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

Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

Interesting content; poor narrator.

I have read all of Kathleen Flinn’s books: her sentimental family stories, her time at Le Cordon Bleu and now, her urgency to help box-buying home cooks.

Kathleen always tries to help, and that survives even this uneven, sometimes slurry, sometimes imperious narration.

I learned, which is the point. But the narration hurt the experience.

Too many stories. Not enough cooking.

I was hoping this book would be more about technique, food science, information on ingredients, etc., but you have to sit through a lot of stories that are only vaguely interesting. If you love Kathleen Flinn and want to learn more about her journey, this book may be for you. For me, there is just way too much time spent on anecdotes and stories that aren't particularly interesting. Also, I don't like the reader at all. She does not sound like I imagine the way Kathleen would tell the story, and she mispronounces both culinary words and other words and names.

Much more than a cookbook

The author provides cooking skills in a thoughtful, fiction-like manner. I found this book Informative & enjoyable! It is much different than the author's previous book.

Terrific book- not so good narration.

The narration was ill suited for a book that changed from feminine to masculine voices so often. The masculine voice usually sounds rough and mean. Otherwise, the content is great.

must read if you enjoy cooking or want to learn!

loved it from start to finish. also got me out of my cooking rut and inspired me to seek new adventures in cooking

So good I bought … twice!

I heard this book through my library several times then bought the paperback version. Because I continue to listen to it, I decided to buy the audio version. It inspires me to cook more and make better decisions on food for my family!

A great listen while learning a few tricks.

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It was well-thought out, in that the author gives recipes, reasons why we should take time to cook what we eat instead of eating our of cans and boxes. The narrator does not leave you bored, but wanting to listen to what is happening and coming next. I have gone through culinary school and still learned a few things while being reminded of some things that I had forgotten. This book is great for a beginner to a seasoned chef.

Great for the home cook!

What a great read. The author totally demystifies cooking and helps the reader embrace home cooking. After listening this book, I have increased my cooking skills and decreased the money I spend on food! I had no idea how easy cooking was! The only thing I wish is that they made a pdf of the recipes and cheat sheet for followup cooking!!!

Surprisingly Outstanding

I wish I could give this book extra stars. I feel bad for having him-hawed over whether or not to listen to this one. I love cooking from scratch and thought that perhaps there would be a few basics or tricks covered in here I wasn't already familiar with. And there were lots of things I learned. As a non-fiction lover though, generally a narrative is not my favorite form of delivery- I loved her voice in this! She found a balanced sweet spot of personal stories & anecdotes with quality content and structure. I adored every min of this one!!

Good Book! Narrator enunciation annoying/unnatural

Great book! Lots of great information on cooking as well as other tidbits on food and history along the way. Narrator's tone and enunciation sounds forced and inauthentic and is EXTREMELY grating. Hopefully Chef will narrate her next book herself.