This book continues Patricia Wells' exploration of food, cooking, and the French way of life and is moreover a warm description of a triple love affair: with her husband, Walter, with their home in Provence, and with food. Patricia and Walter Wells moved from New York to Paris, France, when Walter became news editor of the International Herald Tribune. In 1984, Patricia and Walter bought an eighteenth century farmhouse with ten acres of land in northern Provence. On their property they found wild mushrooms, truffles, cherries, twenty olive trees, and a six acre vineyard. There were also several farm buildings. Rabbits, hares, ducks, geese, and even wild boar roamed the woodland. The purchase of this property transformed their lives. Soon much more than a weekend house, it became a central part of their lives and a symbol of what they valued most'happiness with friends, family, and food. Beautiful color photos by Robert Fréson show the roughcast stone farmhouse with the sandy tiled roof, the old stone steps and light blue louvered shutters. There are also photos of the views from the windows showing their vineyard with the mountains in the distance and the stone terrace on the wooded hillside on which they celebrate the end of the day and watch the sunset. The photos of the well equipped, carefully designed, spacious kitchen, the new bread oven, and the glimpse of a swimming pool give some idea of the major renovations that the Wellses carried out. The nearest town is Vaison-la-Romaine. The merchants and market stall holders there have become Patricia's friends, and not only does she buy superb produce from them but she often picks up a new recipe or cooking technique. She obviously has a very good relationship with her butcher, Roland Henny, who is pictured standing majestically in his white jacket and apron and brown cap beside a case of superbly fresh meat. We can see that his star status is justly deserved as Patricia describes his skill, his artistry, and his pride in his work. The photos of a farmer with his home-grown produce, an old woman farmer with herbs and salad, the array of goat and sheep's milk cheeses, the selection of olives and olive spreads, assorted crusty breads, and fish stalls with a vast variety of fish and make those of us living in small American towns the size of Vaison realize how limited our choices are in comparison. A good garden and a good local farmers' market are essential to follow Patricia Wells' philosophy of food preparation, which is keeping it fresh and simple. Most of the recipes belong to Mediterranean cuisine, a healthful cuisine that uses extra-virgin olive oil as the main fat. Some traditional foods have been adopted to be more healthful: a brioche made with olive oil instead of butter, and fake French fries, steamed and then roasted. The book is divided into the usual chapters: appetizers, salads, soups, vegetables, pasta, bread, fish, poultry, meat, desserts, and pantry. But the recipes themselves are anything but usual: for example, JR's shrimp with basil (JR is the great French chef Joel Robuchon), caramelized fennel soup, celery root lasagna, spicy lamb curry with yogurt and apples, and chocolate honey mousse. The recipes are described in careful detail with tips and explanations to give confidence to the most inexperienced cook. Patricia Wells explains why some things have to be hand-chopped instead of processed in a food processor, why potatoes should be steamed instead of boiled, and what can be done with leftovers. She tells how to fillet a whole baked fish and how to peel celery root. She suggests substitutes for hard to find ingredients and recommends which wines to serve with each dish. Detailed information about specific ingredients such as fennel, endive, shallots, and coriander make unfamiliar ingredients less intimidating. The recipes are appealing and the photographs of the dishes are appetizing, but it is the introduction to each chapter and each recipe that makes the book a delight to read as well as an invaluable source of new recipes. Patricia Wells reminisces about meals she has had in Switzerland, Italy, and England and tells the reader how she brought the recipes home to Provence and adapted them. She sometimes gives a little history of the dish or talks about a neighbor or a friend who shared a recipe with her. She does not forget the United States: she uses the meringues she loved when she was growing up in Wisconsin to create a fresh fruit dessert. And she includes a Charleston oyster casserole that Walter prepares each Thanksgiving. In her introduction, Patricia talks about Walter's ability to keep them on the path to true happiness. My favorite photograph shows Patricia standing by the outdoor bread oven as Walter unloads the spent trunks of vine they will burn in the oven. This photo captures the joy they share in their life at Chanteduc. Their collaboration in the kitchen is also shown in a pair of photos'Patricia removing a leg of lamb from the oven and Walter in a red-striped apron carving it. And who could help being intrigued by a recipe introduced by her saying that she had offered to cook anything in the world for him for New Year's Eve dinner. What a marvelous offer from one of the best cooks in the world! What did he choose? You must read the book to find out.

Wonderful Examples of Advocacy!

This book really illustrates the power of the community. To describe important aspects of community advocacy, the chapters provide real life macro studies by the way of peer-review articles, narratives, and excerts from other books. Each chapter illustrates and describes how communities have been gathered together to create change and then explains the importance of building and enhancing quality of life within a variety of oppressed populations.

Instructors of social work or similar fields with a Macro focus will really enjoy the real life studies which students can identify with.

Highly Recommend for teaching the importance of community as a whole.

I have been a fan of Georgeanne Brennan's writing and recipes ever since I picked up a copy of France: The Vegetarian Table several years ago. This book about Provencal cooking had exactly the same effect on me. Apart from being charmingly designed, it is well thought-out, organized into chapters based on typical Provencal ingredients (olives, certain herbs, cheeses etc) and so beautifully written that one is nearly transported to the South of France as one cooks. I have tried numerous recipes from this book and have never been disappointed with a single one: they have all been wonderful. They are uniformly precise and simple to follow. Georgeanne Brennan has a superb sense of cooking with what is to hand, following the availability of seasonal produce, and focussing on abundant fresh vegetables and herbs. This book is a total treat. I think it is one of the best books on cooking of this region since Richard Olney's efforts...

I had to order this book for my clinical year. I found it extremely helpful. The book reviews simple units and conversion factors to detailed calculations. It offers many practice problems and their answers worked out for you. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone starting out in the field - especially if math is not your strongest point.

This cookbook (and the magazine which recently ceased publication) has great low-fat, easy and tasty recipes. If you like to cook, as I do, with lots of veggies, unique ingredients, and not much fat,then you have probably run into delicious recipes with an ingredient list as long as your arm. Recipe Rescue manages to have all the flavor, wihout the arduous preparation of many other 'healthy' eating recipes. They manage to use exotic ingredients sparingly, to get the flavor without the calorie load. (Coconut milk, brown butter.) Ever had pears poached with dried cranberries and bay leaves? How about peaches and fresh basil? Fresh pizza crust that is ready to top in 10 minutes? How about pistachio and cardamom cookies? All this and more is in this incredible book. I can't imagine why it is out of print! And I will sorely miss the bimonthly magazine.

I was so impressed with the Christmas version of this book, given to me as a gift, that I am now purchasing the entire collection of holiday stories (Valentines, Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving). This book is just perfect for toddlers. First, its a board book style, built for many readings and little fingers...next the story is both meaningful and easily stated, just enough words for a toddler to remember. The books explain religious stories and how they are celebrated. I liked relating this with my children, who are at the age where they soak in new experiences from everything around them.

The foods in here are tasty and simple. There are stories, tips and tricks that add so much to the experience of cooking these recipes- you really get a feel for the people of the regions represented. If this book has a shortcoming, it's that the south/central regions of France are a little under represented, but there are TONS of good recipes from the north.

This is one cookbook that I can find recipes easily without bookmarks- how? By the stains and stiffened pages the book has from enduring my ownership!

Though I'd always fancied myself a good cook, I could never make a pie/tart crust,(the dough would tear as I rolled it out, among other frustrations), until this book. Armed with a food processor and this great book, it's a snap.

Having said that, it should be noted the recipes are easy, and a senual delight. Moreover, Ms. Loomis gives one a cultural taste of rural France, which is provocative.

Check out her Italian Farmhouse Cookbook as well. It is luscious.

I received this cookbook at my Bridal Shower. I had never heard of the author before, but began to read the cookbook as a book. I was most impressed by the contents.

Each recipe gives us a short story to where the recipe originated...location in France, and the family that makes it.

I enjoyed the cookbook immensely as the author lives in France, yet is American, so she can explain how to replace those ingredients that we don't have here in the United States.

Later, I began cooking from the book. Let me tell you, I was getting raving reviews from my fellow co-workers and since, the baby group I joined.

I would recommned this book. Her recipes are easy to read and not complicated at all. Plus, it gives you the feeling that you are somewhere else...far away from your cares...to a more simpler time...the French Countryside!

This cookbook is full of country food. Most of the flavors come from herbs and olive oil and the recipes call for very fresh ingredients, so they are fun right from the beginning. If you live near a farmer's market, these recipes will do justice to the produce there.

The recipes are laid out well, with measurements given in both metric and imperial notation, and there are plenty of substitutions listed for the more obscure ingredients. Be warned, though. . . this is not a beginner's cookbook. Each recipe uses a lot of ingredients and assumes a) that you know what all the ingredients are (lamb's lettuce? orange flower water? sheep cheese?) and b) that you know to prepare each ingredient to the point where it joins the rest of the recipe (grating zest, stemming thyme, cutting basil into chiffonade). The recipes also benefit from close reading and planning beforehand. For this reason, even though the style is "country food," I mostly end up using this book for somewhat fancier dinners.

Once you've started, though, the resulting food is truly superb. No one has ever complained when fed a dish from this book. The Tomato Clafoutis is a summer standard at my place. I served the Winemaker's Grape Cake at a party today, and it was gone in fifteen minutes. There is also a nice section at the back for sauces, relishes, homemade liquors and pantry items called for in the main body of the book. These recipes are simple and keep for a while, so if you are in a place where you can't nip out to the local French-Arab market for preserved lemons, you can put your own up for when you need them.

A word to the wise, though. Spring for a hardbound edition. Although the paperback is lovely, the binding is terrible. The spine glue is weak, and your pages will start falling out in clumps, starting with the two glossy photo sections. It started to fall apart the moment I opened the book, and it just can't hack the heavy kitchen use that cookbooks tend to get.

I wrote this review several years ago, but thought it should be redone and credited:

Of all the countries in the world, France in one of the most influential to the culinary arts. In the Southern part of the country is a superb region known as Provence where Patricia Wells has lived for over 13 years. Patricia Wells at Home in Provence is her 'scrapbook' of recipes that have been inspired by her living in her farmhouse in Provence, France.

This book is printed on a high gloss paper making it great for use while cooking. Several full color pictures help the reader with the food styling of many recipes. While many recipes sound like they should only be made by the highly trained chef, Ms. Wells has not only made them easy to make, but has added several types of hint or suggestions under most recipes to make it fun and exciting to try. Suggestions that are added to many recipes may be for a wine-paring, a variation, a description or suggestion of several ingredients, or a source on where to find harder-to-get ingredients.

Smoked Trout Tartare, Monkfish Bouillabaisse with A(oli, Braised & Gratin3/4ed Fennel, Fettucine with Roquefort Lemon Zest & Rosemary, Crusty Wheat & Polenta Bread, Monkfish "Carpaccio", The Winemaker's Duck with Olives & Artichokes, Lemon-Thyme Lamb Chops and Cherry & Goat Cheese Gratin are just a few of the titles of the extraordinary recipes found in this book.

Wells' award-winning journalistic style shows in her layouts of each recipe giving the reader more then just ingredients and preparation details. Patricia Wells at Home in Provence with the Author's name in the title is also published by Scribner. An exclusive compilation of personal recipes 'inspired by her farmhouse in France'

A perfect addition to anyone's shelf, this book will add a vast array of recipes to everyone's pallet

I have owned this cookbook for over two years now and I still pull it out just to read the recipes and look at the beautiful photographs. I have made dozens of the recipes and have found them all to be wonderful - well written, simple to prepare, and always delicious. If I had to limit myself to only one cookbook (and I have many,) this would be the one I'd choose.

I have the French version of this book (it sells well here in France - a good sign) and have just sent the English version to my US-based daughter at her request! It's really excellent, the recipes are delicious (do them once as prescribed, then adapt according to your own inspiration) and beautifully presented. One word of warning, it's not a basic cookbook; although some recipes are simple, it's more a book for an experienced cuisine fan (hence my four star rating, rather than five). Bon appetit !

I'm a professional private chef with an international clientelle. This book is more than just a cookbook, it's a way of life. Its all about paying attention to details.

The book is worth every penny just to read the interview with Patricia Wells; and Joel Robuchons' thoughts in the introduction. I've been re-reading just these two sections for over ten years now and am continuosly inspired.

The photographs are amazing, even frameable. One in particular I have removed and used as a cover shot for my private notebook. Its of a bottle of wine, a piece of cheese and loaf of bread. But oh..... what wine, cheese and bread! I always look at that picture to remind me whats its all about.

My copy has fallen apart long ago. The pages are now in clear sheet protectors and I travel with this book in this condition all over the world. I never leave home without it.

Being a huge Iron Chef fan sent me on a search for a Joel Robuchon cookbook about
a week ago. I have never been more pleased with a cookbook selection as this one.
My husband who was lucky enough to eat several meals that Robuchon had cooked
while traveling in Paris says the recipes certainly live up to his taste. The
meal that I cooked my husband has moved to the best meal I have ever fixed for
him.

I was given this book as a gift several years ago. I've mostly made the deserts, which alone make the book worth getting. My family requests the biscotti every Christmas, and the lemon rice cake is wonderful. So is the fragrant orange and lemon cake.

The book was loaned to me by a friend. Just one look plus making the fast and easy "Vodka Pasta" on page 92 convinced me I needed to own the book. I will be mentioning it again in my food column in September for an on line magazine...Check it out and pardon the plug. It's a great and very witty little magazine published in Seattle on--according to their header--"Natural and unnatural events".

I lived in Italy for almost 10 years, and this is the only cookbook I have found that has allowed me to recreate, note for note, taste for taste, my favorite dishes from Rome. Possibly if you prefer fancier fare or more Northern or Southern couisine, it's not the book for you.