The Hands On French Cookbook ~ Book Blog Tour, Review, & Giveaway!

The Hands On French Cookbook: Connect With French Through Simple, Healthy Cooking

Elisabeth de Châtillon

(nonfiction: Healthy Bilingual French Cook Book and Language Book – French and English) Release date: 6/2/2021

144 pages

Hands on French Website 

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SYNOPSIS

If you think French food is complicated, decadent, and heavy, think again! If you think learning and exploring another language is difficult or boring, think again! And if you think cooking French food and learning French at the same time is impossible, teacher and home cook Elisabeth de Châtillon is here to prove you wrong. It might sound too good to be true, but THE HANDS ON FRENCH COOKBOOK is full of healthy, simple French recipes that you can make for friends and family while you learn not only the French language but also a little bit about French culture in a relaxed, fun, tasty way.

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REVIEW

HALL WAYS REVIEW: The Hands On French Cookbook is magnifique! Author Elisabeth de Châtillon's background in education is clear as she takes her readers through the mechanics of how they can learn French while cooking the simple but delicious recipes. While some might be inclined to skip those intro pages of text to get to preparing those dishes (all presented in beautiful full-color photos), I don't recommend it. Châtillon thoroughly explains her methodology to make for easy recipe reading and throws in some fun French phrases, too. And merci beaucoup to the author for providing conversions from the metric system because cooking is enough of a challenge for many of us without adding math to it.

Once we get into the recipes, I learned a lot, not just about preparation techniques or expanding my French vocabulary but also my English vocabulary. I had no idea what spelt flour was, but Châtillon not only explained it, she also adds a Remplace (replace) section to each recipe with ideas for substitutions. Each recipe is thoroughly explained so there is no question as to how long each will take, start to finish, or what utensils and ingredients will be needed. And readers are sure to have learned the basic commands after just a few recipes since the they are listed, defined, and learned through performing them. 

Other handy features are chef's ideas for ways to change-up the recipes and the recommended ideal season for preparing each recipe so cooks can optimize in-season ingredients. (For example, one might ditch le saumon (salmon) in favor of always in-season le chocolat if one decided to also ditch the healthy aspect. But one might be smart to instead just skip to les desserts if the sweet tooth is calling, especially because Châtillon encourages us to lèche la spatule [lick the spatula] when making chocolate mousse.) 

As an admitted Francophile, I enjoyed every single element of the book: the author's French style, reading the text in French (and then checking the translation), the simple-to-prepare French recipes (miam miam!), the additional cultural tidbits about where ingredients and dishes come from, and the beautiful photographs and fun illustrations. I devoured this cookbook, mais hélas, I didn't consume a calorie -- yet. I intend to take it with me on an upcoming trip to my Francophile daughter's house, and we're going to practice our French while cooking together. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elisabeth de Châtillon was born in France, has an MA in Education and Marketing, and has taught extensively in both the USA and Europe. She is also an accomplished home cook who enjoys sharing her love for French cooking by feeding her family and friends simple, good food. Her book, THE HANDS ON FRENCH COOKBOOK, was born from her combined love of teaching and cooking —and a desire to share that love and knowledge. When Elisabeth isn’t working or cooking, she likes stepping on her yoga mat, meditating, swimming in the ocean and lakes, walking in the beautiful outdoors, and traveling. She currently lives in Nashville, TN, with her husband, Ron, and Minou, her bilingual cat. To find our more, please visit her website. Follow her on Facebook, on Instagram, or on LinkedIn   

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GIVEAWAY! 

2 winners will receive a print copy of this book

US only; ends 2PM, CDT, October 3, 2021

You can enter the giveaway here or on any other book blog participating in this tour. Visit/Follow the participating blogs on Facebook/Twitter, as listed in the entry form below, and win more entry points!

CLICK TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

Tweeting about the giveaway everyday of the Tour will give you 5 extra entries each time! [just follow the directions on the entry-form] 

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