French Country Cooking: Meals and Moments from a Village in the Vineyards: A Cookbook

This book is so fabulous, it makes you just want to pour a glass of wine and take a trip to the Medoc! The family and story is warm, the recipes look wonderful and not overly complicated. The book is beautifully photographed; food, family, and the Chateau makes me want to pack and move. In the meantime what a lovely to experience from afar!

I read Mimi’s cookbooks like I do fan fiction. Obsessively and cover to cover. Beautiful essays, photos, and recipes. I have tried many and find them easy to replicate and simply divine. The peppered steak with cognac cream sauce and scallops with capers and oranges are some of our favorites.

Mimi Thorisson has done it again, maybe even better, in her new cookbook. Her recipes are authentic French cuisine, exactly what you want to eat -or hope to eat - in a homey bistro or a Chez Louis. It is French Counry cooking, indeed.. If you follow her online, as I do, you get everything you want in this book from the Manger blog; exquisite photography, pointers and discussion about wine, and a look at a very privileged life that you are warmly invited to share.I have cooked a few of the recipes so I can say that they make for a beautiful presentation, and are very satisfying.. I plunged right in, putting on my French playlist and serving Pumpkin Quiche with Bacon (Kuri squash, actually), Wise Guy Chicken, an amazing Swiss Chard grain that had everyone swooning. I am planning to serve some others during the holidays, they are perfect for everything from an intimate dinner with my husband to a house full of family and friends.II loved the stories she told about the life of her house, from the original proprietress (interesting story) to the house today. Ms. Thorisson weaves her house through the book and the recipes, ending with a vision of her family enjoying and cooking there for generations to come. It's a lovely visit to France as well as a fabulous cookbook, and it is the intimacy and love she has for her family and for food that elevates this cookbook above an ordinary recipe book. I was a little disappointed, to be honest, with the onion soup recipe, but it's not really a complaint. In fact, I bought a copy for a friend who also entertains in an old New England home with a fabulous garden as a Christmas gift. I hope we can cook together from it this summer. Bottom line: I love both of Mimi Thorrison's cookbooks and if you know someone who wants to cook authentic French cuisine, this is the book for you.

I read this cover to cover in one day. The stories are very enjoyable and the recipes are great. I’ve made four recipes so far and they are delicious. Can’t wait to make them all.

After checking this book out from my local library a few times I decided it needed to be in my kitchen library. I'm no professional chef but I do love new cooking adventures. I've tried about a third of the recipes in the book so far; some dishes my family has enjoyed several times already (Chou Farci, Poulet Chasseur, Comte & Ham Feuillete, Fennel & Sausage.) Sounds fancy but recipes feature simple ingredients, albeit good quality, and one should enjoy the process.Aside from flavorful food & wine pairing suggestions, the author is a talented writer & the photos of the food and region are gorgeous. Recipes are given in U.S. measurement and alternative suggestions for occasionally hard to find ingredients (e.g. Rabelais) are provided. Did I mention desserts? I'll never make Rice Pudding any other way again. After trying several recipes in this book, I also bought her older book and having fun with it too. I really enjoy leafing through the book and fixing post-its to recipe pages I'll make next. Although she has shared many of the recipes on her website, she deserves to be paid for her books and I'm pleased to have them in my kitchen.

I bought this for my husband, an executive Chef, and he loves the art and how well put together the recipes are. Definitely recommend!

I just picked up the book at the Amazon Locker last night and threw the box on the coffee table as I had a busy evening planned. This morning, as I brewed my cup of Joe to greet the day, I opened the box with the mindlessness of opening the monthly phone bill. As soon as I pulled apart the cardboard packaging, I could feel the heft of a black bound book that had a simple classic French end table and a basket of fresh vegetables brought in from a walk to what I imagined to be a local French farmer's market. This would have been a market where the smiling produce vendors greeted everyone with a Bon jour and even my first name. I guess you could say that this book enveloped me with the sights, sounds, smells and laughter of a romantic far away place BEFORE I even open the book! Wow. Mimi, you had me at hello, er Bon jour. What a great book that's going to be on my coffee table for its great photos when it is not on the kitchen counter. Buy this book. You will love it

I'm a huge fan of Mimi Thorisson's blog and I also own her first cookbook. I preordered this second one the day I found out about it and after waiting several months finally received it last week. The book, as expected, is gorgeous; the pictures, the writing, the fantasy of the life they live.However, Mimi's books need to be approached as "coffee table cookbooks" rather than everyday cooking books. What I mean is that while they are perfect to look at, not all recipes on her blog or in her books are flawless.Some of the recipes become inaccessible because of the ingredients required (I don't live in a place where I can get dried vines for using as grilling wood, or have foie gras handy in my fridge, or have a butcher who can get me some black-footed pig chops), some of the recipes fall flat because the ingredients in France are often of a higher quality than elsewhere (I tried some of her recipes when I lived in France and they turned out delicious & tried them again back in the US and something just didn't work), and lastly because some of them are just too complicated for an average home cook.Having said that, if you approach this book as a beautiful food journal with some recipes to try and most others to dream of, then you will find yourself super happy!

I own hundreds of cookery books but use only a few. A gorgeous book with well-written recipes - I can tell this is going to be a favourite.

I have already bought five copies, one for me, the rest to offer as a gift to beloved ones. This book mesmerises your senses and touches your soul. Food in its best, pure, form, presented so beautifully ...in Mimi's words and Oddur's ( her husband's) pictures. A point of reference for my cooking and a source of inspiration for many things beyond that...

I have one of her cook books in French but this is much easier. Mimi's recipes are really good to use

What a great work! Content is unique. Photography is top quality. Printing and binding great too. 5 stars +

Was present for my daughter in law she loves it