In this magnificent new cookbook, illustrated with full color throughout, Julia Child give us her magnum opus--the distillation of a lifetime of cooking. And she has an important message for Americans today. . . <BR>--to the health-conscious: make a habit of good "home cooking so that you know you are working with the best and freshest ingredients and you can be in control of what goes into every dish<BR>--to the new generation of cooks who have not grown up in the old traditions: learn the basics and understand what you are doing so cooking can be easier, faster, and more enjoyable<BR>--to the more experienced cook: have fun improvising and creating your own versions of traditional dishes<BR>--and to all of us: above all, enjoy the pleasures of the table. <BR>In this spirit, Julia has conceived her most creative and instructive cookbook, blending classic techniques with free-style American cooking and with added emphasis on lightness, freshness, and simpler preparations. Breaking with conventional organization, she structures the chapters (from "Soups to "Cakes & Cookies) around master recipes, giving all the reassuring details that she is so good at and grouping the recipes according to method; these are followed--in shorthand form--by innumerable variations that are easily made once the basics are understood. <BR>For example, make her simple but impeccably prepared saute of chicken, and before long you're easily whipping up Chicken with Mushrooms and Cream, Chicken Provenale, Chicken Piperade, or Chicken Marengo. Or master her perfect broiled butterflied chicken, and next time Deviled Rabbit or Split Cornish Game Hens Broiled with Cheese will be on your menu. <BR>In all, there aremore than 800 recipes, including the variations--from a treasure trove of poultry and fish recipes and a vast array of fresh vegetables prepared in new ways to bread doughs (that can be turned into pizzas and calzones and hamburger buns) and delicious indulgences, such as Car