Kathleen Flinn
Kathleen Flinn is the author of The New York Times bestseller The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, a memoir with recipes about her experiences at the famed Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
Her second book, The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, tells the story of an unusual project in which Flinn delved into the lives of nine culinary novices and tried to figure out what lessons they could learn to become fearless home cooks. That book earned universally positive reviews from People magazine, the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews and Amazon.com readers.
Flinn offers unique guides for book clubs for each book: a menu guide for The Sharper Your Knife and a unique activities guide for The Kitchen Counter Cooking School.
“Living is like driving," my grandmother used to say. "You have to pick a lane." Have I chosen the right lane? It feels like this place, this moment in time, lies exactly halfway between my past and my future.”
“I'm a woman; in so many ways I've been programmed to please. I took the job and spent time hunkered over figures, budgets, charts, and fiscal-year projections. I tried, but I hated it."Working at a job you don't like is the same as going to prison every day," my father used to say. He was right. I felt imprisoned by an impressive title, travel, perks, and a good salary. On the inside, I was miserable and lonely, and I felt as if I was losing myself. I spent weekends working on reports no one read, and I gave presentations that I didn't care about. It made me feel like a sellout and, worse, a fraud.Now set free, like any inmate I had to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.”
“I didn't start cooking until I was thirty-two. Until then, I just ate. - Julia Child”
“Vous perdez votre temps! (You're wasting your time.)”
“Find something you believe in. Then, just do it. That's what matters.”
“You're only limited by your passion and your imagination. Be open to the possibilities, take chances.”
“Somehow i knew this chance encounter was going to change my life.”
“Every grocery cart tells a story.”
“Working at a job you don't like is the same as going to prison every day," my father used to say.”
“With that, I lost a job I was desperate to quit.”
“You can’t hurry love, and you can’t rush puff pastry, either. You can knead too much, and you can be too needy. Always, warmth is what brings pastry to rise. Chemistry creates something amazing; coupled with care and heat, it works some kind of magic to create this satisfying, welcoming, and nourishing thing that is the base of life.”
“Chefs are magicians in white, accomplished at slight of hand.”
“Don't forget, taste, taste, taste.”
“An emperor walks with his court through many fields of roses until they come to a barren spot. There he sees one rose. "It's the most beautiful rose I've ever seen!" the emperor cries. Those walking with him point out that he'd just been through a field of similar roses. "Yes, but THIS one I can see.”
“As in cooking, living requires that you taste, taste, taste as you go along.”
“The sharper your knife, the less you cry...for me, it also means cutting those things that get in the way of your passion and living your life the way it is meant to be lived.”