which was wonderful. Unfortunately, though, the narrator often ruined things for me by stumbling over simple words (why wouldn't they re-record that?) and mispronouncing pretty much everything in the Europe section of the book. I really don't understand why they would have published without re-recording those stumbles. It was truly frustrating.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The narrator. Re-record the stumbles or go with someone else. (In other words, I'd get the book in print instead of listening.)

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Stumbling over simple words ruined the flow of the thing and kept making me stop and think about what she was saying instead of losing myself in the book.

Simple and witty!

Wasn't sure what to expect with this book but, I really enjoyed listening to it. It was a stories about regular people and their struggles with cooking and lessons all in one. Now I would like to have the book for the simple recipies and references.