Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good by Kathleen Flinn (Review)

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (August 14, 2014)
• ISBN-13: 978-0670015443

A family history with recipes, Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good offers a flavorful tale spanning three generations as Flinn returns to the mix of food and memoir readers loved in her New York Times best-seller The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry. From a Route 66 trek to San Francisco to their Michigan farm to the shores of Florida, humor and adventure defines her family even in the worst of times. (Think Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle meets the works of Ruth Reichl topped with a dollop of Julia Child.) You'll savor Uncle Clarence's divine corn flake-crusted fried chicken, Grandpa Charles' spicy San Antonio chili and her grandmother's birthday-only cinnamon rolls. Through these flavors, Flinn came to understand how meals can be memories and cooking can be communication. Brimming with warmth and wit, fans of Luisa Weiss' My Berlin Kitchen, Gabrielle Hamilton's Blood, Bones and Butter and especially Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn will delight in this revealing look at a family that just might resemble your own.

 My Review:

I enjoyed reading this latest memoir from author Kathleen Flinn. She incorporated stories from her family's past with the food they ate. The recipes are included in the book for anyone that wants to try them. There were many funny moments along with some more serious ones. Things were not always easy for them but they always had their family. Recommended. :) 


Kathleen Flinn has been featured in media outlets worldwide, including People, Elle, Bon Appetit, The Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio and CBS Morning News. Her acclaimed second book, The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, was named a 2012 Book of the Year by the American Society of Journalists & Authors. She divides her time between Seattle and Anna Maria Island, Florida, with her husband, Mike Klozar, and their trusty rescue dog, Maddy. kathleenflinn.com

Review copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn (Review)

Hardcover: 304 pages

Publisher: Viking Adult (September 29, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-13: 978-0670023004

The author of The Sharper Your Knife tells the inspiring story of how she helped nine others find their inner cook.

After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, writer Kathleen Flinn returned with no idea what to do next, until one day at a supermarket she watched a woman loading her cart with ultraprocessed foods. Flinn's "chefternal" instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy, easy meals.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School is essentially "What Not to Wear" meets Michael Pollan.   Inspired by a supermarket encounter with a woman loading up on processed foods, Le Cordon Blue graduate Kathleen Flinn decided to use her recent culinary training to help a group of nine culinary novitiates find their inner cook.  These students invited Kathleen into their kitchens where she took inventory of each person's refrigerator, cabinets and eating habits.  After kitchen "makeovers" and a series of basic lessons where they learned to wield knives, trust their taste and improve their food choices, the women found a common missing ingredient--confidence.  In this new book, Flinn follows these women's journeys and includes practical, healthy tips to boost readers' culinary confidence, strategies to get the most from their grocery dollar and simple recipes to get readers cooking. 

My Review:
I loved this book. It is my favorite book I have read this entire year. I was drawn into every one's individual stories and the authors. I learned as much from the lessons as they did. lol I am learning how to cook real food at the old age of 28. I will be keeping this book on a shelf nearby for future reference. The writing was easy to read, flowed good, and held my attention from the beginning. I will be finding a copy of her first book too. Highly Recommended! :)


Kathleen Flinn has been a writer and journalist for twenty years. Her work has appeared in more than three dozen publications worldwide, including the Chicago Sun-Times, USA Weekend, Men's Fitness, Smithsonian, and the Chicago Tribune, among others. Her first book, The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry was a finalist in the Washington State book awards. She lives in Seattle.

Review copy provided by publisher.