Gosh I Wish I was a Good Writer

As far as French Country Cooking goes this is a great book for someone new to the cuisine. Anne Willan has created a library of how-to cookbooks that make cooking new dishes easier by using clear language and lots of explanatory pictures. For example, the Terrine de Champagne in other books seems overwhelming and so flippin’ complicated but I was able to let two teenagers take the lead and make us a darn good appetizer for our picnic. The Cassoulet with Quick Confit was tasty enough that the French family we invited were content. We also tested the Gratin de Racines D’Hiver, it was outstanding! Another plus with this book and the entire series are the “Variations”. Most of the recipes have alternatives because honestly in the real world do we all have duck on hand. Well, I mean besides me. We normally skip the dessert section in cookbooks but they wanted to try to make the alternative Clafoutis aux Prunes instead of with cherries. The pictures gave them confidence.  We had a wonderful end to out meal. I gifted the book to the twins teens and I know I’ll be well fed when I visit them.