Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good A Memoir of Food & Love from an American Midwest Family

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In this family history interwoven with recipes, Kathleen Flinn returns readers to the mix of food and memoir beloved by readers of her bestselling The Sharper Your

Knife, the Less You Cry. Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good explores the very beginnings of her love affair with food and its connection to home. It is the story of her midwestern childhood, its memorable home cooks, and the delicious recipes she grew up with. Flinn shares tales of her parentsand#8217; pizza parlor in San Francisco, where they sold Uncle Clarenceand#8217;s popular oven-fried chicken, as well as recipes for the vats of chili made by her former army cook Grandpa Charles, fluffy Swedish pancakes from Grandma Inez, and cinnamon rolls for birthday breakfasts. Through these dishes, Flinn came to understand how meals can be memories, and how cooking can be a form of communication. Brimming with warmth and wit, this book is sure to appeal to Flinnand#8217;s many fans as well as readers of Marcus Samuelsson, Ruth Reichl, and Julie Powell.

"and#160;A memoir with lots of eating, road trips and family history, this combination platter will fill you up." -and#160;Campus Circleand#160;

"Kathleen is a born storyteller! Her books grab you from page one, and hold onto you and your imagination, until the last page is turned, so it's no surprise that this book is full of charm and wit as well! ...This book will have you laughing and crying! "-and#160;Bless Their Hearts Mom Blog

"I was in a reading slump until I picked up Kathleen Flinn'sand#160;newest bookand#160;Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good.and#160;If you love food or love eating food, this book is for you." -and#160;Feed Your Readerand#160;Blogand#160;

"This book offers something for us all, and the recipes just add to the charm." - Five Minutes For Booksand#160;blog

"Craving a beach read with a bite? Kathleen Flinn's new memoir,and#160;Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good,and#160;chronicles her Midwestern family's culinary adventures, starting with a move cross-country to run her uncle's pizzeria. There are plenty of hilarious missteps (like a maybe-don't-try-this-at-home experience raising chickens), but food is a blissful constant, even in the craziest of times. And the book is filled with recipes - Grandpa's Mich-Mex chili, Mom's cinnamon rolls - so you can create some memorable family meals of your own." - Redbook Magazine

"You wouldn't think a memoir consisting of someone else's family stories would be all that interesting, but Kathleen Flinn had me hanging on each and every account in her memoirand#160;Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good.I connected with her immediately, and while reading I often thought of my own parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents... I won't forget these stories." -and#160;A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall

and#8220;I can never get enough of true stories about people who stop in the middle of their life's journey to ask, and#8216;What do I really want?' and then have the guts to actually go get it. Kathleen Flinn's tale of chasing her ultimate dream makes for a really lovely bookand#8212; engaging, intelligent and surprisingly suspenseful.and#8221;and#8212;Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

and#8220;The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry is an engaging story about a fantasy fulfilled. It's Under the Tuscan Sun goes to cooking school.and#8221;and#8212;Michael Ruhlman, author of The Soul of a Chef

and#8220;Although I can't cook my way out of a sac de papier, I found this book a joy to read. It's is a compelling story about learning to cook and learning to love at the same time, told with humility, humor and passion.and#8221;and#8212;Bill Radke, host of public radio's Weekend America

and#8220;Kat Flynnand#8217;s vivid story of her adventures at Le Cordon Bleu Paris had me smiling page after page. It's about what you should always think about in the pressure behind a hot stove and#8211; the pure romance of cooking.and#8221;and#8212;Jerry Traunfeld, author The Herbal Kitchen

and#8220;Learning to tame a sadistic chef/instructor is one of the tougher trials Flinn faces in this souffland#233;-light memoir of her life-changing year at the Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris.and#160; Bon appetit.and#8221; and#8211; Good Housekeeping

and#8220;A charming, yet surprisingly suspenseful account of the education of a chef (with some classic recipes and many tips), but also one womanand#8217;s inspiring story of rising to, and surmounting, an imposing challenge.and#8221; and#8211; Seattle Post-Intelligencer

and#8220;Those who relish the adventures to be found in food will undoubtedly enjoy this tale of a corporate middle manager who followed her heart into the heat of the kitchen and came out a triumphant graduate of Le Cordon Bleu.and#8221; and#8211; The Christian Science Monitor

--Morgan Spurlock, Super Size Me

andldquo;andhellip;[A] terrific, inspiring bookandhellip;andrdquo;-People (A People Pick, 4 stars)

andquot;If you are going to read one book to change your diet and your life, The Kitchen Counter Cooking School is it.andquot;-AP

andquot;Kathleen entered the kitchens of strangers and took the time to understand how they think about food before changing their cooking forever.andquot;andnbsp;

--Amanda Hesser,andnbsp;Food 52,andnbsp;The Essential New York Times Cookbook

andldquo;A life-changing book--entertaining, inspiring, and deeply educational.andquot;

--Erica Bauermeister, The School for Essential Ingredients

andquot;A funny, thoroughly engrossing book...get ready to be inspired--and to eat well along the way.andquot; --Molly Wizenberg, Orangette.com, A Homemade Life

andquot;An engaging...book on the joys of home cooking and the teaching thereof.andquot;-The Wall Street Journal

andquot;The author's humble approach is inviting and shows why her students were enthusiastic.andquot;-Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

andquot;Flinn guides you patiently in the kitchen like the mom you always wish you'd had to learn to cook from...the women gained confidence under Flinn's wonderfully encouraging tutelage, and fearlessly faced their kitchens and grocery stores with useful knowledge.andquot;-Publishers Weekly

andquot;Flinn winningly offers inspiration to anyone who cares about cooking but lacks basic tools and skills.andquot;-Booklist

andquot;An amiable companion to cookbook stalwarts such as Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything, Pam Anderson's How To Cook Without a Book, and Michael Ruhlman's Ratio, this title provides encouragement where the others offer direction. A mash-up of inspiration and reference, it will appeal to readers who enjoy a story with their instruction.andquot;-Library Journalandnbsp;

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 andquot;chefternalandquot; 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 includes practical, healthy tips that boost readers' culinary self-confidence, and strategies to get the most from their grocery dollar, and simple recipes that get readers cooking.

A family history peppered with recipes, Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good offers a humorous and flavorful tale spanning three generations as Kathleen Flinn returns to the mix of food and memoir readers loved in her New York Times bestseller, The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry. Brimming with tasty anecdotes about Uncle Clarenceand#8217;s divine cornflake-crusted fried chicken, Grandpa Charlesand#8217;s spicy San Antonio chili, and Grandma Inezand#8217;s birthday-only cinnamon rolls, Flinnand#151;think Ruth Reichl topped with a dollop of Julia Childand#151;shows how meals can be memories, and how cooking can be communication. Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good will inspire readers (and book clubs) to reminisce about their own childhoodsand#151;and spend time in their kitchens making new memories of their own.