Friends, forget about December, this month, this time, this, THIS is the most wonderful time of the year! I looooove this time of year as year-long school commitments wind down and the summer lies before me like an open book, an empty beach, an uncut cake! I feel like singing!!!! Last week I had four trips for our kids’ homeschool group over an hour away, a trip each day for four days in a row, as we participated in the last day of classes and end-of-year award meetings and parties. What a great way to wrap it all up! Now, this week, I am luxuriating in staying home!

I am going to fill up my extra time not driving with reading! I got the above book through interlibrary loan, recommended by my friend Heidi. I am so excited to read it! So far, it is the perfect balance of learning and fun. I do add a cautionary note for reading this book. The chapter entitled “Class Break: Red Velvet Dinners” between Chapter 9 and 10 has a risque scene so skip that chapter.

It’s the true story of a woman, the author, Kathleen Flinn, trained at a prestigious culinary school in Paris, who notices a woman at a grocery store in the Seattle area buying boxes and boxes of processed food. She finds out the woman doesn’t know how to cook from scratch so she gives her a few tips in the grocery store and helps her find less processed food. That random encounter inspires her to teach other women how to cook from scratch for free. So she sets up “The Kitchen Counter Cooking School,” hence the title of the book. I would love to discuss it with anyone who reads it too! See video below for Kathleen’s simple lesson of how to make vinaigrette. I watched it with my daughter, and then a few days later, she volunteered to make it without any prompting from me! Score!