The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks

Very interesting and informative book.

I had to stop reading on page 45 after Flinn’s second ill-informed dig at MSG. “It affects many people like a toxin,” she tells one of her students, even though decades of studies have failed to demonstrate this. If you are still taken in by the MSG / “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” myth in 2017, then fine. But I can’t trust or respect you as a food writer or a self-professed “researcher.” A quick flick through the footnotes highlighted other logical misunderstandings (where the scientific burden of proof lies, p.201); and shoddy research (how induction hobs work, p118). None of this bodes well for evidence-based research, but the real shibboleth is that the author believes that she is disorganised because she is a Gemini (p36). Hypothesis: You are disorganised because of the position of some distant lumps of gas and rock at the moment you came out of your mum’s front bottom. Research that.

Kathleen has a wonderful way of writing, I feel like I am in the class with all of them, learning and listening to all the conversations. I wonderful way of learning about cooking without the step by step guide of cooking. I have some knowledge of cooking but the lessons her pupils learn in this book gave me great ideas and information on subjects I never even thought about. Reading the change in the students from beginning to end gave me a warm fuzzy proud feeling. A truly wonderful book.

This book read more like a TV show that was desperately trying to get more viewers by making people appear more stupid than they might be. A book format of this kind does not appeal to me. I don't want to read a book about some random women who don't know what to do with raw vegetables or how to handle a knife. The book has been written in a very boring manner. Not recommended.

I have been cooking for myself and my family for 20 plus years now. I have long placed importance on taking the time to cook from scratch with unprocessed products as much as possible and I love to cook. I had a Mom who cooked home made meals for us regularly and I took an interest in cooking early on. Having said that, I still gleaned an astonishing amount of knowledge from this book, as well as inspiration and enlightenment. I love how the writer ties food to our emotional lives. I had never before considered how closely our relationship with food is intertwined with our emotions and how our early experiences shapes how we deal with it as we grow up. But it makes so much sense, when you consider food is necessary sustenance for life. I also found the book to be a fun, engaging read and the writer just simplifies cooking so very, very well. I tend to be the kind of cook who needs a recipe to get started, but through this book I've found the tools and the confidence to start simply putting things together on my own, which is so liberating! I highly recommend this book for ANYONE ~ young/old, non cook, beginner, old pro ~ whatever! I will have both of my children read it at some point.

I am the family cook and am pretty good at getting dinner on the table. This book is inspiring and has lots of easy simple tips on tools food and cooking. Really enjoyed it.

I had read the previous book and enoyed it as a good story but I found this book to be very informational and very useful. First time I read it I made a homemade carrot soup and a stew on a Sunday and the family fell on it like ravening wolves. I came to understand cooking better and stopped buying prepackaged as it is not necessary. Right now have a beef barley soup in the crockpot and baked the book's artisan bread recipe without difficulty. First time I made that bread, everyone sat down and ate it hot with butter right from the oven. I am buying three copies for Xmas gifts for people I know. So yes, an excellent purchase as a story and a cookbook all in one. It belongs in the kitchen for sure. I hope to see more.

I really enjoyed reading this book for various reasons. It was interesting to have a look into how other people approach cooking. Then the tips and simple recipes are very helpful. I had borrowed the book on my Kindle from the library. By the time I finished the book I had ordered a hardback copy for my personal use. I've always enjoyed cooking but never have felt I could do much without a recipe or prepackaged food. This book made me think about how I approach cooking and why I have this approach. My mother cooked from scratch when I was a kid. We had a garden and chickens but all of that was gone by the time I was a teenager. So I learned to cook with packaged foods and by heating up canned items. I love to follow a recipe but that is not practical to do for every dish every day. When I try to wing it I end up overwhelmed and with food that is bland or over-seasoned. I did the salt taste test between sea salt and the iodized salt. It was amazing the difference in taste. I thought salt was salt! I'm throwing out the iodized salt. The information in this book also fit in with my goals to eat better and spend less money. I hope to share the ideas from the book with my 20 year old son and get him away from cans & packages. The only reason I give it 4 instead of 5 stars is the story about her being on the cruise and some of the dinners she held seemed out of place in the book.