The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School Books,discount prices 0670018228,

	The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn
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Product Details Binding Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number 641.07 EAN 9780670018222 ISBN 0670018228 Manufacturer Viking Adult Number Of Items 1 Number Of Pages 304 Publication Date October 04, 2007 Publisher Viking Adult Availability Usually ships in 24 hours Product Description In 2003, Kathleen Flinn was a thirty-six-year-old American in London who felt trapped in corporate middle management - until her boss eliminated her job while she was on vacation. Ignoring her mother's advice that she find another job immediately or 'never get hired anywhere ever again,' Flinn cleared out her savings and moved to Paris to pursue a dream - a diploma from the venerable Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. But instead of being ushered into 'a glamorous world of soufflÃ©s and foie gras,' Flinn found herself struggling in a stew of hot-tempered chefs, competitive classmates, and her own 'wretchedly inadequate' French. She trudged home traumatized by gutting fish, severing the heads off rabbits, and dropping an entire roast duck on the floor moments before having to present her plate to the presiding chef. One day she was even advised that her tronÃ§ons de colin pochÃ©s needed 'a bit more salt' from the homeless man who sat near the school's entrance. As the story moves through the various classes, the basics of French cuisine--the ingredients, cooking techniques, wine, and more than two dozen recipes--are interwoven, but not every page is spent in the kitchen. Flinn also offers the experience of the vibrant sights and sounds of the markets, shops, and avenues of Paris. In time, Flinn triumphs in her battle with puff pastry, masters her sauces, and wins over the toughest of chefs. More importantly, though, she finds within herself the strength to pause on the usual journey and challenge a career-focused mind set and attempt a discovery of what really matters to her. She even comes to realize that the love of her life has been right in front of her the whole time. Fans of Julie & Julia, Cooking for Mr. Latte, and Eat, Pray, Love will be amused, inspired, and richly rewarded by this vibrant tale of romance, food, Paris, and chasing a life's dream. When the author, an American journalist and software executive working in London, is sacked from her high-powered job, she enrolls as a student at the Cordon Bleu school in Paris. With limited cooking skills and grasp of the French language, she gamely attempts to master the school's challenging curriculum of traditional French cuisine. As if she didn't have enough on her plate eviscerating fish and knocking out pâtéà choux, she determines to write a book about her experience and gets married along the way. The result is a readable if sentimental chronicle of that year in Paris in which her love life is explored in great detail, dirty weekends and all, and cooking features as a metaphor for self-discovery. Some readers may feel disappointed that the narrator's encounters with French cookery remain largely confined to her lessons at the Cordon Bleu. On those rare occasions when she ventures into the food-obsessed city, the descriptions of meals are glancing at best. Although her struggles with the language and lack of knowledge about the culture lend comic elements to the story (once, trying to order a pizza over the phone, she said, Je suis une pizza—I am a pizza), they, too, constrain the author's culinary explorations. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry is an engaging story about a fantasy fulfilled. It's Under the Tuscan Sun goes to cooking school. -- Michal Ruhlman, author of The Soul of a Chef I can never get enough of true stories about people who stop in the middle of their life's journey to ask, 'What do I really want?' and then have the guts to actually go get it. Kathleen Flinn's tale of chasing her ultimate dream makes for a really lovely book-engaging, intelligent and surprisingly suspenseful. -- Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love “I can never get enough of true stories about people who stop in the middle of their life's journey to ask, ‘What do I really want?' and then have the guts to actually go get it. Kathleen Flinn's tale of chasing her ultimate dream makes for a really lovely book— engaging, intelligent and surprisingly suspenseful.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love “The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry is an engaging story about a fantasy fulfilled. It's Under the Tuscan Sun goes to cooking school.” —Michael Ruhlman, author of The Soul of a Chef “Although I can't cook my way out of a sac de papier, I found this book a joy to read. It's is a compelling story about learning to cook and learning to love at the same time, told with humility, humor and passion.” —Bill Radke, host of public radio's Weekend America “Kat Flynn’s vivid story of her adventures at Le Cordon Bleu Paris had me smiling page after page. It's about what you should always think about in the pressure behind a hot stove – the pure romance of cooking.” —Jerry Traunfeld, author of The Herbfarm Cookbook and The Herbal Kitchen In 2003, Kathleen Flinn was a thirty-six-year-old American in London who felt trapped in corporate middle management - until her boss eliminated her job while she was on vacation. Ignoring her mother's advice that she find another job immediately or 'never get hired anywhere ever again,' Flinn cleared out her savings and moved to Paris to pursue a dream - a diploma from the venerable Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. But instead of being ushered into 'a glamorous world of soufflÃ©s and foie gras,' Flinn found herself struggling in a stew of hot-tempered chefs, competitive classmates, and her own 'wretchedly inadequate' French. She trudged home traumatized by gutting fish, severing the heads off rabbits, and dropping an entire roast duck on the floor moments before having to present her plate to the presiding chef. One day she was even advised that her tronÃ§ons de colin pochÃ©s needed 'a bit more salt' from the homeless man who sat near the school's entrance. As the story moves through the various classes, the basics of French cuisine--the ingredients, cooking techniques, wine, and more than two dozen recipes--are interwoven, but not every page is spent in the kitchen. Flinn also offers the experience of the vibrant sights and sounds of the markets, shops, and avenues of Paris. In time, Flinn triumphs in her battle with puff pastry, masters her sauces, and wins over the toughest of chefs. More importantly, though, she finds within herself the strength to pause on the usual journey and challenge a career-focused mind set and attempt a discovery of what really matters to her. She even comes to realize that the love of her life has been right in front of her the whole time. Fans of Julie & Julia, Cooking for Mr. Latte, and Eat, Pray, Love will be amused, inspired, and richly rewarded by this vibrant tale of romance, food, Paris, and chasing a life's dream. Kathleen Flinn has been a writer and journalist for nearly twenty years. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, USA Weekend, Men's Fitness and many other publications. Finding herself suddenly unemployed, former middle manager Flinn fulfills a lifelong dream by enrolling at the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. Listeners are there step-by-step as she learns to chop, fillet, saut, braise, and plate hundreds of entres, overseen by finicky chefs. Flinns French was originally spotty, but Cassandra Campbells pronunciation isnt. Neither is her portrayal of Flinn, determined, dismayed by dropping her half of a duck, delighted by her intensifying relationship with her future husband, Michael. Even non-cooks will be fascinated by her clear descriptions of food dishes, Paris, her lodgings, and new friends. Only the recipes that are included are out of place for audio. They sound delicious but are read too fast for copying. J.B.G. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine Customers who bought this item also bought Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter (New York Times Notable Books) The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage) The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution Customer Reviews for: The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School Rating - Great expectations, dashed hopes Reading the description of The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry, gave me high expectations about memoirs of a woman who was willing to follow her heart and fulfill a longtime soulful desire. The testimonial from Elizabeth Gilbert only served to heighten my expectation (espcially since which Ms. Flinn's book has been compared to Eat, Pray, Love), as did my love for the French. However, I found the book lacking in soul. Ms. Flinn does a wonderful job of illustrating her daily experiences in an intellectual manner, but after reading the book twice, I never felt a real connection with what she experienced (except for the ... Read More Rating - Cooking fans read this What a fun read. I stumbled on this book and had a thoroughly enjoyable time reading it. How ironic that the cover carries a recommendation from the author of Eat, Pray, Love. Flinn does not make the errors that Gilbert does in reaching too many early conclusions or being that self-righteous. For one, she recognizes how lucky she is to have such an opportunity. Also, she does not play the part of the single woman learning how to live life alone only to wind up in love at the end. While I would never venture to Le Cordon Bleu, as I love to cook but am a pescatarian, I loved hearing the tales of the school. ... Read More Rating - Visit Le Cordon Bleu Paris without leaving the US Enchanting yet realistic account of what happens when we corporate types explore our creative side. Easy read with well-defined chapter breaks making it easy to pick up after a few days w/o having to re-read the previous few pgs. This book proved to me that my local french chef's cooking classes are authentic expression of the Le Cordon Bleu training he received 30 years ago. I found it interesting that dozens of the basic elements mentioned are decades-old constants still taught at LCB. Meez Fleen'z depictations of the french accent & attitude is quite accurate as well adding to the entertainment value. Recipes, thanks ... Read More see more reviews See all books by author Kathleen Flinn

Books : The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School