"In Grandmère's Kitchen"

I've spent the last several hours doing what I enjoy most: reading through a new cookbook. This time, the book is written by our dear OLLI friend and wife to our OLLI member George Heatley. French chef Cécile Heatley has written  a wonderful book, which judging from the cover blurb suggests that this is only the first volume of more to come.  "In Grandmère's Kitchen: Food and Traditions from France and Around the World for the Modern Cook " is a well organized and very complete book of just under 150 pages. Bound in a spiral binding with slick covers that can be easily wiped off, this first volume is devoted to vegetables and fruit, my favorite ingredients.

Cécile begins by offering a glossary of fresh produce, describing them, how to select, how to store and prepare. Her following chapters are in these categories: soups, appetizers and salads, main courses and side dishes, desserts and finally, odds and ends. Her recipes, despite the fact that one assumes French recipes are complicated, are not complicated at all. Where an ingredient might seem obscure or difficult to find, she gives hints on either where to find it or a substitute. All written in plain English by this very French woman.  In between the aforementioned chapters, she inserts personal anecdotes, historical background, and even a list of foodie movies.

Noting that the title is "In Grandmère's Kitchen" you might expect that Cécile includes ways to include the grand-kids in the cooking process. You would be right.  Lovely pictures of the Heatley grand-kids begin the book, showing them peeling veggies for their grandmother's current cooking project.

What I like best about this book is that it gives me new ideas about how to cook some veggies that I've always done in the same old way. Little tips, putting something with something I've never tried before; my creative juices (sorry, no pun intended) are burbling, and I am about to run out and buy a few eggplants and a package of artichoke hearts to play with. This is a very practical book.

The price is $20 and very much worth it. Email Cécile at cecileheatley@gmail.com or grab George next time you see him on campus. Likely he'll have a few copies in the trunk of his car.