French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, and Pleasure

Arrived on time Good book

Just as Coco Chanel transformed the fashion world and popularized the little black dress, Mireille Guiliano popularizes the French woman's lifestyle --- joie de vivre (the good life). FRENCH WOMEN FOR ALL SEASONS contains the "secret of pleasure," a recipe for a champagne lifestyle that embraces this simple philosophy: "eat three meals a day; keep portions small; eat seasonal fruits and vegetables; drink lots of water; savor wine; walk more; and have occasional treats." Mireille (I feel I can call her by her first name after being privy to her secrets) shares her family recipes and her "philosophy of pure and simple, and always pleasure" and "the importance of seasonality to the French woman's lifestyle." The most noticeable and, in my opinion, most pleasurable feature about Mireille's seasonal menus is the fact that each dinner menu includes a glass of red or white wine. This is definitely the lifestyle for me. Mireille provides recipes that are based on the seasonality of foods and advises adjusting your lifestyle to the seasons of the year. Wonderful and simple recipes for Shrimp and Leek "Mimosa," Sea Scallops and leeks in Champagne Sauce, Grilled Steak with Wine Sauce and Quiche Lorraine are part of our French pleasure lessons. One of my most vivid memories of Paris was a visit to an indoor market to seek out the French lifestyle apart from the tourist hot spots. I have never seen fruits and vegetables so large, so colorful and so fresh. It was like they came from another planet. The leeks Mireille uses in her Magical Leek Soup were of a length and size that brought out my camera because I knew no one in the states would believe me when I described their size! And never again will I visit Manhattan without going to the Union Square Greenmarket. I can't wait to see and taste the bounty that Mireille says awaits me. Mireille's description of the orgy of fruits and jewels of fresh vegetables is one that rivals a Saks Fifth Avenue storefront displaying emeralds and diamonds. It won't be hard for most women to accept the concept of the French lifestyle: "All about pleasure." Most women I know gravitate toward this anyway, but it is usually short-lived and a quick cure for stress. Just mention champagne and "a French woman's eyes sparkle...Champagne is a state of mind, a very pleasant one." I love this concept for bien-être (well-being). "A French woman must look soignée, pulled together." With bon chic, bon genre (half style, half attitude), Mireille reveals secrets for beauty routines, tying a scarf properly, arranging flowers of the season, creating a chic look with accessories and investing in classic pieces of clothing that are eternally stylish. I especially appreciated learning the secrets to a successful cocktail dinatoire. The dinatoire is a very easy and very French way to entertain, and of course the first secret to this most Parisian social gesture is to pick a good wine. Mireille's 50% rule of consuming half of what you put on yo

I liked the author's first book very much,(obviously a lot of other people did, too). At the same time I felt she was somewhat constrained by having to keep things very basic, explaining what must have seemed obvious to her. I'm happy to find she lets herself fly in this book. While it carefully explains the principles of living well (and longer) without weight, this one shows you HOW to practice her philosophy in the context of actual daily living, in all four seasons. You will find a great deal of fresh information, recipes (I just made her mackerel for my kids' Sunday supper--simple and they loved it). There's plenty of guidance that you can use immediately (Her "fifty-percent solution", for instance, is small stroke of genius). But even more, the book conveys a real sense of integrated living, not so much a set of abstract do's and don'ts, which I sometimes felt with the first book. Call it French Women 360. Anyway, reading this book I realize I didn't completely understand how the mental part of living her way guides the physical part of well being--active management of pleasures, optimal sensory experience, etc. It's actually pretty deep stuff when you give it some thought. Anybody who thinks this book offers nothing new has, I suspect, missed a lot of things in both books and should probably re-read them. The author can be deceptively nonchalant when offering some very potent insights. Don't be fooled by the fact that she offers a dozen ways to tie a scarf (not something I personally needed!). In a way such elements are really just a parable for living intensely and not surrendering to the boredom of routine. The first book, I don't mind admitting, changed my life(20 lbs lost without pain, to be exact) . I'm still absorbing this one, but already I sense my awareness altered. Very impressive.

so i'm not the type to read dieting books, but when 'french women don't get fat' came out i snapped it up and devoured it in three days. and now this beautiful second morsel comes out and i do the same! this one is softer and less pretentious about the differences in a european diet verses an american diet, but it hammers home the same issues without seeming accusatory at all-- eat smaller, eat better quality, keep things simple and delicious, enjoy your food and your life, and a dozen other things that when you read them seem both a revelation and completely reasonable, like common sense you've somehow forgotten. and there are recipies! ever wanted to know what to do with duck or rabbit or skate? here are a few tried and true and still good-for-you recipies to help you! and it's all arranged seasonally, so those of us who like the changes in the world (or live in florida and want to be reminded of them!) can shift the eating around what's available and at it's best, and can get better in tune with the year and our bodies. even if you don't need to lose weight, or if you don't want to, it's a nice little reminder that life is good if you know how to look at it, and that we're worth the effort of finding happiness and enjoyment.

Mireille Guiliano does an even better job in this latest book than she did in "French Women Don't Get Fat." While reading, I kept thinking about how many readers will be able to "see" themselves in the kind of unconscious eating/living she describes. To me, if there is one essential lesson to be taken from this book, it is this: SLOW DOWN and begin to live and eat CONSCIOUSLY. It won't really cost you anything to do so, and it may just melt some unwanted pounds from your body. And, if it DOES cost you a little bit more in money, is it worth that to have a LOT more in health, slimness, and enjoyment of life? Good reading that teaches us a lot about good living!

The French Woman is at it again. Her style and approach to life and food is so optimistic and real that one can not help but be charmed and uplifted. Different from the first book, this one has new recipes and meal plans and some gems of wisdom on how to stop mindlessly stuffing our mouths full of tasteless junk. I've already started to incorporate her "50% Solution", the concept of eating only half the portion you're given or sharing an entree with a tablemate. Her idea is that if you stop midway through a meal and reflect on how you are feeling, instead of eating the "whole enchilada" just becasue it's there, you will realzie that you are more than content. In doing so,you'll shave off a lot of calories and if this habit becomes a routine yout waistline will get slimmer. This isn't a "diet" book and it's not going to help you take off the extra pounds before Christmas; however if you follow the general principles you will lead a fuller life and realize that happiness is not found on a dessert plate.