Think globally, act locally isn't just for the planet. It's also what is at the heart of Mireille Guiliano's philosophy and ad vice for women that she first dispensed to great interest and acclaim in French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure . In her follow-up, French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes & Pleasure (Knopf, 2006) , Guiliano expands on this premise, allowing that not just in the United States but the world over, women are faced with increasingly demanding schedules that lead them to take shortcuts with their meal preparation and consumption that also shortchange them on health and enjoyment.

To set the mood, Guiliano has organized the book into seasons with accompanying weekly menus, recipes and advice for each. Chapters that rhapsodize about an Alsatian basement filled with the scent and promise of apples picked just yards away, chestnuts glazed with a thin but perfect crust of sugar, childhood memories of messy and delicious white asparagus with mayonnaise and the infinite possibilities of a summer tomato lend flavor to her already convincing argument for eating locally grown produce.

She argues that by eating what is grown close by, you ingest relatively little in the way of pesticides, pollutants, preservatives and genetically modified foods (a fact which is not necessarily always true). And to fully experience the pleasure inherent in eating, you must foremost have foods that are as fresh and natural as possible, which is far more likely when what's on your table was once growing down the road. There is a world of difference between eating a supermarket strawberry that tastes like straw and eating a farmer's market strawberry that tastes like berry.

Guiliano urges simple but delicious preparation for meals to showcase this natural flavor, which is reflected in her recipes. Easy to follow, they are often accompanied by À la recherche du temps perdu-style (Remembrances of Things Past) reminiscences that make them as enjoyable to read as the meals are to eat. Alongside them is practical advice on living in sync with the seasons, including all the secrets to tying scarves with Gallic insouciance, her mamie's homemade beauty solutions and blending exercise seamlessly with life. Guiliano urges women to embrace figure- (and eco-) friendly modes of transportation such as walking and bicycling for their metabolic benefits and as a way to reconnect and engage with the world.

It is only fitting that Guiliano, president and CEO of famed champagne maker Clicquot Inc., lends readers her oenophile's expertise in the chapter “Wine is Food.” Everything from the buy, storage, the pour and food pairings is covered. Frequent entertainer Guiliano, who splits her time between Paris and New York (with homes in the city and Dix Hills), also provides the perfect excuse for you to show off your newfound wine knowledge and the French you'll pick up from the glossary with a perfect gougėres to chocolate brioche menu to entertain à la Française. You will no doubt win your guests over to a more natural style of living and eating, which would be no small accomplishment. As Guiliano quotes French gastronome Brillat-Savarin: “The destiny of a nation depends on how it feeds itself.”


French Women for All Season is available for $24.95 at Book Revue, Huntington and Book Hampton locations in East Hampton, Southampton and Sag Harbor.