A delightful celebration of everyday life in France through the lens of the kitchens and cooking of the authors neighbors, who, while busy and accomplished, still manage to make every meal a sumptuous occasion.

Even before Susan Herrmann Loomis wrote her now-classic memoir, On Rue Tatin, American readers have been compelled by books about the Frenchs ease with cooking. With In a French Kitchen, Loomisan expat who long ago traded her American grocery store for a bustling French farmers marketdemystifies in lively prose the seemingly effortless je ne sais quoi behind a simple French meal. French cooks have the savoir faire to get out of a low-ingredient bind. They are deeply knowledgeable about seasonal produce and what melange of simple ingredients will bring out the best of their garden or local market. They are perfectly at ease with cracked bowls and little counter space.

In a French Kitchen proves that delicious, decadent meals arent complicated. Loomis takes lessons from busy, everyday people and offers tricks and recipes to create a meal more focused on quality ingredients and time at the table than on time in the kitchen.