Is it just me or do the holidays make you really, really hungry? Don’t get me wrong. I’m pretty much a foodie all year round (give or take the occasional fast so I can “stomach” the idea of wearing a bikini). But as soon as Turkey Day hits, my stomach growls just a little louder and my eyes grow just a little wider. And I continue the three C’s (consume, consume, consume) until I’ve taken that last sip of Vueve Cliquot on New Year’s Eve. And during this holiday season, I also plan to do something that I love almost as much as eating: reading about eating.
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn is a fabulous memoir about Flinn’s experience as a student at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris. It’s a wonderful story about following your dreams, listening to your heart and most of all, listening to your stomach! After I consumed this book in only two days, I wanted to move to Paris, enroll in a cooking school, and eat! Let’s just say that so far I’ve only succeeded in the eating part but you never know, the other things could still happen!
After reading and loving Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, I wanted to get the other side of the story and find out more about Julia Child. My Life in France by Julia Child is fascinating. Many decades before Kathleen Flinn, Julia Child also studied at Le Cordon Bleu. I love reading Child’s firsthand experience of moving to France and not knowing a lick of French yet still managing to learn the language AND master the cuisine well enough to write a bestselling book about it! And I thought I was a Type-A overachiever!
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister is absolutely delicious! It’s the story of eight people who take a weekly cooking class. And although it’s the food that brings them together, each person wants and needs much more than culinary skills. You feel like you’re right there in the kitchen smelling the food and feeling the emotions of the characters that Bauremeister has created. And believe me, when you finish the story, you’re going to want to go back for seconds!
So this holiday, whether you plan to eat your heart out or watch your waistband, I highly recommend you take some time to devour these books!
Got any favorite foodie books?
Lisa Steinke, along with her best friend Liz Fenton, co-authored the chick lit novel I’ll Have Who She’s Having and co-created the popular Chick Lit blog, http://www.chicklitisnotdead.com.
